Constitutional Convention delegates to speak at luncheon

Submitted by Kate Ripley
Phone: 450-8100
05/13/05

A group of Alaska’s founders will speak Tuesday, May 17, in Anchorage as special guests of Commonwealth North, which is gathering for its annual meeting. A luncheon is set for noon in the Anchorage Room of the Marriott Hotel downtown.

Four of the state’s original delegates to the Constitutional Convention - Victor Fischer, George Sundborg Sr., Jack Coghill and Burke Riley - will be in attendance. Other notable guests expected to attend include former Judge Thomas Stewart, who served as convention secretary; Katie Hurley, who served as chief clerk; George Rogers, who served as a consultant; and Doris Ann "D.A." Bartlett, the convention librarian. Also attending will be former Governors Mike Stepovich, Jay Hammond and Walter Hickel; former Attorney General Grace Schaible; and former Revenue Commissioner Mary Nordale.

Those guests and the delegates are members of an advisory board that oversee Creating Alaska, a University of Alaska project commemorating the upcoming 50th anniversaries of the constitutional convention and statehood. The convention commemoration period is November 2005 through February 2006, the period during which the constitution was drafted 50 years ago. The statehood anniversary is in 2009. Creating Alaska’s main efforts include an oral history project; a one-hour television documentary; and a traveling museum exhibit.

In addition to short speeches at the Commonwealth North luncheon, the convention delegates and others will participate in a business meeting of the Creating Alaska Advisory Board. The meeting, also held at the Marriott, will run from 9 a.m. through the afternoon Tuesday, May 17, and is open to the public. A draft agenda is attached.

For more information on Creating Alaska, call UA’s Kate Ripley at 907/450-8102; or check out the website at www.alaska.edu/creatingalaska .

For information on Commonwealth North, call Tana Myrtsol at 907/258-9522.