Anthony Joseph Dimond (November 30, 1881 – May 28, 1953) was an American Democratic Party politician who was the

Alaska Territory The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; th ...

Delegate in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1933 to 1945. Dimond was also an early champion of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

statehood.

Early life

Dimond, known as "Tony," was born in Palatine Bridge, Montgomery County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and attended

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schools, taught school in Montgomery County (1900–1903), and was a prospector/miner in Alaska (1905–1912) before studying law and beginning practice in Valdez (1913).

Political career

Dimond's political experience includes: US Commissioner in Chisana, Alaska (1913–1914); Special Assistant US Attorney for the 3rd Judicial Division of Alaska in Valdez (1917); Mayor of Valdez (1920–1922, 1925–1932); Alaska Territorial Senate (1923–1926, 1929–1932); and District Judge for the 3rd Division of Alaska (1945–1953). He also served as a Delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in 1936 and 1940. He died on May 28, 1953, in

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

. A

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, Dimond was a member of organizations such as the

Elks The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...

Moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

and

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

Mentees' careers

His secretary from 1933 to 1934,

Bob Bartlett Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett (April 20, 1904 – December 11, 1968), was an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. Senator. A key fighter for Alaska statehood, Bartlett served as the Secretary of Alask ...

, eventually became a

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from Alaska, serving from 1959 to 1968. His godson, Bill Egan, became Alaska's first Governor after Statehood, serving from 1959 to 1966 and from 1970 to 1974. His son, John H. Dimond, became a Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court following statehood.

Legacy

Today, November 30 is celebrated by the State of Alaska as "Anthony Dimond Day." In

, A. J. Dimond High School and Dimond Boulevard, a major thoroughfare, are named after him.

Slattery Report

In 1940, when President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

was considering making Alaska an international Jewish homeland, Dimond was the main force behind defeating the effort.Kizzia, Tom.
Are there no exceptions?
" ''Anchorage Daily News,'' 19 May 1999. Accessed 1 Feb. 2013.

References

External links

* *
Anthony Dimond
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dimond, Anthony Joseph 1881 births 1953 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Alaska Alaska Territory judges Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Alaska Territory Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Alaska Mayors of Valdez, Alaska Members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska People from Palatine Bridge, New York 20th-century American judges 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives