The Oklahoma Historical Society will dedicate a historical marker commemorating the life of Kate Barnard at Guthrie City Hall on Thursday, October 1, at 11 a.m.

Barnard was the first woman elected to state office in Oklahoma, and Guthrie is the historic site where she and other state officials were inaugurated on November 16, 1907, when Oklahoma was admitted to the Union as the 46th state.

A brief ceremony will feature Trait Thompson, OHS executive director; Connie Cronley, author of the award-winning book A Life on Fire: Oklahoma’s Kate Barnard; and Lexi Kruse, a high school student at Morrison Public Schools. Kruse will perform “She Would Not Be Silent: Kate Barnard and the Cost of Reform,” which earned first place nationally for individual performance at the National History Day competition in Maryland.

Catherine Ann “Kate” Barnard (1875–1930) was the only woman invited to address the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention in Guthrie. “Kate’s planks,” as they were called, prohibited child labor, enacted a compulsory education law, and created the office of Commissioner of Charities and Corrections, to which she was elected in November 1907. She was the first woman in Oklahoma elected to state office and was responsible for inspecting more than 300 hospitals, orphanages, and correctional institutions.

Light refreshments will be provided. A limited number of copies of Cronley’s book will be available for sale. Guthrie City Hall is located at 101 N. 2nd St. in Guthrie.