Legislature(2001 - 2002)
05/04/2002 01:35 PM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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HB 285-SECOND VERSE OF ALASKA'S STATE SONG
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said it was not his intent to move HB 285
that day but he would like to hear public testimony.
MR. BILL LAWRENCE, Aide to Representative Carl Morgan, sponsor of
HB 285, said it was the appropriate time to officially add the
second verse of the Alaska State Song to state law because it was
th
the 75 anniversary of the Alaska State Flag. He said it would
be a long overdue honor to the late Carol Beery Davis, who
authored the second verse and gifted it to the University of
Alaska in 1987. The verse commemorated Bennie Benson, who
designed the Alaska State Flag, and recognized the natural beauty
and splendor of Alaska. He said the second verse had been sung
throughout Alaska for many years. He said:
Officially putting the second verse in the state
statute will not solve all of our problems, but it's a
small step toward creating peace and harmony among all
the people in the state. It's basically the right time
to do the right thing.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked if there were any questions for Mr.
Lawrence. There were none.
MS. CONSTANCE DAVIS, daughter of Carol Beery Davis read the
following statement:
I would like to give you a little summary of my family
history on this eventful occasion. My paternal
grandfather arrived in Juneau early in 1891 for a short
stay, working for the Nowell Mining Co. as a
bookkeeper. With paints, brushes and canvas, my
grandmother landed at the Juneau docks a few months
later. She planned to paint Alaskan scenery for a
month or two. The following year they were married in
the Log Cabin church. Both of them came from England.
My mother came to Juneau in 1920 to play for the silent
movies at the Palace Theater, a three-month, temporary
job that lasted for seven years. By that time, Marie
Drake was a good friend, the contest to choose a flag
for Alaska was underway, and my father was a member of
the Final Awards Committee to choose the flag. Mother
took notes of the events at that time. Later she wrote
that once the design was chosen, Marie felt that the
school children of Alaska would understand the
historical event better if they had words to recite,
something like those in her head. The Territorial
Commissioner of Education gave his approval, and so the
first step towards a song was born.
When mother was approached to add a second verse to the
state song, she believed that it was important to do
so, and that her old friend, Marie, would approve.
Using the themes of unity, history, progress and the
state's natural beauty, she carefully composed the
verse with her enduring love for Alaska. It was her
last gift. She was 95 years old.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked if there were any questions for Ms.
Davis. There were none.
MS. CONSTANCE MONROE said she was an adult educator who was
retired from the Department of Education. When she came to
Alaska in 1971, she felt the state song was limited in its
recognition of only gold miners and not other Alaskans,
especially the first Alaskans. She said she discovered that this
was not oversight, it was a historical situation because the
first verse written by Marie Drake was initially a poem to honor
the flag and was not expected to be the state song.
She said she was a good friend with Representative Alvin
Osterback's wife Marie because of their work on the Governor's
alcohol and drug commission. She said she spoke with
Representative and Mrs. Osterback and Senator Frank Ferguson
about the possibility of having a second verse for the state song
and opening it up for a statewide contest. She said they thought
about it and discussed it with their colleagues and came to the
conclusion that it probably wouldn't be advantageous for the
State to hold a contest. However, if there was a gift of someone
providing a second verse, they could look at it and see whether
or not it was appropriate.
She lost her job in 1985 because of the economic downturn. She
said she called Carol Beery Davis and said she would probably be
moving and was very sad that they never got a second verse for
the Alaska State Song. The next morning she received a call from
Carol Beery Davis asking her to come to look at a draft of the
second verse that was going to be a gift to the State. Carol
Beery Davis asked if she would take it to Representative
Osterback and Senator Ferguson and see if they thought it was
appropriate. She said they loved it.
MS. MONROE said the second verse had been a struggle since the
1970s. It passed the House of Representatives in 1986 but failed
in the Senate. She said she hoped the committee's leadership
would provide support for the second verse. She said it honored
everyone in Alaska including the first Alaskans, minorities and
people who came from everywhere to live in the state.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked why they felt a contest was not
appropriate at the time.
MS. MONROE said they were concerned that there would be too much
disagreement over what the second verse was supposed to be. She
said they couldn't come up with guidelines that were not
insulting and it would have been too difficult for a committee to
choose something. She said they didn't have the financial
backing. She noted that when the gift was received, they went
through the proper procedures with the University in Fairbanks to
have the verse held in trust.
She said the second verse had been sung across the state. She
said because she was working with community education and school
districts she was able to request that the second verse be sung
at graduations. She said when Senator Ferguson was honored for
his work with vocational education, the second verse was sung at
the ceremony.
She said Alvin and Marie Osterback, who have always been strong
supporters, are still waiting to see the second verse come to
fruition. She said she thought the whole native caucus felt it
was time as well.
