Oklahoma Historical Society Oral History Collection, 1956-present

Lovenna, May, Blanche and Maud Cravens were sisters from Guthrie. Their father made the run of 1889. They lived in sod houses around the Guthrie area. They lived together in the Seasons Nursing home in Guthrie, where this interview took place.

a digitized version of this interview can be found on YouTube. See link below.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Dave Rushing was born July 16, 1889 in Pope County, Arkansas. He came to Oklahoma in 1926 and settled in Logan County. He played baseball for the Logan County League. His son and daughter both died in their teens and his wife died in 1947.

A digitized version of this interview is available on YouTube. See link below

Released on 2012-02-17.

Nettie Simpson was born February 15, 1899 in Arkansas. She attended nursing school in Jonesboro, Arkansas for two years. She worked in hospitals in Memphis, Tennessee and came to work as a nurse in Guthrie during World War II.

A digitized version of this interview can be found on YouTube. See link below

Released on 2012-02-17.

Ruth Wheatley was born on October 21, 1894 in Wichita, Kansas. Her father was a trader with Fort Reno as well as a photographer for the Indians around Ponca City. Her father was born in Canada. Her father made the run in 1889. They lived in Ponca City most of her life. She was married to Carl Wheatley and they had two sones, Ralph and Roy Wheatley. She spent most of her adult life in Okemah, Oklahoma.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview can be found on YouTube. See link below.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Lovissa Moore came to Oklahoma in 1909. Her father worked for the railroad. She went to school at Webster School in Oklahoma City and worked for the Santa Fe Cantina during World War One. She met her husband at Fort Sill at a dance held for soldiers. Her husband was killed fighting a fire in 1936. She went to work for the phone company. She shares her memories of early Oklahoma City, life in Oklahoma City during the war, and working at the Santa Fe canteen.

A digitized version of this interview can be found on YouTube. See link below.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Kitty Sturdevant was born in Cyclone, Bell County, Texas in 1890. She moved with her family to Shawnee, Oklahoma in 1902. She took a correspondence course in law with instruction from two lawyers who were friends of the family. She took the bar exam and started practicing law in 1912 and was still practicing at the time of the interview. She shares her experiences working as a female lawyer and shares her observations of the practice of law at the time of the interview. Additionally, she shares her memories of early Oklahoma City and Shawnee.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview can be found on YouTube. See link below.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Roy Rooker was born in Pleasant Hill, Georgia on September 24, 1895. He married Cleta Jerboe in 1919, after World War I. The Rooker family came to Oklahoma in December 1899, by train to McLoud. Mr. Rooker discusses much about his time in the first World War.

Leonard Gray was born on March 8, 1896 in Iowa. His family came to Oklahoma in 1898 and settled in Kingfisher. Mr. Gray served with Mr. Rooker in the 315th Transportation Company out of San Antonio, Texas.

The two remained friends following the war.

A digitized version of this interview can be found on YouTube. See link below.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Edna Rudell Lunsford-Brower was born in 1897 in Burneyville, Oklahoma to George Lunsford and Melissa Parker. Her mother was related to Comanche Indian, Quanah Parker. She worked for the telephone company during World War One in Chickasha as a switchboard operator. She married John Brower in 1920. She attended the Oklahoma College for Woman. She had 4 daughters.

A digitized version of this interview can be found on YouTube. See link below

Released on 2012-02-17.

Frances Smith Tipton was born in Ponca City in 1907. She moved first to Guthrie in 1909 and then to Oklahoma City in 1918. She graduated from Central High School in Oklahoma City and married John Emily Tipton the same year. She followed the flapper style during the 1920s. She moved to Lebannon TN. while her husband went to law school and then returned to Oklahoma. She went to work for the Board of Education and several oil companies. She shares her memories of early Guthrie and life during the Depression. Tipton also discusses the flappers, Pearl Harbor, and Governor Murray.

Item List

Released on 2012-02-17.

Ethyl Thompson was born in Missouri in 1891. She moved with her family by covered wagon to Shawnee, Oklahoma at the age of seven. She married in 1911, moved to Oklahoma City and played the piano and organ for the church. She watched the Capitol being built and knew governor Bill Murray. She worked at the USO in Norman and then went to work at Kerr's department store where she retired at the age of 72. She recalls the trip to Oklahoma in the wagon and talks about life in Oklahoma City. Additionally, she discusses her husbands work laying water pipes and the effect the Depression had on her family.

