Women in Oklahoma History

OHS Museums and Historic Sites

May Lillie, Amanda Ross, and the Pioneer Woman statue

May Lillie was a sharpshooter, expert rider, and co-owner of a Wild West Show with her husband, Pawnee Bill. Learn more at the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum in Pawnee.

Amanda and Minerva Murrell were both mistresses of Hunter’s Home. Find out about their lives, and the lives of the plantation’s enslaved women at Hunter’s Home in Park Hill.

The Pioneer Woman Museum and Statue in Ponca City is dedicated to the enduring spirit of women—past, present, and future—who see no boundaries. Learn more at the Pioneer Woman Museum.

Women’s Suffrage

Individuals

Organizations and Topics

Manuscript Guides
Use our manuscript guides to discover the collections and materials in the OHS Manuscript Archives.
Women's Suffrage (PDF)
Equal Rights Amendment (PDF)

Online Exhibits
Women’s Suffrage in Oklahoma: This e-exhibit includes the story of suffrage in Oklahoma, activities for students, a glossary, and bibliography.
Votes for Women: 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage: One of our popular traveling exhibits is now available online.

Traveling Exhibit from the Oklahoma History Center
Votes for Women: 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage

The Chronicles of Oklahoma
Volume 98, No. 2 (Summer 2020)
The summer 2020 issue includes “‘An Appeal to Reason’: Women’s Suffrage in Oklahoma and Indian Territories, 1890–1907” by Linda D. Wilson, “‘O. C. Woman Will Picket’: Kate C. Stafford and the National Woman’s Party” by Tally D. Fugate, “Women in Tribal Politics: The Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma” by Regina Slaughter Gordon, and Notes and Documents exploring resources about women’s suffrage and women in politics at the OHS Research Center.

Copies are available in the Oklahoma History Center Museum Store. You may also purchase a copy online.

Volume 61, No. 2 (Summer 1983)
“No Job for a Woman,” by Bernice Crockett

Drusilla Dunjee Houston

Civic Leaders, Politicians, and Trailblazers

Territorial Era and Early Oklahoma

Drusilla Dunjee Houston

The Twentieth Century and Beyond

Writers

Learn about some of Oklahoma’s celebrated female authors in the online exhibit Oklahoma Writers: A Literary Tableau.

Find more about Oklahoma’s writers
in The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

Narcissa Owen

Artists

Adah Robinson

Joan Hill

The National Register of Historic Places

Use the links below to view the National Register listing for these historic properties.

Audio and Video

The Clara Luper Show
Listen to select episodes on YouTube

“Our Good Angel, Kate,” A Very OK Podcast
“Votes for Women!,” A Very OK Podcast
“Women in Broadcasting,” A Very OK Podcast

Pawnee Bill Ranch Podcast: “May Lillie”
Listen now | View transcript

“Women in Journalism Roundtable” (2014)
The Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma History Center, and OKPOP present a roundtable discussion featuring Linda Cavanaugh, Sue Hale, Pam Olson, Jenifer Reynolds, and Vivian Vahlberg.

This Land is Herland series

“The Gendered Politics of Civil Rights” (2020)
“Making History: Being an NAACP Plaintiff—Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher,” by Cheryl Wattley
“‘To Speak so Forthrightly as to Offend’: The Civil Rights Activism and Confinement of Rosalyn ‘Rosie’ Coleman Gilchrist,” by Dr. Sarah Eppler Janda
“Barbara ‘Wahru’ Cleveland and Herland Sister Resources,” by Dr. Lindsey Churchill

“Contested Notions of Equality” (2020)
“LaDonna Harris: Comanche Leader, Activist, Matriarch,” by Dr. Amanda Cobb-Greetham
“‘Until We Organized’: Wanda Jo Peltier Stapleton and the Equal Rights Amendment Debate in Oklahoma, 1972–1982,” by Chelsea Ball
“‘My Children Are More Important to Me Than Any Office I Might Hold’: Mary Fallin’s Use of Motherhood as a Conservative Political Strategy,” by Dr. Patricia Loughlin