She said they should have held a contest, but they didn't have
the leadership at the time to do so. They couldn't use money
from the Department of Education. She noted that there was not a
contest held for the first verse and they wanted some continuity
in how the verse was chosen.
SENATOR PHILLIPS said he went to the museum and saw Bennie
Benson's submission for the Alaska State Flag contest. He said
Bennie had submitted a written piece along with the design and a
lot of the phrases in the song came from that. He said the first
verse was a carryover and the submission of the first verse was
part of the submission of the flag.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said he thought Senator Phillips was trying
to say that although the first verse was not part of a contest,
the wording was taken from the concepts in Bennie Benson's
written comments on his flag submission. Therefore, it had
stemmed from the contest. He said he asked a question about the
Alaska State Song in his questionnaire. In response, a number of
people said they had some ideas. He said it was also suggested
to him that a well-known music instructor in Fairbanks might have
an excellent idea. He said the way the first verse links in with
the contest for the design of the flag, people are interested in
having an opportunity to suggest wording if there is to be a
second verse. He said that if people had known the State was
looking for a gift of a second verse, there probably would have
been a lot of suggestions.
MS. MONROE said that was probably true. She asked if he would
have liked to judge that.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT said he understood that would be a difficult
task.
MS. MONROE said she strongly supported Carol Beery Davis' verse
as the second verse of the Alaska State Song. She said it was
beautiful that a pioneer of Alaska wrote it as a gift to the
first Alaskans, minorities and all the residents of the state.
She said she thought the words were appropriate and was hoping
that it would be passed out of committee.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked if there were any additional questions
for Ms. Monroe. There were none.
MS. HARRIET ROBERTS said she was retired from the Department of
Health and Social Services. She said she had lived in Alaska for
20 years. She said when she came to Alaska she had the Alaska
State Song card in her purse. She said the ferry trip took
several days and her husband couldn't sleep. He asked for the
card because he wanted to read it. She said he couldn't believe
they were actually in Alaska. He said it was so beautiful it was
like heaven. She said, "When you sing this song, all this
flashes in your mind." She said when the second verse came to
the Legislature, Camp #2 of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and the
Alaska Native Sisterhood passed a resolution in support of the
second verse. She said she couldn't speak for the other camps,
but she was sure they supported it as well. She said Dorothy
Wallace had also come forward in support of the verse.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked if she was representing the Alaska
Native Brotherhood and the Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp #2.
MS. ROBERTS said their grand president Delores Cadiente was on a
trip and their local president Alberta Aspen wasn't able to
attend the meeting so she was testifying for them.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked if there were any questions for Ms.
Roberts. There were none.
MR. J. ALLAN MACKINNON said he was a lifelong Alaskan and
resident of Juneau. He wanted to speak in support of the second
verse and felt it should have been adopted years ago.
He said he was one of the founders and director of the Juneau
Oratorio Choir and was supportive of the Alaska Youth Choir. He
said the musical director of the Alaska Youth Choir, Missouri
Smythe, could not attend the hearing. He said the Alaska Youth
Choir incorporated the second verse into their programming at all
their presentations. He traveled with the group to Brooklyn, New
York and they performed the second verse there. He said the
Juneau Oratorio Choir was probably one of the first choruses to
sing both verses during one governor's inauguration ceremony.
He said Carol Beery Davis was very much a friend to the native
community. She was authorized to translate the native oral
tradition of songs and other pieces onto paper, many of which
were preserved in museums and the State Library.
He said he spent 10 or 12 years learning piano from Carol Beery
Davis. He remembered her talking about Marie Drake and Elinor
Dusenbury. He said the three were contemporaries and very well
known and well thought of in their writings and poetry. Marie
Drake took certain elements of Bennie Benson's wording and put
them into a poem that was of the proper length and meter. Carol
Beery Davis was a contemporary of Marie Drake's and also used
some of Bennie Benson's wording, creating a verse of the proper
length and meter.
He said there were certain times when contests were appropriate,
but this was not one of them. He said naming a state ferry, town
sites or other things might be appropriate contests for the
youth. He said his teenaged son wrote poetry but he would not
want to have to consider his writing in a contest setting.
He urged the committee to adopt the second verse as it was and
make it an official part of the statutes. He said it would be
taking the writings of two contemporary individuals who were very
well thought of out of historical context if they were to reopen
the issue of who would write the second verse.
2:00 p.m.
CHAIRMAN THERRIAULT asked if there were any questions for Mr.
MacKinnon. There were none. He asked if there was anybody else
who wished to testify on HB 285. There was nobody. He announced
that the bill would probably come back up for final action on
Tuesday, May 7, 2002.
HB 285 was held in committee.
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