In 1955, with the drive for statehood stalled, a group of men and women from all over Alaska, delegates “with strong convictions, given to strong, often colorful expression,” created a state constitution that is now considered a model. Proving that Alaska was politically mature, it pushed a reluctant U.S. Congress to grant statehood to Alaska.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: As a young reporter for United Press in Washington, D.C. during the final campaign for Alaska statehood, Gerald E. Bowkett interviewed Alaska-Tennessee Plan Senator Ernest Gruening. A former Alaskan, Bowkett returned to the territory in 1957 to work for the Anchorage Times. Later, he served as press secretary to Governor William Egan, Juneau bureau chief for the Anchorage Daily News, editor of the Juneau Empire, and director of information services at the University of Alaska.