The great service at the New York Times site, the Learning Network, notes the 1959 Dwight Eisenhower proclamation of Alaska as the 49th state, and the unveiling of the 49-star flag:
On Jan. 3, 1959, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49th state. The New York Times noted that the signing included the unveiling of the new 49-star American flag.
The land that became Alaska came into U.S. possession in 1867, when William Seward, secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson, negotiated a deal to buy the 586,000-square-mile area from Russia for $7.2 million, less than 2 cents per acre. Seward’s decision was ridiculed in the American press, who saw no potential in the vast, inhospitable and sparsely populated area.
For decades after its purchase, Alaska was derided as “Seward’s folly” or “Seward’s icebox.” This opinion changed in 1896 with the discovery of gold in the neighboring Yukon Territory, which spurred tens of thousands of people to head to Alaska in search of gold. The gold rush also brought about a boom in mining, fishing and trapping.
Though the first statehood bill had been presented to Congress in 1916, there was little desire in either Alaska or Washington for Alaskan statehood until after World War II. During the war, the U.S. established multiple military bases to resist Japan’s attacks on Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and prevent a potential invasion of the mainland. The military activity, along with the completion of a major highway from Montana, led to a large population growth.
In 1946, Alaskans voted in favor of statehood in a referendum and Alaskan delegates began to lobby Congress for statehood. After years of debate, Congress voted in June 1958 to admit Alaska.
Eight months after Alaska’s admission, on Aug. 21, 1957 [should be 1959, no?], Hawaii became the 50th state. The 49-star remained in place until the following July 4, when it was replaced by the now-familiar 50-star flag.
49-star flags were produced only until August 1959, so there are few of them around. I love this photo of the unveiling of the flag with President Eisenhower:
It had been about 47 years since the previous state admission (Arizona); people became aware that no law set what the flag should look like. President Eisenhower issued a directive.
How did the nation survive for 170 years without firm, decisive and conclusive orders on what the flag should look like? Isn’t it a great story that we went so long without law setting the requirements?
Alaska’s state flag came from the imagination of a 13-year-old Aleut, Benny Benson, winning a contest to design the state’s flag. Alaska’s flag stands out in any display of U.S. state flags.
[…] this is mostly an encore post. Fighting ignorance requires […]
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Wow. Thanks, Debra! Any idea on the other guy?
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You are correct. Gentleman on the far right holding flag is my Great Uncle, Hugh Doggett Scott Jr. of Fredericksburg Virginia, who lived and served as a Congressman and US Senator from Pennsylvania. Thank you for posting!
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Thank you, Dr. Bumsted!
http://www.unmpress.com/books.php?ID=10685858469396&Page=book
At Google Books, here:
http://books.google.com/books/about/Completing_the_union.html?id=FCHeHe_sIl4C
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Mr Junior is correct, https://timpanogos.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/january-3-1959-welcome-alaska-and-the-49-star-flag/#comment-191735
This was given to me as the best reference for this,
Completing the union: Alaska, Hawai’i, and the battle for statehood John S. Whitehead – 2004 – 438 pages – Preview
The story of the thirteen-year effort to add the 49th and 50th states to the Union.
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The political back story that I remember from the time, which one never hears these days, is that Alaskan statehood was delayed for a year or two after it might normally have been adopted. And that was because everyone knew that when it got in, there was no avoiding doing the same for Hawaii. And *that* was highly unacceptable to the South.
Anybody wanna guess why? Looked at Hawaiians lately, or in 1958?
But the opposition eventually folded.
I’ve never done research on that story, but it definitely was contemporary. Might justify a notice on some blog when Hawaii’s anniversary rolls around, hint, hint.
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Thanks. I’ll edit as required.
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I was able to speak with someone at the Alutiiq Museum who verifies that Benny Benson is considered by all to be Aleut.
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[…] was minding his own business, reading Milliard Fillmore’s Bathtub, when he came across a discussion about the 49 star flag. It happened 53 years ago, according to […]
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Well Alaska elected her governor. They deserve some ire for that. Of course my area of mInnesota keeps on electing Michele Bachmann but I’ll readily admit my district is crazy.
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Yeah, I know the sentiment. Somewhere here we have the Dave Barry column in which he identified the late senator from South Carolina as “Sen. Strom (“Strom”) Thurmond, R-Mars.”
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I will find out from someone who may have known him. Why it isn’t an easy answer?– aside from the cosmopolitan nature of Pacific Rim Alaska, and the similar cultural adaptations to a maritime Alaska environment (think, marine conveyances a.k.a., quayags and kayaks and qayaks) many non-local people confuse Aleut and Alutiiq/Sugpiaq and thus by using the confused English terms, also confused the people they were naming. Should be someone at work who knew him and how Benson considered his folks.
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Picky, but important. To what group should I ascribe Mr. Benson?
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A picky issue, (but, really, should anyone bathe in tepid water?)– The Inuit people live in Canada, not the US. Eskimo people live in the US and are Alaska Native peoples.
Benny Benson was born in Chignik, which is generally regarded as a community of Russian, Aleut, Alutiiq (Sugpiaq Eskimo), and Scandinavian heritage.
His mother was Aleut, not Eskimo (and certainly not Inuit). He went to school at the Jesse Lee Home, Alaska – https://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2008/02/23/jesse-lee-home-alaska-and-the-pandemic-of-1919/ and settled later in Kodiak, which is Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) traditional area http://www.alaska.edu/uajourney/notable-people/kodiak/benny-benson/
Benny Benson was Alaska Native, not Canadian, in origin.
Sarah Palin’s mother-in-law is Yup’ik (Eskimo) heritage, Todd Palin, Sarah Palin’s husband, and rural Alaska living. Sarah was not born in Alaska and neither were her parents born and raised in Alaska. Some would argue that neither Anchorage nor its suburbs, Wasilla, are in Alaska.
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Alaska created Sarah Palin. Isn’t that grounds for kicking Alaska out of the country? I mean I’d be perfectly fine with kicking Texas out of the country for Perry and W too..
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