(as Territorial Governor of Alaska)
Waino Edward Hendrickson (June 18,1896 –June 22,1983) was an American Republican politician &businessman,the final Governor of the Territory of Alaska,before statehood.
Hendrickson was born in Juneau in 1896. He served in World War I before he became a manager at the Juneau city dock. He worked in business before he entered politics in 1946 and was elected Mayor of Juneau. He served as mayor until 1953. He was also a member of the Territorial House from 1948 to 1953.
He was Secretary of Alaska Territory from 1953 to 1959 in which capacity he served as acting governor twice because of the resignations of Governors Frank Heintzleman and Mike Stepovich.
Hendrickson was born June 18,1896,in Juneau,Alaska,where he grew up the son of Finnish immigrants. [1] [2] [3] After graduating from Juneau High School in 1916,he worked in the mine. After an accident,Hendrickson lost partial sight in one eye. [4] After this,he served in the U.S. military during World War I,and was en route to France before the armistice was signed. After being discharged from the army,he worked as a manager at the Juneau city dock. [4]
Hendrickson entered politics in 1946,when,upon the urging of his friends, [4] he was elected mayor of Juneau. In this role,he helped the city gain the power to levy and use sales tax,which had not been enforced before,leading to a lack of funding for Juneau. Because of the collection of this tax,Hendrickson developed Juneau,leading the city to become the first city in Alaska to be fully paved. [4] He served as Mayor of Juneau until 1953. While serving in this role,he was also a member of the territorial House of Representatives from 1948 to 1953. [4]
In 1953,Hendrickson was appointed Secretary of Alaska Territory (equivalent to Lieutenant Governor of Alaska today) by President Dwight D. Eisenhower,under Governor Frank Heintzleman. He held this office until statehood,serving as acting governor twice,once in 1957,and again from 1958 to 1959. Hendrickson was the first Alaska governor born in the territory. After statehood Hendrickson served on several government commissions,as well as chairing the Interior Department's Alaska Field Committee,and the Juneau office of the Bureau of Land Management. He retired due to poor eyesight,in 1965. [4]
Hendrickson would stay up at night to care for his wife,who was ill with cancer. She died in 1962. [4]
After his retirement,Hendrickson went to live with his daughter in Anchorage,Alaska,and spent the rest of his life with her until he died in 1983,at the age of 87. [4]
The City and Borough of Juneau,more commonly known simply as Juneau,is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle,it is a consolidated city-borough and the second-largest city in the United States by area. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906,when the government of what was then the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. The municipality unified on July 1,1970;the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current municipality,which is larger by area than both Rhode Island and Delaware.
Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett,was an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. Senator. A key fighter for Alaska statehood,Bartlett served as the Secretary of Alaska Territory from 1939 to 1945,in Congress from 1945 to 1959 as a Delegate,and from 1959 until his death in 1968 as a U.S. senator. He was opposed to U.S. involvement in Vietnam,along with his fellow Senator Ernest Gruening,and also worked to warn people about the dangers of radiation. Many acts bear his name,including a major law known as the Bartlett Act,mandating handicap access in all federally-funded buildings.
Ernest Henry Gruening was an American journalist and politician. A member of the Democratic Party,Gruening was the governor of the Alaska Territory from 1939 until 1953,and a United States Senator from Alaska from 1959 until 1969.
The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24,1912,until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3,1959. The territory was previously Russian America,1784–1867;the Department of Alaska,1867–1884;and the District of Alaska,1884–1912.
William Allen Egan was an American Democratic politician. He served as the first governor of the State of Alaska from January 3,1959,to 1966 and 1970 to 1974,as well as a shadow U.S. Senator from Alaska Territory from 1956 to 1959. Born in Valdez,Alaska,Egan is one of only two governors in the state's history to have been born in Alaska. He was the Democratic nominee in the first five gubernatorial elections.
Michael Anthony Stepovich was an American lawyer and politician who served as the last non-acting Governor of the Territory of Alaska. Stepovich served as Territorial Governor from 1957 to 1958,and Alaska was given U.S. statehood in 1959.