Released on 2012-02-17.

This interview took place at the 4 Seasons Nursing Home in Oklahoma City with Carrie Lessly, Bess Smith Calk and Ruth Hinton. The three ladies discuss their time in early Oklahoma, their childhoods and growing up in Mustang and Taloga, Oklahoma as well as the Great Depression. Carrie Lessly's parents were David Oliphant and Sara Anderson. Ruth Hinton's parents were Cora Slay and Thomas Walker and Bess Smith Calk's parents were Alva Smith and Elzira Bodine.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Josephine Ann Coomer was born September 6, 1888 in Austin, Texas. She came to Lawton at the age of 9. Her father, Theodore Becker, was a Texas Ranger. Her mother was Lilliam Wassom from East Texas. Josephine attended the Edmond Teacher's College and met Geronimo. She had one son

who died in the Korean War.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Elsie Davison was born between El Reno and Okarche in 1900. Her father made the land run of 1889. She worked on the farm and went to Oklahoma City to serve sandwiches and soft drinks to the soldiers passing through during World War One. During World War Two she organized sewing circles. She has written a book of short stories and has a Christmas poem. She discusses her family's journey from Illinois to Oklahoma, the fashion of the 1920s and the Depression.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Buelah Maxwell Dean and Lloyd Maxwell were brother and sister. Lloyd Maxwell was born on October 19, 1886 in Kansas and Buelah Maxwell was born in 1894 in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. Their family came to Oklahoma on the train in 1894 to Guthrie. They spent one night in Guthrie then took a wagon to a farm in Lincoln County. The father was contested in the Land Run, but their father paid off the other two men who claimed the land. Dr. Lloyd Maxwell was a statistician in the Bureau of Aircraft Production in the War Department in 1918. Lived in Washington for the next eight years. They both lived in Norman, Oklahoma for the rest of their adult lives.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Charles Wisler was born in 1901. He moved with his family to Oklain in 1902. Mr. Wisler wanted to be involved in World War One but was too young. He went to work for the telephone company when the stock market crashed. During World War Two he was part of the "war dads." They had two sons in the war. Mr. Wisler discusses his childhood in early Oklahoma including the games he played and spending time with his father.

Mrs. Wisler was born in Illinois in 1901. She moved with her family to Oklahoma in 1905. She worked as an accountant for the phone company until 1966. During the Depression she would buy day old bread and give it to people who needed it. During World War Two she worked with the Red Cross typing and wrapping bandages. They had four children and six grandchildren. Mrs. Wisler shares her memories of growing up in early Oklahoma including the games she played, and the dust storms.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Lynnie Knight was an early day resident of Oklahoma City. She discusses life in nursing homes and her poetry.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Hugo Hercheck was born July 12, 1902 in Oklahoma City. His father was Joseph Hercheck from Czechoslovakia. His family came to Oklahoma in 1901 and settled where Tinker Air Force Base is located. They lived in a Czech settlement in Oklahoma City and he attended Central High School. The Czech Cemetery was off of 59th and Douglas and the settlement was called Mishak. He was in World War II and was in the Invasion of Iwo Jima. He worked at Tinker for 16 years and retired in 1964.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Every Easley was born on December 13, 1879 near Pawnee, Oklahoma. His uncle made the run of 1893. He farmed during World War One and the Depression. Stayed on the same farm for thirty years. He discusses Pawnee Bill and the depression of 1907. He married Hannah Hicks in 1910. She died in a car accident in 1920. They had no children.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Both originals and duplicative copies.

Grace speaks of her early childhood, movement to Oklahoma and her early life in Oklahoma City. Her memory was failing at the time of this interview and very little details are given.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Both originals and duplicative copies.

