Women in Oklahoma History

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 portrait 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 against a blue sky.

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.

Civic Leaders, Educators, Politicians, and Trailblazers

Read about their incredible contributions in The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.

Drusilla Dunjee Houston, Kate Biggers, Kate Barnard

Territorial Era and Early Oklahoma

Jerrie Cobb

Exploring the Skies

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.

Arts, History, and Culture

Learn more in these articles from The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.

Leona Mitchell, Wanda Jackson, and Tessie Mobley

Musicians

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.

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)

Online Exhibit
Women’s Suffrage in Oklahoma: This e-exhibit includes the story of suffrage in Oklahoma, activities for students, a glossary, and bibliography.

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

The Chronicles of Oklahoma
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.

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

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, now available on the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) website, OKSHPO-SHARE.

Historical Markers

Historical markers across the state share the story of impactful people, locations, and events. Find coordinates and details about markers relating to women, or explore more than 700 markers in our historical marker database.

Alice Robertson, Muskogee County - Oklahoma’s first woman in Congress
Black Iron Fountain, Kay County - the reliefs on this fountain repainted by Louise Funk Fluke, designer of the Oklahoma flag
Bloomfield Academy, Bryan County - this seminary for Chickasaw girls opened in 1953
Carry A. Nation, Dewey County - famed crusader against alcohol
Dorothy Jean Orton - first women to enlist in the Women’s Army Corps in World War II, postmaster, and advocate for restoration of Fort Towson Historic Site
Emahaka Mission, Seminole County - Alice Brown Davis, first women chief of the Seminole Nation, was the superintendent at this school for Seminole girls
Emet, Johnston County - location of a school serving Chickasaw children
Fairfield Mission, Adair County - noted missionaries and teachers Elizur Butler, Charles C. Torrey, Clarissa Palmer, Lucy Butler, and Esther Smith; a circulation library, possibly the state's first, established at the mission in 1832
First Library, Logan County - site of the 1907 mock wedding of Miss Indian Territory and Mr. Oklahoma Territory; the first state flag was made here by 90 Oklahoma women on June 16, 1908
Garland Cemetery, McCurtain County - buried here are Chief Garland and his mother-in-law, Sophia Pitchlynn, mother of Choctaw Chief Peter Pitchlynn
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
Louise Fluke Memorial, Pottawatomie County - Louise Funk Fluke designed the state flag of Oklahoma
Millie Durgan, White Captive, Kiowa County - Millie Durgan was 18 months old when she was captured by Kiowa people in the Elm Creek Raid in north Texas in 1864; she was adopted by the Kiowa and later married a Kiowa man
Muriel H. Wright, Atoka County - Muriel Hazel Wright was editor of The Chronicles of Oklahoma, and authored multiple books on Oklahoma and Native American history
Nuyaka Mission, Okmulgee County - through the efforts of educator Alice Robertson, who also served as Oklahoma’s first woman member of Congress, the mission was established by the Presbyterian Board and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in 1882
Oklahoma City DAR Chapter, Oklahoma County - this chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized in 1904 in the home of Mrs. Robert Carpenter
Pine Ridge Mission, Choctaw County - Chuahla Female Seminary opened at this mission in 1842
Post Office at Loretta, Texas County - Texhoma was originally called Loretta after Loretta Cain, the first postmaster
Red Wheat Allotment, Custer County - Prior to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Reservation land run on April 19, 1892, this quarter-section was allotted to a Cheyenne woman named Red Wheat
Sophia Folsom Pitchlynn, McCurtain County - this cemetery includes the grave of Sophia Folsom Pitchlynn, wife of Major John Pitchlynn
St. Louis School, Osage County - this Osage girls school was founded in 1887 by Mother Mary Katharine Drexel
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
Tullahassee Mission, Wagoner County - Tullahassee was established as a Creek mission by in 1848; Alice Robertson, later Oklahoma's first congresswoman, was born here
Tuskegee Baptist Church - 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.
Wheelock Academy, McCurtain County - this boarding school for Choctaw orphan girls was completed in 1884
Tvshka Homma Female Institute, Pushmataha County - the institute opened in 1892, and a post office opened at the school with Nellie Wakefield as postmistress
Wynona, Osage County - a post office was established in 1903 in Wynona.; the name is a Sioux word meaning “first-born daughter”

Researching Women in Oklahoma History

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

The encyclopedia includes more than 2,600 entries about Oklahoma history and culture.