“The Fluidity of Power” (2020)
“An ‘Intrepid Pioneer Leader’: The A-Suffrage Gendered Activism of Kate Barnard,” by Dr. Sunu Kodumthara
“‘My Heart Had Been Burdened for the Orphaned and Homeless Children’: Religious Imperative and Maternalism in the Work of Mattie Mallory,” by Dr. Heather Clemmer
“A ‘Loyal Countrywoman’: Rachel Caroline Eaton, Alumna of the Cherokee National Female Seminary,” by Dr. Farina King

Historical Markers

Alice Robertson, Muskogee County
Alice Robertson, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was Oklahoma's first female member of Congress, elected in 1920 from the Second Congressional District for one term. Located in Greenhill Cemetery in Muskogee (DAR).
Black Iron Fountain, Kay County
The first watering fountain in Ponca City once stood near the Marland Estate stables. Louise Fluke, the designer of the Oklahoma state flag, repainted the reliefs on the fountain. Located at the intersection of Fourth Street and Grand Avenue in Ponca City (DAR).
Bloomfield Academy, Bryan County
Bloomfield Academy, a seminary for Chickasaw girls, was established in 1853 by authority of the Methodist Missionary Board. Located on OK-299, one and a half miles south of Achille.
Carry A. Nation, Dewey County
Carry Nation and her husband David lived in a log cabin on this site after the opening of the Cheyenne-Arapaho lands in 1892. After moving to Medicine Lodge, Kansas, in 1899, Nation began her famous crusade against liquor, including using a hatchet to smash saloons. Located on US-183 south of the intersection with US-60.
Drummond Home, Osage County
Frederick Drummond immigrated to the United States from Scotland in the 1880s. After moving to the Osage Reservation, he established the Hominy Trading Company in 1904 and expanded his operations into the cattle business and buying and leasing American Indian lands, eventually building one of the state's largest ranches. Drummond and his wife, Addie, constructed this substantial Victorian home in 1905. Most of the original fine furnishings, as well as family records, photographs, and other personal items are still in the house. Located at 305 North Price in Hominy.
Emahaka Mission, Seminole County
A school for Seminole girls was established in 1894. Alice Brown Davis, who later became first female chief of the Seminole, was the superintendent in 1908. The school was abandoned in 1914. Located five miles south of Wewoka at the intersection of US-270 and State-56.
Emet, Johnston County
One of the first towns established in Johnston County, Emet originated when the Chickasaw Council House was moved from Boggy Depot to this area, two miles east of the Pleasant Grove Mission in the early 1850s. The Pleasant Grove Mission School was established by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844 to serve the children of the Chickasaws. Located Chickasaw White House.
Fairfield Mission, Adair County
The mission building was completed in 1829 by Dr. Marcus Palmer, a missionary to the Cherokees. The mission stood in a grove of large trees a few hundred feet east of the cemetery now known as McLemore Cemetery. Noted missionaries and teachers at the mission included Elizur Butler, Charles C. Torrey, Clarissa Palmer, Lucy Butler, and Esther Smith. A circulation library, possibly the state's first, was established at the mission in 1832. Located at the junction of OK-100 and US-59 on the south edge of Stilwell.
Garland Cemetery, McCurtain County
This cemetery was the family burying ground for prominent Choctaws. Chief Samuel Garland established a plantation here after his arrival on the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. Buried here are Chief Garland and his mother-in-law, Sophia Pitchlynn, who was the mother of Choctaw Chief Peter Pitchlynn. Located on OK-3, three miles west of the Oklahoma–Arkansas border.
Kunc Family Homestead/Bradbury Corner Historical Marker, Oklahoma County
James and Katherine Kunc and son William made the run and homesteaded a quarter section on the southwest corner of Second and Sooner on April 22, 1889. In 1923 Everett Bradbury purchased one acre of land on the northeast corner of the homestead and established a campground and filling station. This intersection was the junction of US Highway 66 and US Highway 77 and became known as Bradbury Corner. Located on Second Street at the entrance to Holiday Inn Express.
Louise Fluke Memorial, Pottawatomie County
