The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

DARRELL, SHIRLEY ANN BRUCE (1936–2013).

Shirley Ann Bruce Darrell, Oklahoma’s first African American woman county commissioner, was born on June 29, 1936, to Elizabeth Lilliam Williams and Jessie Julian Bruce in Oklahoma City. Her father was an attorney, a thirty-second degree Mason, and board chair of the Oklahoma City Eastside Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). Her mother, a graduate of Sam Houston College in Austin, Texas, taught at several schools before joining the faculty of Dunbar Elementary School in Oklahoma City. Shirley Bruce attended Oklahoma City public schools and graduated from Douglas High School in 1954.

She continued her education at Hampton Institute in Virginia. On August 10, 1957, she married Lewis Eugene Darrell. A Bermuda-born graduate of Hampton, he taught in the school system of Hamilton, Bermuda. Shirley Darrell completed her bachelor of science degree at Hampton and later earned a master of business administration degree from Oklahoma City University. In March 1962 she was elected secretary of the Oklahoma City chapter of the National Hampton Institute Alumni.

Darrell worked in positions that provided social changes and improvements for the local community. During the 1970s she served on the Oklahoma City Board of Education. In March 1982 U.S. District Judge Luther Bohanan appointed her to a committee to work toward desegregation in the Oklahoma City public schools.

In 1982 she resigned from a job with the Federal Aviation Administration at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center to run for District One of the Oklahoma County Commission. In August 1982 she challenged five other Democrats in the primary. She and Marion Reed, former mayor of Midwest City, emerged as leaders, and Darrell won a run-off on September 21. She went on to victory over Republican Robert Burns and Independent William J. “Bill” Maher in the November 2, 1982, election. During her tenure from 1983 to 1998 as county commissioner of District One, she achieved the construction of numerous bridges, improved roads that included widening Douglas Boulevard, and revived park and swimming facilities that had been closed due to lack of funds.

Darrell served many Oklahoma City organizations that focused on desegregation, housing, health, and the arts. She was director of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), director of community services for the Oklahoma City Housing Authority, and director of the Black Liberated Arts Center. She served as a member of the Oklahoma City Arts Council, Helping Hand, the Oklahoma Health Systems Sub-Area Council, and the Oklahoma Health, Recreation and Fitness Council.

She received several awards and honors. In March 1988 she and Sheriff John Dorsey “J. D.” Sharp won the Oklahoma County achievement award from the Oklahoma state chapter of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP). In her honor Midwest City renamed Telstar South Park to Shirley Darrell Telstar South Park in 1990. The National Women’s Political Caucus presented Darrell with its outstanding Southern Women in Politics award in August 1995. She was a member of the Quayle United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City.

Shirley A. Darrell died at age seventy-six on May 8, 2013. She was buried in Trice Hill Cemetery in Oklahoma City. She was survived by three daughters, Pamela, Valerye, and Elizabeth.

Linda D. Wilson