Nora Maxwell was born August 19, 1881 in Honeygrove, Texas to John Avery and Harriet Whitman from Tennessee. She cam to Oklahoma to Coalgate in 1902 when she married Hugh Maxwell. He worked in a grocery store in Coalgate. They moved to Norman and he worked for a grocery store there during the depression. They had 3 sons.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Clara Cash was born in Missouri in 1888. She moved with her family to Okarche, Oklahoma in 1898. After graduating high school, she got a teaching certificate and taught for a year in Canadian County. After her first husband died in 1950 she went to work for the Department of Public Safety and was told to retire at the age of 76. During World War Two, she worked with the Grand Chapter of the Eastern Star. She shares her memories of growing up in early Okarche and Canadian County including working on the farm, school, and the trip to Oklahoma. She also discusses her work during the second world war.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Sylvester Tinker was born February 22, 1903 in Ponca City, Oklahoma. His father was Grant Tinker, born April 5, 1862, and was one of the Osages that moved from Kansas to Indian Territory. Sylvester's mother was Mary L. Rubard from Washington Territory, born December 1, 1862 and was Osage

and French. Sylvester was cousin of Clarence Tinker, the Major General in the Army Air Corps in World War II that Tinker Air Force Based was named after.

Released on 2010-12-13.

Della Roberson was born in Ohio in 1877. She moved with her family to Missouri at the age of ten, then moved to Oklahoma in 1916. In 1894 she moved with her family to California for her mothers health then returned to Oklahoma a year later. She married in 1907 and her husband died in 1951. She returned to California in 1967 and had lunch with Governor Ronald Regan. She was in the wedding of her great-great niece at the age of 98. She discusses the many trips her family made, the dust storms, and the flu epidemic of 1918.

Released on 2012-02-17.

James Ponder was born in Cowlington, Oklahoma in 1889. He opened a confectionery shop called Corner Confectionery after he married in 1916. He joined the Navy in 1910 as a carpenter and served for four years. He was sent all over the country to work on Navy bases. During World War One he raised hogs and was turned down by the military. During the Depression he helped build school houses for the Works Progress Administration.Worked as a carpenter during World War Two and worked in California. He shares his memories of growing up on a farm and working as a carpenter. He also discusses his confectionery shop and Allen Wright.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Ruth King was born November 28, 1897 in Nashville, Tennessee. Her family settled in Oklahoma and she attended Emerson School. Her father was William Wise from Tennessee and her mother was Emma Owen from Tennessee. She met her husband in school when she was 10 years old. She shares her memories of Statehood Day, Armistice Day, and World War Two.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Fay Burke-Duvall and Rubye Burke- Holloway are sisters from Oklahoma City. Fay Burke was born on July 24, 1897 in Quitman, Texas. Rubye was born December 14, 1906 near Frederick, Oklahoma. Their father made the run of 1889 and the family came to Oklahoma by wagon train in 1905. The ladies discuss their wagon trip to Oklahoma, and their father's homestead, which is where Capital Hill is today.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Estalee was born October 4, 1916 in Marshall, Oklahoma. She discusses her childhood in Marshal and Orlando, Oklahoma. Her father was the "Wheat King" of Marshall. She worked at Oklahoma A&M College.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Neaner Oliver was born in Texas, unknown date. She came to Oklahoma in 1902 to Okmulgee in covered wagon. Her father was Issac Roberts and her mother was Ida Loman, both from Texas. She met her husband in Beggs, Oklahoma and they were married in 1917. She shares her memories of early Okmulgee and working on the family farm. Additionally, she discusses working in the Robert's Grocery Store and working as a cook in a hotel.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Earksysee Sutton was born in Newalla in 1900. At the age of seven he moved with his family to Wewoka. He was moved between relatives and worked on the family farms. As an adult he could pick 1,000 pounds of cotton per day. He shares his memories of working on the farms and accompanying his mother to visit flu patients during the epidemic. Additionally, he discusses the race riot of 1921 in Tulsa and shares some advice for young people.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Josephine was born November 17, 1907 in Newalla, Oklahoma. Her father, Bob Gentry, was a farmer. Her grandparents were born into slavery. From the eighth grade she attended an all black boarding school. She attended Oklahoma Baptist College in Muskogee. She married in 1930 and worked on

the family farm during the Depression. They raised and sold turkeys. She shares her memories of working on the farm as a child and of her time in the boarding school. Additionally, she recalls stories she was told of the slave days and talks about her brother being a soldier in World War Two.

Item List

Released on 2012-02-17.