Louise Funk Fluke (1900–1986), designer of the state flag of Oklahoma, was born in Arkansas and raised in Shawnee. She entered the winning flag design in a statewide contest in 1925 through the Wunagisa Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Located at 614 East Main, Shawnee)
Millie Durgan, Kiowa County
Millie Durgan was 18 months old when she was captured by Kiowa Indians in the Elm Creek Raid in north Texas in 1864. She was adopted by the Kiowa tribe and later married a Kiowa man. Located at the intersection of OK-9 and OK-115, one mile east of Mountain View.
Nuyaka Mission, Okmulgee County
Through the efforts of educator Alice Robertson, who also served as Oklahoma’s first female member of Congress, the mission was established by the Presbyterian Board and the Creek Nation in 1882. Robertson also founded Henry Kendall College, which became the University of Tulsa. Located on OK-56, nine miles west of Okmulgee.
Oklahoma City DAR Chapter, Oklahoma County
The Oklahoma City Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized in 1904 in the home of Mrs. Robert Carpenter. Located at 212 Northwest 15th Street in Oklahoma City (DAR).
Pine Ridge Mission, Choctaw County
Presbyterian minister Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury established the Pine Ridge Mission in 1836. The Choctaw Council established a school for girls, Chuahla Female Seminary, at the mission in 1842, which Kingsbury supervised. The school was closed during the Civil War. Located on east side of Red Road 1/2 mile north of Doaksville/Fort Towson Cemetery.
Post Office at Loretta, Texas County
Texhoma was originally called Loretta after Loretta Cain, the first postmaster. The town’s name was changed in 1902. Located on US-54 on the east side of Texhoma.)
Red Wheat Allotment, Custer County
Prior to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Reservation land run of April 19, 1892, this quarter-section of land was allotted to a Cheyenne woman named Red Wheat. Mennonite emigrants from Russia introduced ‘Turkey red’ winter wheat to northwest Oklahoma. Located on OK-66 at the east edge of Clinton.
Sophia Folsom Pitchlynn, McCurtain County
In this cemetery is the grave of Sophia Folsom Pitchlynn, wife of Major John Pitchlynn, who served under General George Washington in the Revolutionary War. Located in Garland Cemetery near the town of Tom (DAR).
St. Louis School, Osage County
This Osage girls school was founded in 1887 by Mother Mary Katharine Drexel, a Philadelphia heiress who entered a convent as a young woman and used her fortune to support educational institutions across the southern US and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. The school’s original frame building burned in 1889 and was replaced by a four-story stone building. In 2000 Mother Katharine was named a saint by Pope John Paul II. Located just off US-60 south and west of Clear Creek Bridge in Pawhuska.
Stella Friends Academy, Alfalfa County
A group of Quakers settled this part of the Cherokee Outlet in 1893. A primary school opened in a sod house and was named for the first teacher, Stella Howard. Within four years a high school was built. The school closed in 1922 after railroad expansion brought new towns and free schools into the area. Located on OK-11, two miles east of the junction with US-64, north of Cherokee.
Tullahassee Mission, Wagoner County
Tullahassee was established as a Creek mission by Presbyterian Reverend R. M. Loughridge in 1848. Alice Robertson, later Oklahoma's first congresswoman, was born here. Located on US-69, 1/4 mile north of Arkansas River.
Tuskegee Baptist Church
McIntosh County
Annie Walker Armstrong was corresponding secretary of the Woman’s Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention which sent missionaries to the area. The church was founded here in 1867. Nearby is another marker that notes the rock that Armstrong used to mount her horse during a visit to the church in 1900. Located at the intersection of OK-9 and NS-411 (OBHC))
Wheelock Academy, McCurtain County
This boarding school for Choctaw orphan girls was completed in 1884 northeast of the Wheelock Church. Five of the buildings survived and are being restored by the Choctaw Nation. Located on US-70, one and a half miles east of Millerton.
Wynona, Osage County
A post office was established in 1903 in Wynona. The name is a Sioux word meaning "first-born daughter." Located on OK-99, eight miles south of Pawhuska.

