Bob Bartlett
One of ĐÓ°Épro’s first two United States senators at statehood had been an early student at the ĐÓ°Épro 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 UAF professor emeritus of history.
After working as a newspaper reporter, gold miner and political aide, Bartlett in 1944 won the race to serve as ĐÓ°Épro’s territorial delegate in Washington, D.C. He held the position for the next 14 years.
During that time, Bartlett advocated for ĐÓ°Épro’s statehood, which Congress approved in 1958. ĐÓ°Éprons 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 ĐÓ°Épro.
Bartlett died in 1968. Bartlett had been a Democrat, but Gov. Wally Hickel replaced him with Republican Sen. Ted Stevens.
Bartlett Hall at the ĐÓ°Épro is named for the senator. His daughter, D.A., worked as a librarian for ĐÓ°Épro’s 1955-1956 constitutional convention at the ĐÓ°Épro. She later became an English professor at UAF. 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