Arvella Kinnels was born on December 14, 1905 in Louisiana. She moved to Arkansas in the 1930s. Her father was Nelson Bridges and her mother was Mattie Williams. She attended Stuttgart in Arkansas. She was married in Ponca City in 1934 and cooked for a woman who owned a furniture store. Her husband was Jon Kinnels and he worked for the Muchmores, who owned the newspaper in Ponca City. She was also a maid for Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Marland. She was not involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Sam Dorchester was born January 14, 1888 in Lebanon, Indian Territory. He came to Oklahoma on a wagon train and his family lived in Madill. His father was a manager of a stage stop on the Butterfield Line. He and his father started a store called R.S. Dorchester Store which they sold in 1910. He re-bought the store in 1913. He worked as the postmaster of Chickasha from 1913-1918 and joined the army as a mail clerk. He returned to Chickasha after the war and worked at the Post office, the store and was on the election board. He shares his memories of the store, working as the postmaster and of the army. Additionally, he discusses his family history.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Eva Josephine Robinson was born in Texas in 1889. In 1895 she moved with her family to Gage, Oklahoma. Her father owned a general store in Gage. She married in 1913 and worked on farm raising and selling cattle. After her husband died in 1926, she moved to Oklahoma City and worked at the Lyon's store. Her second husband worked at Fort Sill as a tailor. She shares her memories of her childhood in early Gage as well as her life in Oklahoma City. Additionally, she discusses the Depressions of 1907 and the 1930s as well as the tornado of 1947, and Alfalfa Bill Murray.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Alee Stewart was born in Smithville, Oklahoma in 1901. Her grandfather bought a sawmill which later became Dierks Sawmill. She moved with her family to Mena Arkansas in 1910 and then to Ringling. Her father ran an oil refinery. She married in 1919 and graduated from Central State College in 1924. Her husband worked for the railroad. During World War Two, she made bandages and visited people in the hospital. She shares her memories of being a railroad wife and of growing up in a wealthy family. She also discusses her grandfather who was a doctor among the Choctaws.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Pearl Carter was born in Whiteright, Texas in 1886. She graduated from Grayson College with a bachelors in oratory. She went on teach in Dustin, Westminster, Texas and then moved to Baltimore, where she worked for Social Security for fourteen years. After returning to Oklahoma City she worked for John A. Brown, and taught in Tishmingo, and worked at the capitol. She shares her memories of her childhood including the games she played around the Baptist Church. Additionally, she discusses the Depression, the flu epidemic of 1918, and Sears and Roebuck catalogs.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Emil Fischer was born January 11, 1894 near Cullman, Alabama to Ernest Fischer and Regina Gertsel. At the age of 2, his family moved to Arkansas and homesteaded. He moved to Minnesota when he was 7 years old. He came to Oklahoma in 1910 and settled in McLain County. His father mined coal under Poteau Mountain. He married Lois Abbey in 1912 and they had 5 childen. He lost one of them in 1918 to the flu. He discusses the flu epidemic of 1918. He farmed during the depression.

Released on 2012-02-17.

John M. Moore was born March 11, 1902 in Missouri. He came to Oklahoma in 1904 with his parents. His father's name was Wilton Moore. He went to work for the railroad in 1919 putting down ties. He married in 1927 and they had 1 son and retired in 1962. He shares his experiences working for the railroads including the differences between steam and diesel engines, putting derailed cars back on the tracks, and different towns he worked in. Additionally, he discusses Pretty Boy Floyd and the Anti- Horse Thief Association.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Earl Canady was born April 5, 1898 in Carroll County, Missouri to Ellis Canady and Stella Barr. He lived in Bogard until the age of 13 and his family moved to Wellington, Kansas in 1914. He was an inspector for the Santa Fe Railroad for 23 years. He discusses the advantage of diesel engines over steam, the Depression and the dust storms of the 1930s.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Onie May Danial was born August 6, 1898 in Chapel Hill, Arkansas. She came to Stephens County, Oklahoma in 1912. She went to live with her uncle, who was a doctor in Stephens County, after her father died. She attended high school in Pauls Valley and attended Oklahoma Baptist