Benjamin Franklin Heintzleman was an American forester who spent much of his career supporting the development of Alaska Territory. Following a career with the United States Forest Service he was appointed Governor of Alaska Territory,a position he held from 1953 till 1957. During his term as governor he continued to support economic development but was largely opposed to efforts granting statehood to Alaska.
Evergreen Cemetery is a cemetery in Juneau,the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was established in 1887 to replace the older cemetery on Chicken Ridge,near Main Street,when that location was staked as a gold mine. Most of the graves in this older cemetery were moved to the new cemetery between 1889 and 1892 and the rest were moved in about 1915. The grounds were deeded by Evergreen Cemetery Association to the City of Juneau on May 23,1907.
The Alaska Statehood Act was introduced by Delegate E.L. Bob Bartlett and signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 7,1958. As a result,Alaska became the 49th U.S. state on January 3,1959. The law was the culmination of a multi-decade effort by many prominent Alaskans,including Bartlett,Ernest Gruening,Bill Egan,Bob Atwood,and Ted Stevens.
The Constitution of the State of Alaska was ratified on April 4,1956 and took effect with Alaska's admission to the United States as a U.S. state on January 3,1959.
Burke Riley was an American Democratic legislator,lawyer and public official on territorial,state and national levels. He served as the Secretary of Alaska Territory from 1952-1953 under Governor Ernest Gruening. He was a signer of the Alaska Constitution,elected as one of seven at-large delegates from the First Division.
Robert Bruce Atwood was an American journalist who served as the long-time editor and publisher of the Anchorage Times. He was also an early advocate of Alaska statehood.
John E. Manders was Mayor of Anchorage,Alaska from 1945 to 1946 and a leading voice among opponents of Alaskan statehood.
Bruce M. Botelho is an American attorney and politician in the U.S. state of Alaska. He served as the mayor of Juneau from 1988 to 1991 and from 2003 to 2012. Born and raised in Juneau,where his father was a top official of the Alaska Highway Patrol,Botelho has pursued concurrent careers in law and politics,largely with success. He also previously served a term as mayor from 1988 to 1991,defeating former Alaska Secretary of State Robert W. Ward in the election. He spent most of his professional career as an employee of the Alaska Department of Law. He rose to the top position in the department in 1994,when Governor Walter Hickel appointed him to be the Alaska Attorney General. Retained by Hickel's successor,Tony Knowles,Botelho served as Attorney General for nearly nine years before retiring from state service.
Hugh Joseph Wade was an American Democratic politician who served as the first secretary of state of Alaska,serving from January 3,1959,until December 5,1966.
Dennis William Egan was an American politician who was a member of the Alaska Senate representing Juneau from April 19,2009,until January 15,2019. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously served as the mayor of Juneau from February 13,1995,to October 3,2000,and was a member of the local assembly prior to that. Outside of politics,he was known for his work as a radio broadcaster,most notably for KINY,and was inducted to the Alaskan Broadcaster Association's Hall of Fame in 2001.
Robert Neil DeArmond was an American historian who specialized in the history of Alaska,especially the Alaska Panhandle. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s,DeArmond wrote several historical columns for southeast Alaska publications;these included Days of Yore,Gastineau Bygones,and News of the Gold Camp. He lived in Sitka,Alaska,and continued to write until his death.
Catherine Norah Muñoz is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives,who from 2009 to 2017 represented the 34th District. She served as Co-Chair of the Community and Regional Affairs Committee,Vice-Chair of the Education Committee,and served two terms on the House Finance Committee. She served as Co-Chair of the Community &Regional Affairs Committee and Vice-Chair of the Education Committee. Muñoz has been a small business owner since 1988. She was appointed by Governor Michael J. Dunleavy in 2018 to serve as the Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Muñoz was a third-generation member of the Alaska Legislature. Her father served in the Alaska House and Senate,her grandfather as the mayor of Douglas,Alaska and in the Territorial and State Senates,and her grandmother served in the Territorial House.
Olga Katherine Torkelsen Hurley served as the Secretary to Alaska Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening from 1944 until his departure from office in 1953. She was Chief Clerk to the Alaska Constitutional Convention from 1955 to 1956 and the secretary to the State Senate for five terms. In 1984,she was elected to seat 16-A in the Alaska house,serving until January 1987.