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One of ��������’s first two United States senators at statehood had been an early student at the �������� Agricultural College and School of Mines, even though he did not earn a degree.

E.L. “Bob” Bartlett graduated from high school in Fairbanks and, after trying college Outside, returned and attended a few courses at AACSM in 1924-1925. “The discipline of university study did not appeal to Bob,” according to biographer Claus-M. Naske, the late �������� professor emeritus of history.

After working as a newspaper reporter, gold miner and political aide, Bartlett in 1944 won the race to serve as ��������’s territorial delegate in Washington, D.C. He held the position for the next 14 years.

During that time, Bartlett advocated for ��������’s statehood, which Congress approved in 1958. ��������ns also elected Bartlett to one of the new state’s two U.S. Senate seats that year. By the flip of a coin, he had to run again in 1960. He won that race and again in 1966.

A prolific writer of personal letters, Bartlett used the tool to maintain friendships across the political spectrum in ��������.

Bartlett died in 1968. Bartlett had been a Democrat, but Gov. Wally Hickel replaced him with Republican Sen. Ted Stevens.

Bartlett Hall at the University of �������� Fairbanks is named for the senator. His daughter, D.A., worked as a librarian for ��������’s 1955-1956 constitutional convention at the University of �������� Fairbanks. She later became an English professor at ��������. She died in 2015. 

More online about Bob Bartlett:

• An article published by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in 2003, on

• A selection of references and articles pulled together for