Mary Nordale’s achievements have had significant impacts on the lives of women in Alaska. By example alone she removed barriers to women in Alaska resource development, as the first woman to be elected to the position of Alaska Mining Association (AMA) president (1994-1996). Her work on ANCSA gave Native women opportunities lacking under tribal custom and practice. She drew up the bylaws and articles of incorporation for the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation (AMHF), and was the foundation’s president from 2004 to 2011.

Talking to Jerry McBeath on August 19, 2024, Nordale said: “When I was breaking into the upper ranks of state government, women’s opinions were avoided to preserve male supremacy. There was male dominance, especially in finance, higher education, and industry (oil/gas, gold). It was not a bitter thing; they didn’t shut me up. Most people were polite and understanding, but they did not change their views.”

Yet Nordale’s accomplishments have had significant impacts on the lives of men too. She has been an educator, for example as member of the UAF School of Engineering Advisory Board, by explaining the obstacles to big project development (and particularly financial requirements and environmental responsibility).

Other appointments of note that Nordale held included Assistant US Attorney in Fairbanks, 1968-1969; Assistant Alaska District Attorney, 1969-1970; and branch counsel to the Small Business Administration (US Department of Commerce), 1970-1972. She was a member of a committee of the Alaska Legislative Council drafting code for business corporations.

Between and after serving in public positions, Nordale has maintained a private practice of law, specializing in business and mining law. (Nordale is a long-term member of the Alaska Bar Association.) Dave Wright, a miner engaged in hard rock exploration for a quarter-century had this to say about Nordale’s legal work. “Our work entailed contracts with many companies that would remove overburden. Mary reviewed our contract negotiations with companies and partnerships.  She went over all of the contracts and pointed out changes we should make in them. When large corporations made changes to our disadvantage, Mary would tell them they could not do so. When I asked her to give me a bill, she smiled but never gave me one.  She was so kindly and did work for us on her own time.”

The most influential mentor Nordale had was Senator Bob Bartlett, Alaska’s delegate to the House of Representative before statehood and then senior U.S. Senator from Alaska, 1959 to 1968. Bartlett was a consummate politician whom Nordale admired and learned from. During her work on Native land claims, another mentor was Robert L. Bennett, who was Area Director for the BIA in Juneau, 1961 and became Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1966.

Nordale’s educational background included a BA in political science from Gonzaga University, 1957, and a JD from the School of Law, George Washington University, 1966.

Honors/Awards: Mary was honored by establishment of the “Mary A. Nordale House Foundation,” which provided low-income (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Section 8) housing for those with disabilities.

Sources

Mary’s interview by Karen Brewster and Bill Schneider in 2022 appeared in Project Jukebox (a digital branch of the UAF oral history program), Elmer E. Rasmuson Library.

In the same year Mary also was interviewed by Robert Hannon, for the Tall Timbers Lecture Series sponsored by UAF Summer Sessions and KUAC.

Tom Bundtzen (Pacific Rim Geological Consulting) interviewed Mary in the period 2012-2024, and is first author of “Mary A. Nordale: Law and Mining in Alaska,” a conference paper for the Alaska Historical Society meeting in Cordova, Alaska, October 2024.

Jerry McBeath (UAF emeritus professor of political science) interviewed Mary at length in the period 2017-2019, covering many dimensions of her life.

The E.L. Bob Bartlett Papers (two large sets of mostly letters and official correspondence and a third set of scrapbooks) are located in the Alaska/Polar Region rooms of the Elmer Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Naske, Claus. Bob Bartlett of Alaska: A Life in Politics. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press, 1979.