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Michael J. Hightower Collection

Audio tapes, transcriptions, and notes were donated to OHS on July 15, 2014. Interviews are listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Associations and Companies

Roger Beverage
Oklahoma Bankers Association, Oklahoma City
June 21, 2011
View transcript (PDF)

Community Bankers Assoc. of Oklahoma
(interview in OHC boardroom)
August 10, 2011

Tom Loy
MetaFund, Oklahoma City
November 5, 2012
View transcript (PDF)

Bob McCormack
McCormack and Assoc., Duncan
June 22, 2011
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Steve Plunk
Shiloh Management Consultants Tulsa (interview in Hightower Building, Oklahoma City)
August 3, 2012
View transcript (PDF)

Gary Simpson
OBA Chair of Banking and Finance OSU, Stillwater
November 9, 2012
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Mick Thompson
Oklahoma State Banking Commissioner, Oklahoma City
February 6, 2012
View transcript (PDF)

Larkin Warner
Professor Emeritus of Economics, OSU
Oklahoma City (interview in Warner's home)
July 30, 2012
View transcript (PDF)

BancFirst

Jim Bowles
Shawnee
April 10, 2012

Les Greathouse
Oklahoma City (interview in Greathouse's home)
October 13, 2011

Dennis Brand
Support Center, Oklahoma City
February 11, 2014

Wayne Cardwell
Claremore
January 31, 2012

Gordon Greer
Tulsa
November 13, 2012

Ralph McCalmont
Oklahoma City (interview in McCalmont's home)
October 17, 2011

David Rainbolt
Support Center, Oklahoma City
June 21, 2011

H. E. "Gene" Rainbolt
Support Center, Oklahoma City
October 18, 2011

Michael Rogers
Support Center, Oklahoma City
October 18, 2011

Northeast

Bill and Guy Berry
American Heritage Bank, Sapulpa
April 18, 2012
View transcript (PDF)

Kent Crain and Felix Hensley
American AgCredit, Ponca City
March 16, 2011
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Frederick Drummond
Cleveland Bank (interview in Pawhuska)
March 17, 2011
View transcript
(PDF)

Tracy and Polly Kelly
Spirit Bank, Bristow
July 8, 2010
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Mike Leonard
First National Bank, Muskogee
April 17, 2012
View transcript (PDF)

John and Carlisle Mabrey
Citizens Security Bank, Bixby
October 24, 2011
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Ben Walkingstick
BancFirst (formerly Union National Bank), Chandler
November 22, 2010
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Mark White
Osage Federal Bank, Bartlesville and Pawhuska (interview in Pawhuska)
March 17, 2011
View transcript (PDF)

Northwest

Bruce Benbrook
Stock Exchange Bank, Woodward
August 24, 2010
View transcript (PDF)

Joel Champlin
First National Bank and Trust Co., Champlin Refining Co., Enid (interview in Champlin home)
April 27, 2011
View transcript (PDF)

Matt Jackson and Linda Christensen
Bank of the West, Thomas
August 17, 2011
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Patricia Loosen and Joyce Treece
First Bank, Okarche
August 30, 2010
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Marilyn Myers and Clint Elliott
Central National Bank, Alva
November 17, 2010
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James D. and Kirk Pittman
First National Bank, Seiling
June 23, 2011
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Oklahoma City Metro

Carolyn Berry
Nichols and Berry Families, Oklahoma City (interview in Harbor Springs, MI)
August 7, 2008
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Nick Berry
Jordan and Associates, Oklahoma City (phone interview)
September 5, 2013
View transcript (PDF)

Dannie Bea Hightower
Johnson and Hightower Families, Oklahoma City (interview in Harbor Springs, MI)
June 28, 29, 2008
View transcript (PDF)

G. P. Johnson Hightower
Veteran banker, Oklahoma City (2 audio cassettes)
October 17, 22, 2013
View transcript (PDF)

George W. James
James Family and T. L. James Construction Co., Harbor Springs, MI (notes from informal meeting, no transcription)
August 14, 2013

Gerald R. Marshall
Liberty Bank, FNB OKC, Oklahoma City
March 11, 2011
View transcript (PDF)

