The observance was held at 11 a.m. in the 20th Century Theatre by a crowd from over the Gastineau Channel area as well as numbers of visitors in Alaska's Capital city. They filled the theater to standing room and was estimated at over a thousand.
It also marked the first public appearance of Alaska's first elected governor, William A. Egan and the now Secretary of State Hugh J. Wade, following the ceremony just two hours earlier when each took his oath of office in the governor's office here.
Shortly after President Eisenhower signed the proclamation creating the 49th state, the Liberty Bell on the federal building lawn was rung to announce the fact. The bell tolling was under sponsorship of the Gastineau Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Gov. Egan and his party received a standing ovation from an applauding audience as they entered the theater and proceeded to the stage, to participate in the ceremonies sponsored jointly by the Juneau Chamber of Commerce and the Gastineau Stamp Club.
Alaska as a new state in the union will have much to offer to the United States as a whole, Gov. Egan said in a brief address.
"As we proceed down the road of self government we finally have attained, we will offer much to the whole as well as the 49th state," he said.
"Nearly a century has passed since Alaska's acquisition by the United States. Our apprenticeship is done. We are today full members in that great union of sovereign states." "I speak for all Alaskans," declared Gov. Egan, "when I say we take profound pride in that membership - and in full American citizenship. While this is a momentous occasion for Alaska, it represents also a great and timely advance for the nation and the world - the extension of the democratic system of self-government."
Next >>
