On July 7, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act, allowing Alaska to become the 49th state in the United States.

From 1867 to 1884, Alaska was considered to be a military district of the United States under the control of the federal government. Alaskans had sought statehood since as early as the 1920s though this vision was not realized until after World War II. Alaska’s desire for statehood was much aided by the amount of attention it received during WWII and the Cold War years. It became an important strategic military base and a key to the Pacific, and its population increased with the amount of soldiers sent there. Still, many barriers stood between Alaska and statehood.

Many Alaskans who benefited largely from Alaska’s small tax base did not want themselves or their businesses to be hurt financially by the increase in taxes that would result from statehood. Other Alaskans feared that statehood would result in a flood of more people coming to Alaska, which they didn't want. However, the majority of people wanted statehood and passed a Referendum for statehood in Alaska in 1946.

The Alaska Statehood Committee was established in 1949 in an attempt to encourage Congress to make Alaska a state. Journalists, newspaper editors, politicians, and members of national and labor organizations used their positions and power to make the issue of Alaskan statehood more known. Several bills were introduced into Congress throughout the 1940s and 1950s, but none managed to pass. Republicans would not support the bills, because Alaska was considered a Democratic state and they feared adding more Democrats to Congress.

Eventually, the Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, who had been an ardent opponent of the Alaskan statehood cause, changed his mind. When Congress reconvened in January 1958, President Eisenhower fully endorsed the bill for the first time.

Finally, the House and the Senate both passed the statehood bill. President Eisenhower signed it into law on July 7, 1958. On January 3, 1959, after much struggle, Alaska finally became the 49th state of the United States of America.