Historical Marker Program

Joseph Bradfield Thoburn

Oklahoma County
Location: in Rose Hill Cemetery in Oklahoma City
Coordinates: 35.533461, -97.534527
Material: Granite
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: Early Statehood, 1907–1941; Government; Social/Cultural

Joseph Thoburn (1866–1941), Oklahoma’s pioneer historian, was born in Bellaire, Ohio, and reared and educated in Kansas. Thoburn was secretary of the Oklahoma Commercial Club and the Oklahoma Territorial Board of Agriculture. He was the director of the Oklahoma Historical Society for 38 years and admitted to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1932. He was also active in religious, educational, and civic works. Thoburn was buried in an unmarked grave in Rose Hill Cemetery when he died in 1941. This monument was installed in 1956. The Oklahoma Historical Society secured more than $2,500 from more than 100 donors across the state to purchase the monument.