The Gateway to Oklahoma History

Search and view thousands of photographs, newspapers, documents, books, and records on our online repository. Visit The Gateway to Oklahoma History.

Online Catalog

To find out about books, manuscript collections, records, oral histories, film and video, newspapers, and other materials available in the OHS Research Center, search the online catalog.

Manuscript Guides

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

Voices of Oklahoma

OHS partner Voices of Oklahoma includes more than 200 interviews with both famous Oklahomans and citizens, covering topics such as business, politics, education, the arts, military, and many more. Visit voicesofoklahoma.com.

Women in Oklahoma: A Century of Change (1979) Melvena K. Thurman, ed.
Read online
Download epub

Resources for Educators, Parents, and Students

Women protesting for suffrage hold large fabric banners.

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

E-Exhibit

Women’s Suffrage in Oklahoma

Books, a Scrabble game, and women's clothing are part of the traveling trunk.

Women of Oklahoma trunk

Learn about the notable women of Oklahoma through activities and items that bring to life their stories and explore how they shaped the state and the nation.
Women of Oklahoma trunk details

Collage of living history reenactors as a 1930s housewife, a woman dressed in a bonnet, and a World War II nurse.

History Alive! Outreach

Book a virtual or in-person living history program to your classroom or organization. Visit the History Alive! page for more information.

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...

Audio and Video

A Very OK Podcast
“A Little Freedom is a Dangerous Thing,” August 2023
“A New State Flag,” April 2025
“The Five Moons,” March 2024
“Our Good Angel, Kate,” August 2022
“Votes for Women!,” February 2023
“Women in Broadcasting,” March 2021

Pawnee Bill Ranch Podcast
“May Lillie,” March 2013

The Clara Luper Show
Listen to select episodes on YouTube

This Land is Herland series

“Contested Notions of Equality” (2020):
LaDonna Harris, Wanda Jo Peltier, and Mary Fallin

“The Fluidity of Power” (2020):
Kate Barnard, Mattie Mallory, and Rachel Caroline Eaton

“The Gendered Politics of Civil Rights” (2020):
Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, Rosalyn Coleman Gilchrist, Barbara ‘Wahru’ Cleveland

The Chronicles of Oklahoma Online

Articles from the Oklahoma Historical Society’s scholarly journal are now available on The Gateway to Oklahoma History, our online repository for Oklahoma history.