University in the 1920s where she studied psychology and botany. She also worked maintenance at Tinker Air Force Base until 1958.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Gertrude Bowerman was born in Mannsville, Indian Territory in 1896 to M. J. Middleton and Ida Middleton. At the age of five she began picking cotton with her father. She worked on the family farm and continued to farm for most of her life. She shares her experiences working on the farm and discusses the effect that the Depression had on her family.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Margaret Oliver was born December 9, 1892 in Mississippi. They moved to Oklahoma City in 1912. She married H. G. Oliver in 1916 and he died 11 years later. She went to Oklahoma City University and began teaching kindergarten. Then she taught at West University Heights at 63rd and Western. She moved to Britton during the Depression. She had one child.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Georgeia North was born October 9, 1896 in Lexington, Oklahoma. Her father was ALfred Green Carter and her mother was Mary Cloyd from Kentucky. Her grandfather was killed in the Civil War and the family left Tennessee for Texas. Her family came to Oklahoma from Texas by wagon. Her father was a friend of B. C. Clark and she met him when she was a small girl. The family lived in Purcell. She married Mr. North in 1926. During World War Two she worked at Tinker field repairing flight suits and supervised the shipping of instruments to the combat areas. She discusses her work at Tinker, the flu epidemic of 1918 and working on the family farm as a child.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Mary Jolly was born August 12, 1890 in Missouri. Her father was John Ball from Texas and her mother was Bell Baker from Missouri. She came to Oklahoma at the age of 12 with her parents, around 1900. Her family settled in Elk City. She married William Jolly in 1907 and they had 10 children. During the Depression she cooked anything she could find to eat. She shares some menus from the Depression and discusses her husbands jobs delivering ice and working at a cotton mill.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Moneta Dillingham was born on Fannin County, Texas in 1886. She moved with her family to Indian Territory in 1893. She had very little schoolling and married Ernest Dillingham in 1901. They farmed corn and cotton. She worked in their grocery store Dillingham's Grocery until it closed in 1929. She shares her memories of growing up on the family farm near Durant in Indian Territory. Additionally, she discusses the history of the area and the effect of the Depression on the family Grocery store.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Almira Hogan was born December 12, 1881 in LaPorte, Indiana. Her father C. Carpenter and her mother Mary Carpenter were both from Indiana. Hogan came by train to Oklahoma where she worked on the family farm growing corn, wheat, sorghum, oats and kaffircorn. She had 3 brothers and 2 sisters, and married Fred Hogan, who was also a farmer. She shares her experiences farming and discusses her family.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Ruby Bednar was born in Kansas City in 1881. She moved with her family to Oklahoma at the age of six. She worked on the family farm picking cotton. She married John Bednar, a banker and moved to Lawton for a while. During the Depression she and John returned to farming. She shares her memories of travelling to Oklahoma in wagons as well as working on the farms.

Released on 2012-02-17.

James Davidson was born near Nashville, Tennessee in 1884. He began working for the Rock Island Railroad in 1901 and moved to Howe, Oklahoma in 1907. He also worked for a cement plant in Ada, raised cattle in Nebraska until 1917, worked for Title Oil Company in Drumwright, Sinclair Oil Company, Amarado Oil, and Phillips. After he had a heart attack he bought milk cows and a tractor. He worked until he was 96 years old. He shares his memories of his numerous jobs and discusses his family's involvement in the Spanish- American War and the Civil War.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Discusses childhood in Muskogee, the gold rush of 1859 in Colorado, his time at the University of Arkansas, working with National Insurance and Recovery Act (NIRA) in 1935. He also discusses the Mary Sudic, gun barrel perforation of a pipe-stem and the discovery of oil around Oklahoma City and the Capital.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Nora Fields was born Feburary 17, 1899 in Perry, Oklahoma. Her father was Ely Ramsey from Illionois, her mother was Sara Schaeffer. Her family moved to Tulsa before she started school, but her mother died of pneumonia soon after arriving. Her father remarried and moved the family to Sapulpa. She worked on the family farm doing laundry, making soap and butchering hogs. Fields' first job was at the Sapulpa Glass Factory, capping fruit jars. She went on to become a telephone operator. She shares her memories of growing up on the farm and early days Sapulpa and Tulsa.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Nora Culp Jones was born on May 28, 1897 in Delaware County, Oklahoma. Her father was Issac Newton Culp and mother, Martha Lewis, were from Missouri. The family came to Oklahoma around 1894. She married Charles Jones on October 12, 1913, and moved to Sapulpa. He worked mixing glass for glass blowers and she was a seamstress. She went to nursing school in Tennessee and worked in a hospital in Nashville for ten years. After returning to Oklahoma she worked as a school nurse and for the Works Progress Administration. She discusses her childhood including school and chores. Additionally, she shares her experiences in nursing school and working in a hospital.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Lillian Harmon was born in Illinois in 1887. She moved with her family to Missouri at the age of five and then to Oklahoma in 1901. Her family made the move in covered wagons and slept on corn shuck mattresses. She worked on the family farm picking cotton and cooking for the men people around town. She had numerous dinners with Quanah Parker and his wives and attended Comanche dances. She married in 1908. Her husband was a farmer and then went to work in the oil fields. She cooked for the men in the fields and rolled bandages during World War One. She shares her memories of the trip to Oklahoma and growing up on the farm. Additionally, she discusses cooking for people around town and her interactions with the Comanches.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Zola Faye Sells was born North of May Oklahoma in 1915. Her father worked for the Santa Fe Railroad and they lived in train car during the riots of 1921. She moved with her family all over Oklahoma for her fathers job and recalls the many schools she attended. She married in 1933 and her husband worked for the Works Progress Administration. She worked in the women's sewing room. She discusses the dust storms of the 1930s and shares her memories of Woodward after the tornado of 1947.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Raymond B. Akin was born in Allison, Iowa in 1899. He discusses Shepherd AFB in Wichita Falls and his time as a United States serviceman in Siberia in 1917-1918. He discusses the World War One Veterans Association, including the reason for the organization. Additionally, he recalls the accomplishments of the association and their future goals.

