View source for George A. Lingo

{{short description|American politician}}

{{Infobox person
|name = George A. Lingo
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|birth_name =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|04|30|df=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Anaconda, Montana]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1976|05|21|1901|04|30|df=yes}}
|death_place = [[Laguna Hills, California]]
|body_discovered =
|death_cause =
|resting_place =
|resting_place_coordinates =
|nationality = [[United States|American]]
|citizenship = U.S.A.
|other_names =
|known_for = Alaska pioneer
|education =
|alma_mater =[[Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines]]
|employer =
|occupation = Entrepreneur, government official, member of the Alaska Territorial Legislature, artist
|years_active =
|spouse = Dorothy Minerva (Troy) Morgan
|children =
|parents =
|signature =
|website =
|footnotes =
}}

'''George Archibald Lingo''' (April 30, 1901 - May 21, 1976), was an American [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] politician from the [[U.S. territory|territory]] (later [[U.S. state|state]]) of [[Alaska]], commemorated as "a pioneer Alaskan in the true sense of the word."<ref>University of Alaska: ''George Lingo 1934-1943'', http://www.alaska.edu/bor/history/george-lingo-1934-1943/, retrieved 20 Oct 2009.</ref>

A native of [[Anaconda, Montana]], Lingo came to Alaska in 1918 with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Archie Lingo. He finished high school in [[Seattle]] at [[Lincoln High School (Seattle, Washington)|Lincoln High]], then entered the [[University of Washington]].<ref>David Tewkesbury and William Tewkesbury: ''Tewkesbury's Who's Who in Alaska and Alaska Business Index'', Tewkesbury Publishers, Juneau, Alaska, 1947, pp. 47-48</ref> After a short UW student career, in 1923 he enrolled in the [[Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines]]. He received a degree in [[mining engineering]] in 1927.

After graduation, he worked with the [[Mount McKinley]] Tourist and Transportation Company and was active in the Mount McKinley Tourist Organization, putting the mountain on the map as a [[tourist attraction]] as early as the late 1920s. In 1932 he was elected to the Alaska Territorial Legislature from [[Fairbanks]] as a representative of the 4th district; he was 31 at the time, the youngest man ever elected to the House{{dubious|date=April 2010}} and the first AAC&SM graduate to hold public office. He served two terms in the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives.

In 1934, he was appointed to the AAC&SM [[Board of Trustees]]. The following year, the Territorial Legislature, thanks in part to Lingo's efforts, changed the name of AAC&SM to the [[University of Alaska]], and the [[Board of Trustees]] to the [[Board of Regents]]. He continued on the Board until 1943.

On May 15, 1935, he married Dorothy Minerva (Troy) Morgan, the younger daughter of then Governor [[John Weir Troy]], in the [[Alaska Governor's Mansion]] in [[Juneau]]; they [[honeymoon]]ed in [[Mount McKinley]] Park. In September they moved to [[Anchorage]], where he served as [[Register of deeds|registrar]] and receiver in the U.S. [[Land Office]], Third Division.

Shortly after the bombing of [[Pearl Harbor]] in 1941, Lingo enlisted in the [[U.S. Navy]] and was assigned to [[Naval Intelligence]] in [[Sitka, Alaska|Sitka]]. He retired from the Navy at the end of [[World War II]] in 1945 as a [[commander]] and moved back to Anchorage. He was a registered guide, worked on a tugboat in Southeastern Alaska, traveled by [[dogsled]] in interior Alaska, mined for [[gold]] all over Alaska, and built the first [[golf course]] in Anchorage.

Lingo ran for the Alaska Territorial Senate in 1954 as an [[Independent (politician)|independent candidate]]. He received only 895 votes out of a total of 22,177 cast for the two seats available in that election. The Democrats won both seats, defeating a Republican incumbent, [[Wasilla, Alaska|Wasilla]] homesteader Gerrit "Heinie" Snider in the process.

In the 1950s, due to a severe bronchial condition, he and his wife moved to [[Palm Desert, California]].<ref>[http://www.alaska.edu/uajourney/regents/1934-1943-george-lingo/ University of Alaska: UA Journey – 1935-1943 George Lingo]</ref> He had counted painters [[Sydney Laurence]] and Eustace Ziegler<ref>AskArt: ''Eustace Paul Ziegler (1881 - 1969)'', http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?artist=2226, retrieved 20 Oct 2009.</ref><ref>The Eustace Ziegler Website, One of Alaska's Most Prolific Artists, http://www.eustaceziegler.com/, retrieved 3 Jul 2010.</ref> as friends in Alaska, and in California he became active in [[oil painting]], studying with some of the West's finest artists.<ref>The Artists' Bluebook, http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?artist=11008558, retrieved 11 Nov 2009.</ref> Avid travelers, the Lingoes traveled twice around the world, and visited 60 countries. He died May 21, 1976, at Saddleback Community Hospital in [[Laguna Hills, California]], after a history of heart trouble. The Alaska State Senate passed Senate Resolution No. 108 of the Ninth Legislature in the State of Alaska to note his death and memorialize his extended service to the state.<ref>University of Alaska, ''George Lingo 1934-1943''...</ref>

==References==
{{Source-attribution|"George Lingo Dies", ''Alaska Alumnus'', Summer 1976, p. 3}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/cdmg11&CISOPTR=5378&REC=28 Alaska's Digital Archives] - Photo, taken 1935, as Alaska's territorial governor [[John Weir Troy]] signs legislation renaming the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines to the University of Alaska. Lingo is at right, seated. [[James Wickersham]] and [[Charles E. Bunnell]] are at left, standing.
* [http://100years.akleg.gov/bio.php?id=1251 George Lingo] at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lingo, George A.}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:American businesspeople in real estate]]
[[Category:American transportation businesspeople]]
[[Category:Artists from California]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Fairbanks, Alaska]]
[[Category:Members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature]]
[[Category:People from Anaconda, Montana]]
[[Category:Politicians from Fairbanks, Alaska]]
[[Category:Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska]]
[[Category:People from Palm Desert, California]]
[[Category:University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni]]
[[Category:University of Alaska regents]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American academics]]