Project Jukebox

Digital Branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program

Project Jukebox Survey

Help us redesign the Project Jukebox website by taking a very short survey!

Photo of Senator Ted Stevens from US Senate Historical OfficeThis project contains oral history interviews about Ted Stevens (1923-2010), who served as Alaska's United States Senator from 1968-2009. It contains an interview conducted with Senator Stevens in 1987 by John Whitehead, and interviews with some of Senator Stevens' professional colleagues and former employees conducted by Charles Fedullo and Paul McCarthy in 2009 and by Mary Anne Hamblen and Karen Brewster in 2011.

The Ted Stevens Project Jukebox was created in 2012 with funding from the Ted Stevens Papers Project at the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives, Elmer. E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks, which is funded by a grant from British Petroleum, Inc. and the Pollock Conservation Council. This Jukebox was created by Karen Brewster and Marla Statscewich of the Project Jukebox office at Rasmuson Library. The information in this project reflects the context of the original creation date. Some information may now be out of date.

For more information about the Senator Ted Stevens papers and archives collection, contact the Ted Stevens Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska (info@tedstevensfoundation.org, 907-339-9320).

People

Will Arthur Will Arthur

Will Arthur worked as Ted Stevens’ Executive Assistant for four years before becoming the archivist for the Stevens office. When the Senator closed his office in 2009, Will worked for Senator Ted Kennedy’s office before eventually becoming the archivist for the National Archives in Washington D.C. He helped prepare the thousands of boxes in the Stevens collection that eventually ended up at the Rasmuson Library Archives at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Michael Carey Michael Carey

Michael Carey has been a journalist in Alaska for more than thirty years. He is a former editorial page editor and columnist for the Anchorage Daily News newspaper, and now in retirement periodically hosts the Alaska Edition radioshow aired statewide on the Alaska Public Radio Network (APRN).

Jack Ferguson Jack Ferguson

Jack Ferguson currently is president of Jack Ferguson Associates, Inc., a lobbying firm that represents companies and associations involved in transportation, communications, natural resource extraction, construction, fishing, timber, shipping and tourism. Previously, he served as Legislative Aide to Representative Floyd Hicks (D-WA) from 1971-1973, Administrative Aide to Representative Don Young (R-AK) from 1973-1976, and was Chief of Staff to Alaska Senator Ted Stevens from 1976-1978.

Senator Mike Gravel Senator Mike Gravel

Maurice "Mike" Gravel is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska, who served two terms from 1969 to 1981, and was a candidate in the 2008 presidential election. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1966 and became its Speaker of the House. Gravel was elected to the United States Senate in 1968. He and Ted Stevens had many public confrontations on issues related to Alaska during the twelve years he was in office. He considers himself a “maverick” who was... Read More

DeLynn Henry DeLynn Henry

DeLynn Henry was the Director of Scheduling and a personal assistant for Senator Stevens for more than twenty years. She started her career working with the National Rifle Association’s lobbying group but when her boss got a job as Special Assistant at the Department of the Interior, she went with her. Eventually, she became the Assistant to the President for Public Liaison during the Reagan Administration. She was hired by Senator Stevens in the late 1980’s. A mother of two, she always felt... Read More

Senator Daniel Inouye Senator Daniel Inouye

Senator Daniel Inouye began his political career in 1954 when he was elected to Hawaii’s Territorial House of Representatives. He later served in the Territorial Senate, in 1959 was elected as their first Congressman, and in 1962 was elected to the U.S. Senate. During his long Senate career, Senator Inouye was known for his role on the Appropriations Committee, his support of the military and national security, his efforts on behalf of Native Hawaiians and was, until his death in 2012, the... Read More

John Katz John Katz

John Katz was Senator Stevens’ legislative director in 1971 during Congressional consideration of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. In 1979, he was hired as special counsel on land-use issues for Governor Jay Hammond, and in 1981 Governor Bill Sheffield appointed him as Natural Resources Commissioner. At the time of his 2009 interview, Katz was the Director of State/Federal Relations and Special Counsel to the Governor of Alaska based out of Washington, D.C., a position he held... Read More

William Sheffield William Sheffield

William Sheffield came to Alaska in 1953 as a young sales representative for Sears Roebuck and built a successful network of hotels. He served as Governor of Alaska from 1982-1986. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Alaska Railroad from 1985-1997, was its President and CEO from 1997-2001, and has continued to serve on their Board of Directors. He was key to getting the railroad transferred from federal to state management. In 2001, he became Director of the Port of Anchorage... Read More

Ted Stevens Senator Theodore "Ted" Stevens

Ted Stevens was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1923. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1947 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1950. He served in the United States Army Air Corps in the Second World War in China from 1943-1946. He came to Alaska in the early 1950s, where he practiced law and in 1953 became the district attorney in Fairbanks. During the struggle for Alaska Statehood, in 1956 Stevens became the legislative counsel for... Read More

Congressman Don Young Congressman Don Young

Former school teacher Don Young began his political career as mayor of Fort Yukon, Alaska in 1964. He went on to the Alaska State Legislature where he served in the State House from 1966-1970, and in the State Senate from 1970-1973. In 1973, he became Alaska’s only Representative in the United States House of Representatives. He was on the 1972 ballot, but his democratic opponent, Nick Begich, won the election, despite his having disappeared in an airplane crash while campaigning. Young won... Read More