Researching Women in Oklahoma History

Women in Oklahoma: A Century of Change (OHS, 1979) edited by Melvena K. Thurman

Read online | Download epub

Photographs, Manuscripts, Oral Histories, Books, and Periodicals
OHS Research Center online catalog
The Gateway to Oklahoma History

Manuscript Guides

Learn More
The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

Leona Mitchell, Wanda Jackson, and Tessie Mobley

Musicians

Actors and Performers

“‘Anything You Can Do’: American Cowgirl Lucille Mulhall,” Crossroads online publication
Learn about the evolution of women’s roles in the West and the birth of the American cowgirl.

Civil Rights Leaders

“The Good Fight,” Crossroads online publication
Hear firsthand accounts of Oklahoma’s sit-in movement and its leader—Clara Luper—from two women who were there.

Find more about civil rights leaders and history
in The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
Drusilla Dunjee Houston Clara Luper Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher

The Chronicles of Oklahoma
Volume 97, No. 3 (Fall 2019)
“An Unflinching Call for Freedom: Clara Luper’s Pedagogy at the Center of Sit-Ins,” by Rachel E. Watson

Volume 90, No. 4 (Winter 2012–13)
“Unforgotten Trailblazer: Nancy O. Randolph Davis,” by Gloria J. Pollard

Resources for Educators, Parents, and Students

E-Exhibit
Women’s Suffrage in Oklahoma

Traveling Exhibits
Bring a traveling exhibit to your school, library, church, or local community center.
Votes for Women: 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage
Women of Oklahoma

Women of Oklahoma trunk
Learn about the notable women of Oklahoma through activities and items that bring to life not only the stories of Oklahoma women, but how they have shaped the state and the nation.
View trunk contents description.

History Alive! Outreach
Bring a virtual living history program to your classroom or organization. Visit the History Alive! page for more information. Living history presentations include:
Colonial Dance
1830s Beadwork Artist
Civil War Laundress
Pioneer Woman
Harvey Girl
Dust Bowl Housewife
World War II Nurse

Teacher Resource Guides correlating to US History Academic Standards
USH.2.1 Evaluate the transformation of American society, economy and politics during the American Industrial Revolution.
D. Analyze major social reform movements including the Women's Suffrage and Temperance Movement and the leadership of Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, and Jane Addams.

USH.3.2 Evaluate the long-term impact of America's entry into World War I on national politics, the economy, and society.
B. Analyze the impact of the war on the home front including the use of propaganda, women's increased role in industry...

USH.5.1 Describe the transformations in American society and government policy as the nation mobilized for entry into World War II.
C. Examine President Franklin Roosevelt's Day Which Will Live in Infamy speech and America's conduct of the war, including the role of women and minorities in the war effort...

The Chronicles of Oklahoma Online

Volume 97, No. 3 (Fall 2019)
“An Unflinching Call for Freedom: Clara Luper’s Pedagogy at the Center of Sit-Ins,” by Rachel E. Watson

Clara Luper served on the front lines of the battle to integrate Oklahoma City’s public accommodations. As a teacher and the adviser for the NAACP Youth Council, she taught countless children and teenagers how to demonstrate peacefully as they fought for their civil rights. Rachel E. Watson focuses on Luper’s pedagogy, and how her classroom engagement raised a group of activists calling for freedom.

Volume 96, No. 4 (Winter 2018–19)
“Cherokee National Female Seminary Principal Teacher Etta Jane Rider and Her Assistant Teachers, 1901–04,” by James G. McCullagh and James S. Davis

Etta Jane Rider, a teacher from Iowa, served as the principal teacher of the Cherokee National Female Seminary from 1901 to 1904. James G. McCullagh and James S. Davis highlight this short period in the career of Etta Jane Rider, and name the teachers who assisted her in educating the young women of the Cherokee Nation.

Volume 94, No. 1 (Spring 2016)
“The YWCA’s Y-Chapel of Song and the Central Plate” by Patrick H. Salkeld

In March 1941 the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) proposed the building of a chapel on the campus of Central State College, now the University of Central Oklahoma. Patrick H. Salkeld recounts the fundraising efforts undertaken and design decisions made during the process of constructing the Y-Chapel of Song.

