Women in Oklahoma History

Upcoming Events

Oklahoma Women’s History Conference
Saturday, March 1, 2025
Join us for the Oklahoma Women’s History Conference on Saturday, March 1, at the Oklahoma History Center. The event will include panel discussions featuring Edith Ritt-Coulter, Rilla Askew, Connie Cronley, and speakers from the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women and the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame. Autumn Brown of the Clara Luper Civil Rights and the Oklahoma State University Archive’s Oklahoma Women’s Resources will give the keynote presentation. Find out more about this free event.

Oklahoma History Symposium
Saturday, May 3, 2025
The Oklahoma History Symposium will be held on Saturday, May 3, at the Oklahoma History Center. This year’s theme is “Oklahoma in Context.” Sponsored by the Oklahoma Historical Society, the symposium is a one-day event encompassing a range of historical topics pertaining to Oklahoma. It provides a venue for scholars, students, educators, public history professionals, and the interested public from across the state and region to share their work and interests with others. Award-winning filmmaker Loren Waters (Cherokee/Kiowa) will be our keynote speaker. Waters will share about her short documentary Meet Me at the Creek, which focuses on Rebecca Jim’s (Cherokee) efforts to restore Tar Creek in Miami. Find out more about this free event.

Visit Oklahoma Historical Society Museums and Historic Sites

May Lillie poses resting her arm on Pawnee Bill's shoulder

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.

Tintype of Amanda Murrell in a decorative metal frame

Amanda (shown here) 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.

A close up of the face of the Pioneer Woman statue

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, Educators, Politicians, and Trailblazers

Territorial Era and Early Oklahoma

The Twentieth Century and Beyond

Jerrie Cobb

Exploring the Skies

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 and historians in The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

Artists

Joan Hill smiles as she stands with her painting of a seated man with a musical instrument
Joan Hill

Leona Mitchell, Wanda Jackson, and Tessie Mobley

Musicians

Actors and Performers

Lucille Mulhall sits on a large white horse and holds the reins in one hand
“‘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

Students of various ages demonstrate in downtown Oklahoma City in the 1960s
“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.

“The Gendered Politics of Civil Rights” (2020)

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

Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places

Historic image of a large group of women standing at the entrance gate to the Cherokee Female Seminary, which is visible in the background.

Listing in the National Register of Historic Places is an honorific designation that provides recognition, limited protection, and, in some cases, financial incentives for these important properties. The State Historic Preservation Office identifies, evaluates and nominates properties for this special designation.

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

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

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

Manuscript Guides
Equal Rights Amendment (PDF)
Women’s Clubs (PDF)
Women’s Suffrage (PDF)

Learn More
The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

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.

Collage of living history reenactors as a 1930s housewife, a woman dressed in a bonnet, and a World War II nurse.
History Alive! Outreach
Bring a virtual living history program to your classroom or organization. Visit the History Alive! page for more information.