Treaty of Cession - 150 Years - Juneau, AK
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neoc1
N 58° 18.112 W 134° 24.611
8V E 534569 N 6462470
A bronze statue of William Henry Seward was erected to commemorate Treaty of Cession leading to the purchase of Alaska from Russia. It is located in the plaza on 4th and Main Streets, south of the State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska
Waymark Code: WMZJE7
Location: Alaska, United States
Date Posted: 11/19/2018
Views: 9
A life size bronze statue of United States Secretary of State William Henry Seward stands on a bronze plinth on top of a 5' high by 2' square marble base. Seward is depicted wearing a suit and vest and a cape over his shoulders. In his left hand he is holding a large brimmed hat. In his right hand he is holding sheet of paper.
A bronze plaque on the front of the base is inscribed:
William Henry Seward
1801-1872
This statue was erected in 2017 to
commemorate the 150th anniversary of the
Treaty of Cession that was negotiated with
Russia with Seward, resulting in the transfer
of Alaska to the United States.
Carl Schurz described Seward as:
One of those spirits who sometimes will
go ahead of public opinion instead of tamely
following its footprints.
Asked to name his greatest achievement
Seward said:
The purchase of Alaska - but it will take the
people a generation to find out.
A bronze plaque on the side of the base gives details about the statue. It is inscribed:
CREATING THE STATUE
John Venables, author of Journey to Statehood, initiated the effort to erect this statue of William H. Seward
to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1867 Treaty of Cession and contribute to Alaska history.
David and Judith Rubin, brother and sister, were selected as the sculptors. They created the clay model
for the statue in the family home of their mother, Mateel Rieger Rubin.
The statue shows Seward with a cape around his shoulders. In 1957, as part of the Alaska Day
ceremonies commemorating the 90th anniversary of the treaty of Cession, Territorial Governor Mike
Stepovich was given a cape worn by Seward from the estate of Olive Risley Seward, his adopted daughter.
The cape is now in the Alaska State Museum
The statue is set on a base of Tokeen marble from Marble Island in Southeast Alaska. The four iconic
columns of the Capitol, across the street, are made of marble from the same quarry. One side of the
base shows drill holes by which the block was removed from the quarry wall.
{List of names of sponsors}
William Henry Seward was born on May 16, 1801 in the Orange County hamlet of Florida, NY. He graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1820 and passed the new York State bar examination in 1822.
He held political office in New York and rose become New York's governor on January 1, 1839. In 1849, he became the United States senator from New York where he worked as an opponent of slavery. In 1855 he was one of the first senators to join the newly formed Republican Party.
After the election of Lincoln, Seward was appointed Secretary of State. When the Civil War began, Seward's main mission was to make sure that foreign powers, especially England and France, did not interfere in the conflict. After the war, he survived the plot by John Wilkes Booth that included the assassination of Lincoln.
In 1867, he negotiated what was to be his lasting legacy. For $7,200,000 he purchased Alaska from Russia. After the election of 1868, Seward retired from politics and took up residence in his home in Auburn, NY. He died on October 10, 1872.