George Archibald Lingo (April 30, 1901 - May 21, 1976), was an American Democratic politician from the

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

(later state) of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, commemorated as "a pioneer Alaskan in the true sense of the word." A native of

Anaconda, Montana Anaconda, county seat of Deer Lodge County, which has a consolidated city-county government, is located in southwestern Montana, United States. Located at the foot of the Anaconda Range (known locally as the "Pintlers"), the Continental Divid ...

, Lingo came to Alaska in 1918 with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Archie Lingo. He finished high school in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

at Lincoln High, then entered the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. After a short UW student career, in 1923 he enrolled in the

Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cl ...

. He received a degree in

mining engineering Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

in 1927. After graduation, he worked with the Mount McKinley Tourist and Transportation Company and was active in the Mount McKinley Tourist Organization, putting the mountain on the map as a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural b ...

as early as the late 1920s. In 1932 he was elected to the Alaska Territorial Legislature from

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

as a representative of the 4th district; he was 31 at the time, the youngest man ever elected to the House and the first AAC&SM graduate to hold public office. He served two terms in the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives. In 1934, he was appointed to the AAC&SM

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. The following year, the Territorial Legislature, thanks in part to Lingo's efforts, changed the name of AAC&SM to the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time stud ...

, and the

to the Board of Regents. He continued on the Board until 1943. On May 15, 1935, he married Dorothy Minerva (Troy) Morgan, the younger daughter of then Governor

John Weir Troy John Weir Troy (October 31, 1868 — May 2, 1942) was an American Democratic politician who was the Governor of Alaska Territory from 1933 to 1939. He was born in Dungeness, Washington and died in Juneau, Alaska. John Troy began his profession ...

, in the

Alaska Governor's Mansion The Alaska Governor's Mansion, located at 716 Calhoun Avenue in Juneau, Alaska, is the official residence of the governor of Alaska, the first spouse of Alaska, and their families. It was designed by James Knox Taylor. The Governor's Mansion w ...

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

; they

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds immediately after their wedding, to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase ...

ed in Mount McKinley Park. In September they moved to

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

, where he served as registrar and receiver in the U.S.

Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...

, Third Division. Shortly after the bombing of

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

in 1941, Lingo enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to

Naval Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

. He retired from the Navy at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1945 as a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and moved back to Anchorage. He was a registered guide, worked on a tugboat in Southeastern Alaska, traveled by dogsled in interior Alaska, mined for

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

all over Alaska, and built the first

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

in Anchorage. Lingo ran for the Alaska Territorial Senate in 1954 as an

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

. He received only 895 votes out of a total of 22,177 cast for the two seats available in that election. The Democrats won both seats, defeating a Republican incumbent,

Wasilla Wasilla ( Dena'ina: ''Benteh'') is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, United States and the fourth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the st ...

homesteader Gerrit "Heinie" Snider in the process. In the 1950s, due to a severe bronchial condition, he and his wife moved to Palm Desert, California. He had counted painters

Sydney Laurence Sydney Mortimer Laurence (1865–1940) was an American Romantic landscape painter and is widely considered one of Alaska's most important historical artists. Early life Sydney Mortimer Laurence was born in Brooklyn, New York and studied at the ...

and Eustace Ziegler as friends in Alaska, and in California he became active in

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

, studying with some of the West's finest artists. Avid travelers, the Lingoes traveled twice around the world, and visited 60 countries. He died May 21, 1976, at Saddleback Community Hospital in Laguna Hills, California, after a history of heart trouble. The Alaska State Senate passed Senate Resolution No. 108 of the Ninth Legislature in the State of Alaska to note his death and memorialize his extended service to the state.University of Alaska, ''George Lingo 1934-1943''...

References

External links

Alaska's Digital Archives
- Photo, taken 1935, as Alaska's territorial governor

signs legislation renaming the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines to the University of Alaska. Lingo is at right, seated. James Wickersham and

Charles E. Bunnell Charles Ernest Bunnell (January 12, 1878 – November 1, 1956) was a district judge for the United States Fourth Judicial Division and the University of Alaska's first president, from 1921 to 1949. He ran for Alaska Territorial Delegate to Con ...

are at left, standing.
George Lingo
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lingo, George A. 1901 births 1976 deaths American real estate businesspeople American transportation businesspeople Artists from California Businesspeople from Fairbanks, Alaska Members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature People from Anaconda, Montana Politicians from Fairbanks, Alaska Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska People from Palm Desert, California University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni University of Alaska regents 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American academics