Volume 93, No. 1 (Spring 2015)
“Rooted in the Plains: Oklahoma Women, Community, and the Dust Bowl,” by Shelly Lemons and Steven Knoche Kite

To cope with the hard times brought on by the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, women in the Oklahoma Panhandle fostered a sense of community that bonded them for life. As a part of the Dust Bowl Oral History Project at Oklahoma State University, Shelly Lemons and Steven Knoche Kite investigate the lives of ordinary women in extraordinarily difficult circumstances and explain why these women remained in this harsh environment.

Volume 92, No. 4, (Winter 2014–15)
“Mary Alice Hearrell Murray: A Chickasaw Girl in Indian Territory,” by Linda Williams Reese

The influence of wives of notable men is often underestimated. Mary Alice Hearrell Murray was an educated, well-connected young woman when she married attorney and future Oklahoma Governor William H. Murray. As part of an ongoing study, Linda Williams Reese examines the early life of Alice Hearrell Murray and her impact on the beginning of her husband’s career.

Volume 90, No. 4 (Winter 2012–13)
“Unforgotten Trailblazer: Nancy O. Randolph Davis,” by Gloria J. Pollard

In her roles as a student, a teacher, and a NAACP Youth Council sponsor, Nancy O. Randolph Davis fought for equality for African American young people. Her behind-the-scenes work made possible the advancement of Oklahoma’s Civil Rights Movement. Based on conversations with Davis, Gloria J. Pollard has written an insightful biography of this icon of equal education and civil rights.

Volume 90, No. 2 (Summer 2012)
“Communists, Poetry, and Oklahoma History: The Life of Zoe Agnes Stratton Tilghman,” by Mallory Newell

Zoe Tilghman possessed a passion for writing about Oklahoma and for encouraging budding writers. Mallory Newel describes Tilghman’s career and works, giving particular attention to the difficulties she encountered during her time with the Federal Writers Project.

Volume 90, No. 1 (Spring 2012)
“Vilona P. Cutler: Humanitarian, Activist, and Educator,” by Gregory N. Pierson

When Vilona P. Cutler was young, she thought she would become a renowned scientist. Instead, Cutler became a driving force in the movement to stop racism and sexism in Oklahoma. As a leader in the Young Women’s Christian Association, Cutler fought injustice by providing opportunities for young women. Gregory N. Pierson tells the story of Cutler’s achievements as executive secretary of the YWCA in Oklahoma City.

Volume 88, No. 4, (Winter 2010–11)
“Planting the ‘Long-Rooted Grass’: The Eufaula Boarding School for Girls, 1910–1962,” by Linda Ford Wendel

While most tales of American Indian boarding schools recount abuse and loss of identity, the story of the Eufaula Boarding School for Girls includes times of celebration of Creek culture and care for the students. As Linda Ford Wendel shows, hard work was a part of daily life, but music, family visits, and Creek cultural activities were also encouraged.

Volume 88, No. 3 (Fall 2010)
“Preaching in the ‘Open Air’: The Ministries of Early Pentecostal Women Preachers in Oklahoma,” by Kristen D. Welch

Women may not have been able to hold official positions in the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC), but the four women described by Kristen D. Welch had a great amount of influence over the people to whom they preached. Welch profiles Dollie York, Lucy Hargis, Grace Curtis, and Ruth Moore, all itinerate preachers for the IPHC who used the outdoors as their pulpit for saving souls.

Volume 81, No. 3 (Fall 2003)
“‘She Would Raise Hens to Aid War’: The Contributions of Oklahoma Women during World War I,” by Melanie Rich

When historians write about great wars, they often record only the actions of men, leaving women completely out of the picture. However, women’s contributions and achievements have often equaled those of men. Melanie Rich recounts the activities of Oklahoma women, often outside the domestic sphere, and the sacrifices they made to win a world war.

Volume 78, No. 2 (Summer 2000)
“Kate Barnard: The Story of a Woman Politician,” by Linda Edmondson and Margaret Larason

In 1907 Kate Barnard won election as the state’s first commissioner of charities and corrections as a champion of working women, children, labor unions, prisoners, and people with disabilities or mental illness. Her downfall, however, came as a result of her investigation of Indian estate and guardianship fraud cases. Linda Edmondson and Margaret Larason provide a fascinating account of a skillful but little-known “woman politician” whose dedication to social causes has not been equaled.

