UA Press book looks at national politics and Alaska Territory

October 4, 2019

Title of the book above a black and white photo of men dressed in warm clothing standing on and along a railroad track. There is a flatbed rail card with timber piled on it.

The University of Alaska Press has released a new history title, "Alaska in the Progressive Age: A Political History, 1896–1916," by Thomas Alton.

The growth of modern-day Alaska began with the Klondike gold discovery in 1896. Over the course of the next two decades, as prospectors, pioneers and settlers rushed in, Alaska developed its agricultural and mineral resources, birthed a structure of highway and railroad transportation, and founded the Alaska cities we have today. All this activity occurred alongside the Progressive Age in American politics. It was a time of widespread reform, as Progressive politicians took on the powerful business trusts and enacted sweeping reforms to protect workers and consumers.

The traditional view of Alaska history is that the territory was neglected and even abused by the federal government. Alton argues, however, that from 1896 to 1916 Alaska benefitted richly in the age of Progressive democracy. As the population of Alaska grew, Congress responded to the needs of the nation’s northern possession, giving the territory a delegate to Congress, a locally elected legislature, and, ultimately in 1914, the federally funded Alaska Railroad.

Much has been written about the development of Alaska, especially in terms of the Gold Rush and the origins of the Alaska Railroad. But this is the first history to examine this era within the context of Progressive Age American politics. It is a look at how Progressivism reached the furthest corners of the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century and helped to transform Alaska into the modern state we know today.

Thomas Alton worked as an editor at the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Now retired, he continues to live and write in Fairbanks. He contributed to "The Tanana Chiefs: Native Rights and Western Law," also from the University of Alaska Press.

For more information about this title and many more please visit www.uapress.alaska.edu or call 800-621-2736.