“Alice’s Restaurant: Expanding a Woman’s Sphere,” Maitreyi Mazumdar, Vol. 70, No. 3 (Fall 1992)
“Ann Florence Wilson: Matriarch of the Cherokee Female Seminary,” Devon Abbott, Vol. 67, No. 4 (Winter 1989–90)
“Cherokee National Female Seminary Principal Teacher Etta Jane Rider and Her Assistant Teachers, 1901–04,” James G. McCullagh and James S. Davis, Vol. 96, No. 4 (Winter 2018–19)
“A Civil War Experience of Some Arkansas Women in Indian Territory,” edited by LeRoy H. Fischer, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Summer 1979)
“Communists, Poetry, and Oklahoma History: The Life of Zoe Agnes Stratton Tilghman,” Mallory Newell, Vol. 90, No. 2 (Summer 2012)
“‘Dear Miss Debo’: The Correspondence of E. E. Dale and Angie Debo,” Richard Lowitt, Vol. 77, No. 4 (Winter 1999–2000)
“Diana, Tiana or Talihina? The Myth and the Mystery of Sam Houston’s Cherokee Wife,” Stan Hoig, Vol. 64, No. 2 (Summer 1986)
“Edith Force Kassing: Scientist With a Gift for Teaching,” John S. Tomer, Vol. 63, No. 4 (Winter 1985–1986)
“Emily Blanton Smith: Educator with Vision,” Glyna Olson with Leo Kelley, Vol. 69, No. 3 (Fall 1991)
“‘Fortunate Enough and Plucky Enough’: The Unattached Women of the Cherokee Outlet,” Debbie Kindt Michalke, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Spring 1997)
“Girl Scouting in Stillwater, Oklahoma: A Case Study in Local History,” Lynda M. Sturdevant, Vol. 57, No. 1 (Spring 1979)
“Jerrie Cobb, Aviation Pioneer,” Debbie Michalke, Vol. 73, No. 3 (Fall 1995)
“Kate Barnard: The Story of a Woman Politician,” Linda Edmondson and Margaret Larason, Vol. 78, No. 2 (Summer 2000)
“Kate’s Quarter Section: A Woman in the Cherokee Strip,” Henry Kilian Goetz, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Fall 1983)
“Mary Alice Hearrell Murray: A Chickasaw Girl in Indian Territory,” Linda Williams Reese, Vol. 92, No. 4, (Winter 2014–15)
“Mary Rice Greenfield,” Joyce Waggoner, Vol. 75, No. 2 (Summer 1997)
“Miss Edith Johnson: Pioneer Newspaper Woman,” Naomi Taylor Casey, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Spring 1982)
“Mollie Shepherd, Indian Columnist,” Carol J. Woitchek, Vol. 73, No. 2 (Summer 1995)
“Mrs. Oliver O. “Mamie” Hammonds: The ‘She-svengali’ of Oklahoma,” Janel A. Mattingly, Vol. 77, No. 2 (Summer 1999)
“Myrtle Archer McDougal: Leader of Oklahoma’s ‘Timid Sisters,’” Marilyn Hoder-Salmon, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Fall 1982)
“No Job for a Woman,” Bernice Crockett, Vol. 61, No. 2 (Summer 1983)
“Planting the ‘Long-Rooted Grass’: The Eufaula Boarding School for Girls, 1910–1962,” Linda Ford Wendel, Vol. 88, No. 4, (Winter 2010–11)
“Preaching in the ‘Open Air’: The Ministries of Early Pentecostal Women Preachers in Oklahoma,” Kristen D. Welch, Vol. 88, No. 3 (Fall 2010)
“Preparing Women for the National Crisis: The Role of Oklahoma A&M College,” Susan L. Allen, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Winter 1991–92)
“Rooted in the Plains: Oklahoma Women, Community, and the Dust Bowl,” Shelly Lemons and Steven Knoche Kite, Vol. 93, No. 1 (Spring 2015)
“‘She Would Raise Hens to Aid War’: The Contributions of Oklahoma Women during World War I,” Melanie Rich, Vol. 81, No. 3 (Fall 2003)
“Twin Territories: The Indian Magazine and Its Editor, Ora Eddleman Reed,” Daryl Morrison, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Summer 1982)
“Unforgotten Trailblazer: Nancy O. Randolph Davis,” Gloria J. Pollard, Vol. 90, No. 4 (Winter 2012–13)
“Vilona P. Cutler: Humanitarian, Activist, and Educator,” Gregory N. Pierson, Vol. 90, No. 1 (Spring 2012)
“Wheelock Female Seminary, 1842–1861,” Justin D. Murphy, Vol. 69, No. 1 (Spring 1991)
“‘Woman with a Hatchet’: Carry Nation Comes to Oklahoma Territory,” Mary Ann Blochowiak, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Summer 1981)
“The YWCA’s Y-Chapel of Song and the Central Plate,” Patrick H. Salkeld, Vol. 94, No. 1 (Spring 2016)