1st Alaska State Legislature explained

The 1st Alaska State Legislature served during 1959 and 1960. All of its members were elected on November 26, 1958, when Alaska was in its last days as a territory.

Terms

The Alaska Constitution established that legislative terms begin on the fourth Monday in January following an election year, and that the date may be changed by statute. This legislature passed Senate Bill 70 in the first session, which placed the date into statute but did not actually change it.

• All terms began on January 26, 1959
• All terms of representatives, and of those senators serving short terms, expired on January 22, 1961
• All terms of senators serving long terms expired on January 27, 1963

Sessions

• 1st session: January 26, 1959 – April 16, 1959
• 2nd session: January 25, 1960 – March 29, 1960

Alaska Senate

Make-up

Affiliation		Members
	Democratic Party	18
	Republican Party	2
Total		20
Government Majority		16

Members

District	Name	Party	Location
A	James Nolan		Dem	Wrangell
	Frank Peratrovich		Dem	Klawock
B	Walter O. "Bo" Smith		Dem	Ketchikan
C	Howard C. Bradshaw		Dem	Sitka
D	Thomas B. Stewart		Dem	Juneau
E	Ralph E. Moody^[1]		Dem	Anchorage
	Irene E. Ryan		Dem	Anchorage
F	Balfour J. "Bob" Logan		Dem	Cordova
G	Joseph Earl Cooper^[2]		Dem	Anchorage
H	Irwin L. Metcalf		Dem	Seward
I	Alfred A. Owen		Dem	Uganik Bay
J	George B. McNabb, Jr.		Dem	Fairbanks
	Robert J. McNealy		Dem	Fairbanks
K	Jack E. Weise		Rep	Bethel
L	John B. Coghill		Rep	Nenana
M	Hubert A. Gilbert^[3]		Dem	Fairbanks
N	William E. Beltz		Dem	Unalakleet^[4]
	Lester Bronson		Dem	Nome
O	Eben Hopson		Dem	Barrow
P	John A. McNees		Dem	Nome

Leadership

• Senate President: William E. Beltz (D-Unalakleet)

Alaska House of Representatives

Make-up

Affiliation		Members
	Democratic Party	34
	Republican Party	5
	Independent	1
Total		40
Government Majority		28

Members

District	Name	Party	Location
1	Charles M. Jones		Dem	Craig
2	Oral E. Freeman		Dem	Ketchikan
	James R. "J. Ray" Roady		Dem	Ketchikan
3	John E. Longworth		Rep	Petersburg
4	Frank E. Cashel		Dem	Sitka
	Andrew Hope		Dem	Sitka
5	Douglas Gray		Dem	Douglas
	Dora M. Sweeney		Dem	Juneau
6	Morgan W. Reed		Dem	Skagway
7	Harold Z. Hansen		Ind-D	Cordova
8	Bruce Kendall		Rep	Valdez
9	James J. Hurley		Dem	Palmer
10	Helen M. Fischer		Dem	Anchorage
	James E. Fisher		Dem	Anchorage
	John S. Hellenthal		Dem	Anchorage
	Earl D. Hillstrand		Dem	Anchorage
	Peter J. Kalamarides		Dem	Anchorage
	Edward R. "Russ" Meekins		Dem	Anchorage
	James E. Norene		Dem	Anchorage
	John L. Rader^[5]		Dem	Anchorage
11	William M. Erwin		Dem	Seward
12	Allan L. Petersen		Dem	Kenai^[6]
13	Peter M. Deveau		Dem	Kodiak
	Henry L. Haag		Dem	Kodiak
14	Charles J. Franz		Dem	Port Moller
15	Jay S. Hammond		Ind	Naknek
16	James Hoffman		Rep	Bethel
17	Donald Harris		Rep	McGrath
18	Grant H. Pearson		Dem	McKinley Park
19	Frank X. Chapados		Dem	Fairbanks
	Joseph R. "Bob" Giersdorf^[7]		Dem	Fairbanks
	Richard J. Greuel		Dem	Fairbanks
	Robert E. Sheldon		Dem	Fairbanks
	Warren A. Taylor		Dem	Fairbanks
20	R.S. McCombe		Dem	Chicken
21	John Nusunginya		Dem	Point Barrow
22	John E. Curtis		Rep	Kotzebue
23	Robert R. Blodgett		Dem	Nome
	Charles E. Fagerstrom		Dem	Nome
24	Axel C. Johnson		Dem	Kwiguk

Leadership

• Speaker of the House: Warren A. Taylor (D-Fairbanks)

See also

• List of Alaska State Legislatures
• 2nd Alaska State Legislature, the legislature following this one
• List of governors of Alaska
• List of speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives
• https://www.akleg.gov/basis/mbr_info.asp?session=1

External links

Photos of individual and assembled members of the 1st Alaska State Legislature, as hosted at Alaska's Digital Archives

• Senate, in chambers
• Senate, on capitol steps
• Senate, collage of official photos
• House, in chambers
• House, on capitol steps
• House, collage of official photos
• Members of the 1st State Legislature who were also members of the 23rd Territorial Legislature
• Legislative staff
• William E. Beltz, Irene E. Ryan and Warren A. Taylor conferring
• William E. Beltz at Senate President's desk
• Howard C. Bradshaw
• Frank E. Cashel
• Frank X. Chapados
• John B. "Jack" Coghill
• Blanche L. (Preston) McSmith
• Ralph E. Moody accepting formal acknowledgement of Alaskan statehood in Boston, Massachusetts, September 1958
• Thomas B. Stewart

Notes and References

1. Resigned in 1960, following the end of sessions, to accept appointment as attorney general
2. Appointed to the Alaska Superior Court between sessions. Seaborn J. Buckalew, Jr. (D) was appointed to his seat for the second session.
3. Appointed to the Alaska Superior Court between sessions. Rep. Bob Giersdorf (D) was appointed to his seat January 29, 1960. Giersdorf, who was born on February 24, 1935, was short of the constitutionally-established minimum age, and resigned the seat. Edmund N. Orbeck (D), who was appointed to Giersdorf's House seat, replaced him.
4. Died on November 21, 1960, after the end of sessions but before the expiration of his term.
5. Appointed state attorney general between sessions. Blanche L. McSmith (D) was appointed to his seat for the second session.
6. Petersen, Jettie. Once Upon The Kenai, page 269-70 Kenai Historical Society, Alaska, 1984
7. Appointed January 29, 1960, to replace outgoing Sen. Hubert Gilbert for the second session, but re-assumed his old seat February 2, 1960. Edmund N. Orbeck (D) filled his House seat in the interim.