Volume 77, No. 4 (Winter 1999–2000)
“‘Dear Miss Debo’: The Correspondence of E. E. Dale and Angie Debo,” by Richard Lowitt

Beginning in 1925 and continuing over the course of nearly fifty years, historians Edward Everett Dale and Angie Debo produced a voluminous correspondence that details the relationship between an established professor of history and one of his students. Through letters that illuminate the character and talents of both individuals, Richard Lowitt reconstructs both the academic world and the professional development of an independent and confident scholar who in the end became the better historian.

Volume 77, No. 2 (Summer 1999)
“Mrs. Oliver O. “Mamie” Hammonds: The ‘She-svengali’ of Oklahoma,” by Janel A. Mattingly

In the late 1920s news and rumors coming out of the governor’s office rocked state government after Governor Henry S. Johnston hired Mamie Hammonds as confidential secretary. Janel Mattingly examines the two eccentric personalities and a relationship that eventually led to the “ewe lamb rebellion” and to Johnston’s removal from office.

Volume 75, No. 1 (Spring 1997)
“‘Fortunate Enough and Plucky Enough’: The Unattached Women of the Cherokee Outlet,” by Debbie Kindt Michalke

Among the thousands of would-be settlers who rushed for land during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in 1893 were a number of unattached women determined to match their mettle with others making the run. Debbie Michalke relates the experiences of single women such as Laura Crews who successfully staked claims and stayed to make significant contributions to the development of present-day Oklahoma.

Volume 75, No. 2 (Summer 1997)
“Mary Rice Greenfield,” by Joyce Waggoner

Mary Rice Greenfield began her teaching career in 1893 in a small community near Watonga, Oklahoma, then served on the faculty at Southwestern State Normal School in Weatherford during its infancy before moving on to a long career at Friends University in Kansas. Joyce Waggoner summarizes the life and times of a pioneer Oklahoman whose legacy lives well beyond her lifetime.

Volume 73, No. 3 (Fall 1995)
“Jerrie Cobb, Aviation Pioneer,” by Debbie Michalke

In the early 1960s Oklahoma pilot Jerrie Cobb became the first woman accepted by NASA to undergo astronaut testing and training. Debbie Michalke traces the Oklahoma roots and early career of a determined and record-setting aviator who later flew humanitarian missions to the jungles of Amazonia.

Volume 73, No. 2 (Summer 1995)
“Mollie Shepherd, Indian Columnist,” by Carol J. Woitchek

During the 1960s Mollie Shepherd, a Kingfisher, Oklahoma, newspaper columnist of Cheyenne descent, chronicled the events of the Native American community. Sometimes flavored with Indian legends, social commentary, and personal observation, her column reached a wide and appreciative audience. Carol Woitchek discusses Mollie’s life and her place in contemporary Native American writing.

Volume 70, No. 3 (Fall 1992)
“Alice’s Restaurant: Expanding a Woman’s Sphere,” by Maitreyi Mazumdar

In 1920 Oklahoma sent Alice Mary Robertson, its first congresswoman, to Washington. Robertson’s entire personal and political life was a contradiction to the era’s traditional women’s roles. Maitreyi Mazumdar analyses the life of a unique woman forced by circumstances beyond her control to live a “man’s life,” but nonetheless believing she was protecting a “woman’s sphere” by entering politics.

Volume 69, No. 4 (Winter 1991–92)
“Preparing Women for the National Crisis: The Role of Oklahoma A&M College,” by Susan L. Allen

After soldiers left for war in 1941, women were ready and willing to fill positions traditionally held by men. Oklahoma A. and M. College played a key role on the home front by training women in a number of defense-related programs ranging from electrical engineering to firemanship. Susan L. Allen focuses on the innovative programs that allowed women to make a significant contribution to the war effort.