George and Nancy Records
MidFirst Bank, Oklahoma City (interview in Records home)
June 4, 2009
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Betty Rodgers-Johnson
MidFirst Bank, Oklahoma City (interview in Rodgers-Johnson home)
February 13, 2009
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Meg Salyer
Chase Manhattan Bank, NY, Oklahoma City
April 23, 2012
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Gayla Sherry
Liberty Bank, Federal Reserve, Oklahoma City (interview in OBA offices)
March 9, 2011
View transcript (PDF)

Panhandle

Steve Baggerly
Bank of the Panhandle, Guymon
August 18, 2011
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Tim Barnes
First State Bank, Boise City
August 18, 2011
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Charlie and Charlotte Butler
First National Bank, Hooker (interview in Charlotte Butler's home)
August 19, 2011
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Paul M. Freeman
First National Bank, Texhoma
August 19, 2011
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V. Pauline Hodges
Beaver County Historical Society, Beaver (interview at First Security Bank)
August 19, 2011
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Jimmy Webster
City National Bank, Guymon
August 18, 2011
View transcript (PDF)

Southeast

Jimmy Eppler, David Young, and Scott Estes
Citizens Bank, Ada
July 19, 2010
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R. Bruce Hall
First National Bank, McAlester
January 31, 2012
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Jim Hamby and Denver Davison
Vision Bank, Ada
July 19, 2010
View transcript
(PDF)

Bill Jordan, Kelly Jordan, Laura Miller, and Jerry Fowler
Farmers State Bank, Quinton
October 24, 2011
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Charles McCall
Ameristate Bank, Atoka
October 25, 2011
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John Massey
First United Bank, Durant
October 25, 2011
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Chris Moore
First United Bank, Bokchito (interview notes in text format only)
April 29, 2010
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Brian Shipp
Idabel National Bank, Idabel
October 26, 2011
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Mike Stidham, Lee Stidham, and Robert Jennings
Peoples National Bank, Checotah
November 16, 2010
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Southwest

Bob Bates, Sheila Bell, and Curtis Davidson
First National Bank, Ardmore (interview notes in text format only)
August 6, 2012
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Don and Kitty Clark
First State Bank, Anadarko
January 23, 2012
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Bill Crawford and Gib Gibson
Lawton and Frederick Banks (interview at Waterford Hotel, OKC)
April 28, 2014
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Ken Fergeson
NBC Oklahoma, Altus (interview in OHC studio, transcribed from videotape)
April 26, 2010
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Clayton L. "Buddy" Green, Jr.
Liberty National Bank, Lawton
April 17, 2014
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W. R. Moon
Chickasha Bank and Trust Co., Bank of Velma (interview in Chickasha)
May 2, 2011
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Lindell Pettigrew
Chickasha Bank and Trust Co., Chickasha
August 15, 2011
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Roma Lee Porter, Teresa Heater, and William Paul Ellwanger
City National Bank, Lawton
August 23, 2010
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Tulsa Metro

Margery Bird
FNB Tulsa, Tulsa (interview in Bird's home)
July 16, 2010
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George Kaiser and Stan Lybarger
Bank of Oklahoma, Tulsa (interview notes in text format only)
August 2, 2012
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Homer Paul
Citizens Security Bank, Bixby (interview in OHC studio, transcribed from videotape)
April 20, 2010
View transcript (PDF)

Publications

Banking in Oklahoma Before Statehood

By Michael J. Hightower
(University of Oklahoma Press, October 2013)


Banking in Oklahoma, 1907–2000

By Michael J. Hightower, Foreword by Frank Keating
(University of Oklahoma Press, September 2014)

Orders

Banking in Oklahoma Before Statehood and Banking in Oklahoma, 1907–2000 are available for purchase in the Oklahoma History Center Museum Store. All sales benefit the Oklahoma Historical Society. To order, please call 405-521-2491 or visit the store online.

About the Author

Michael J. Hightower, PhD, is a native of Oklahoma City. He has taught as a visiting lecturer at the University of Virginia and Washington and Lee University and is former president of Council Oak Books in Tulsa. As a descendant of businessmen who settled in the Oklahoma Territory in the 1890s, he writes about America's frontier experience, banking, and commerce. He served as principal researcher for the Oklahoma Historical Society's Oklahoma Bank and Commerce History Project.