What Raising a Statue of William Seward Means to Alaskans 150 Years Later

In July 2017, as Alaskans were commemorating the sesquicentennial of the United States' 1867 purchase of the territory from Russia, a statue of William Henry Seward was erected in Juneau. Secretary of state to Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, Seward realized the purchase in an all-night negotiation with the Russian diplomat Edouard de Stoeckl. The bronze, slightly larger-than-life statue that now stands in front of the Alaska State Capitol depicts Seward holding the Treaty of Cession in his right hand. In September 2016, nearly one year before the unveiling, a group of historians gathered with Wayne Jensen, chair of the local group that commissioned the statue, to discuss Seward's place in Alaska history. The panel discussion was filmed and broadcast on public television. A transcript of each panelist's prepared remarks appears below. Each has been edited only for clarity. The televised broadcast, which features additional commentary by panelists and questions from the studio audience, may be viewed on YouTube under the title "Forum@360: What Raising a Statue of William Seward Means to Alaskans 150 Years Later."