John Ben "Benny" Benson, Jr. (1913–1972) was the Aleut

Aleut

Aleut people are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, United States and Kamchatka Krai, Russia.-Name:The name "Aleut" comes from the Aleut word allíthuh, meaning "community." A regional self-denomination is ', Unangan or Unanga, meaning "original people." The name Aleut was...

 boy who designed the flag of Alaska

Flag of Alaska

The flag of the state of Alaska consists of eight gold stars, forming the Big Dipper and the North Star, on a dark blue field.The Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major which symbolizes a bear, an animal indigenous to Alaska...

. Benny was 13 when he won in a contest in 1927 to design the flag for the territory of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, which became a U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 in 1959.

Biography

Benny Benson was born in Chignik

Chignik, Alaska

-External links:* / by Mark A. Stichert. Hosted by the ....

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, to a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 father and Aleut-Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 mother. When he was 3 years old, his mother died, forcing his father to send him and his brother Carl to an orphanage, as Benny's father could not take care of them. Benny grew up at the Jesse Lee Children's Home in Unalaska and later in Seward

Seward, Alaska

Seward is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,016....

.

After graduating from high school in 1932, Benny left the Jesse Lee Home. He returned to the Aleutian Islands to work with his father at a fox farm at Ugaiushak Island. The rate for furs began to decline, so Benny moved to Seattle in 1936. He used his prize money of $1,000 to enroll in the Hemphill Diesel Engineering School for diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

 repair. In 1938, Benson married Betty Van Hise. The couple's first child, Anna May, was born in October 1938. Their second daughter, Charlotte Abbot, was born in June 1940. Benson divorced in 1950 and moved with his daughters to Kodiak

Kodiak, Alaska

Kodiak is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...

 where he became an airplane mechanic for Kodiak Airways.

Benny met his sister in the mid 1950s, 30 years after their separation. His sister died soon after. His brother Carl also died in 1965. Benson's right leg had to be amputated

Amputation

Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...

 in 1969 due to an injury. Shortly after that, he met and married a former Jesse Lee Home resident, Anna Sophie Jenks in 1972. Benson had several stepchildren and grandchildren. He died of a heart attack in Kodiak at the age of 58.

The Benny Benson Memorial is located at Mile 1.4 of the Seward Highway

Seward Highway

The Seward Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska that extends 127 miles from Seward to Anchorage. It was completed in 1951 and runs through the scenic Kenai Peninsula and Turnagain Arm, for which it was designated an All-American Road by the U.S...

 in Seward, Alaska

Seward, Alaska

Seward is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,016....

.

Flag design

More than 30 years before Alaska was to become a state, the Alaska Department of the American Legion sponsored a territorial contest for Alaskan children in grades seven through twelve. Benny's design was chosen to represent the future of the Alaska Territory

Alaska Territory

The Territory of Alaska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 24, 1912, until January 3, 1959, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alaska...

. Up to that time, Alaskans had flown only the U.S. flag since the territory was purchased from Russia

Alaska purchase

The Alaska Purchase was the acquisition of the Alaska territory by the United States from Russia in 1867 by a treaty ratified by the Senate. The purchase, made at the initiative of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, gained of new United States territory...

 in 1867. His design was chosen over roughly 700 other submissions from schoolchildren territory-wide in grades 7–12. Most other entries featured variations on the territorial seal, the midnight sun

Midnight sun

The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months at latitudes north and nearby to the south of the Arctic Circle, and south and nearby to the north of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous...

, the northern lights

Aurora (astronomy)

An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...

, polar bears, and/or gold pans

Gold panning

Gold panning, or simply panning, is a form of placer mining that extracts gold from a placer deposit using a pan. The process is one of the simplest ways to extract gold, and is popular with geology enthusiasts because of its cheap cost and the relatively simple and easy process involved. It is the...

. To celebrate his achievement, Benny was awarded $1,000, an engraved watch and a trip to Washington, D.C., the nation's capital.

Benny looked to the sky for the symbols he included in his design. Choosing the familiar constellation he looked for every night before going to sleep at the orphanage, submitted this description with it:

External links

• http://www.museums.state.ak.us/EightStars/src/exhibit_catalog.pdf
• Benny Benson - Alaska's Flag
• "Alaska State Flag, and Song, Intertwined Around Benny Benson"
• "The Alaska State Flag"