Volume 69, No. 3 (Fall 1991)
“Emily Blanton Smith: Educator with Vision,” by Glyna Olson with Leo Kelley

One of the institutions of which the city of Altus is most proud in its centennial year is Western Oklahoma State College, which survives today because of a dedicated and indefatigable Emily Blanton Smith. In this lively article, Glyna Olson and Leo Kelley honor a woman ahead of her time, a woman who almost singlehandedly rescued the small city college from years of neglect by community leaders.

Volume 69, No. 1 (Spring 1991)
“Wheelock Female Seminary, 1842–1861,” by Justin D. Murphy

The Choctaws viewed education as an integral part of the acculturation process. For the Christian missionaries who operated the schools, education was essential to the conversion experience. Justin D. Murphy examines how these two ideas were applied to young Indian women at the Wheelock Female Seminary in antebellum Indian Territory.

Volume 67, No. 4 (Winter 1989–90)
“Ann Florence Wilson: Matriarch of the Cherokee Female Seminary,” by Devon Abbott

In 1875 Ann Florence Wilson moved to Tahlequah to assume duties of principal teacher at the Cherokee National Female Seminary. For the next twenty-five years she was the dominant influence on education in the Cherokee Nation and on the young girls whose lives she guided. Devon Abbott, interweaving the life stories of Ann Florence Wilson and the seminary, documents the growth that allowed both to reach their greatest potential just before statehood.

Volume 64, No. 2 (Summer 1986)
“Diana, Tiana or Talihina? The Myth and the Mystery of Sam Houston’s Cherokee Wife,” by Stan Hoig

One of the most beguiling mysteries in Oklahoma history is the identity of Sam Houston’s Cherokee wife. Was it Diana, Tiana, or Talihina? Was she exhumed and reburied at Fort Gibson? Stan Hoig examines these and other questions with unusual command of historical investigation.

Volume 63, No. 4 (Winter 1985–1986)
“Edith Force Kassing: Scientist With a Gift for Teaching,” by John S. Tomer

To Edith Force Kassing, life was an opportunity—to explore the wonders of nature, to record her observations, to share her insights with young people. John S. Tomer, one of her students in 1931, offers this biographical sketch of an exceptional scientist and teacher.

Volume 61, No. 3 (Fall 1983)
“Kate’s Quarter Section: A Woman in the Cherokee Strip,” by Henry Kilian Goetz

Kate E. May, a single woman with eight children, made the land run of 1893, then carved a home from the soil of the Cherokee Strip. Henry Kilian Goetz describes her adventure from the decision to make the run to the sorrowful abandonment of the claim.

Volume 61, No. 2 (Summer 1983)
“No Job for a Woman,” by Bernice Crockett

In 1894 Thomas and Sallie Sturgeon arrived in Oklahoma Territory. During the next forty years Mrs. Sturgeon edited a woman’s page, served as president of the anti-suffragists in Oklahoma, published a magazine for women, served as the first woman enforcement officer in the State Department of Health, and helped organize Oklahoma City’s “Noble Experiment” during the Great Depression. Bernice Crockett provides a glimpse into the life and accomplishments of this “Oklahoma lady.”

Volume 60, No. 3 (Fall 1982)
“Myrtle Archer McDougal: Leader of Oklahoma’s ‘Timid Sisters,’” by Marilyn Hoder-Salmon

Volume 60, No. 2 (Summer 1982)
“Twin Territories: The Indian Magazine and Its Editor, Ora Eddleman Reed,” by Daryl Morrison

Volume 60, No. 1 (Spring 1982)
“Miss Edith Johnson: Pioneer Newspaper Woman,” by Naomi Taylor Casey

Volume 59, No. 2 (Summer 1981)
“‘Woman with a Hatchet’: Carry Nation Comes to Oklahoma Territory,” by Mary Ann Blochowiak

Volume 57, No. 2 (Summer 1979)
“A Civil War Experience of Some Arkansas Women in Indian Territory,” edited by LeRoy H. Fischer

Volume 57, No. 1 (Spring 1979)
“Girl Scouting in Stillwater, Oklahoma: A Case Study in Local History,” by Lynda M. Sturdevant