Item List

Released on 2012-02-17.

Raymond B. Akin was born in Allison, Iowa in 1899. He graduated from high school in 1915 and went on to receive a degree in mathematics and chemistry from Grinnell College. He joined the military in 1941 and retired from Tinker Air Force Base in 1969. He discusses his time in the military including his involvement with the World War One Veterans Association as well as his time in the newspaper industry.

Released on 2012-05-14.

Mary C. Towne was born in Salem, Iowa in 1885. She attended Whittier and Gem City Colleges in Iowa and Illinois. She moved to Oklahoma in 1906 by train. She married Fred Towne in 1907 and moved to Dover, Oklahoma in 1909. During World War One she worked for the Red Cross issuing yarn to women knitting for the solders. She shares her memories of early Enid and Dover as well as sharing her experiences during the Depression, the flu epidemic, and the dust storms.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Hazel Beaver was born in Carlton, Illinois in 1893. She moved with her family to Oklahoma in 1901 and opened a furniture business called Lovess Furniture. She graduated from high school in Hobart in 1912 and attended college in Edmond in 1922. Beaver married in 1924, her husband was a pharmacist. She taught until she retired in 1958. She shares her memories of moving to Oklahoma and working in her family's furniture store. Additionally, she recalls her experiences during the dust storms and teaching around the state.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Leonard Baker was born in Kentucky in 1904. He moved with his family to Oklahoma in 1908. He worked on the family farm picking cotton and hunting skunks to sell to the Osage Indians. Baker worked in the oil fields, went through basic training in the Army, and farmed. Additionally, he worked for the Works Progress Administration building dams. He shares his memories of picking cotton on the farm and remedies used to treat different health problems. Additionally, he discusses the Osage Indians and his episode with the flu.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Malcolm Ward was born in Atoka in 1912. His family lived in Limestone Gap. His father had an allotment from the Choctaw Nation. He graduated from Oklahoma A&M in 1935 and went to work for the Soil Conservation Service. During the Depression the Ward family worked as tenant farmers. Malcolm spent forty-two months in the Army Air Corps working as a crew chief training pilots during World War Two. After the war he taught agriculture to veterans. He discusses his family

Released on 2012-02-17.

Wilson Laurent was born on August 12, 1909 in Wanette, Oklahoma to Charles Laurent and Cora Perry. He started school at King School and took his first automobile ride with the mail man. During World War Two, he worked at Tinker Air Force Base repairing hydraulic systems on airplanes. Wilson discusses his time in Wanette, the flu epidemic of 1918 and working at Tinker during World War II.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Edna Mae Armold was born in Osakis, Minnesota in 1909. She moved with her grandmother to Oklahoma in 1894. They moved back and forth between Oklahoma and Minnesota and moved permanently to Oklahoma in 1919. She attended Texas Christian University and went to work as a children's librarian until 1942. Her father worked for the Red Cross during the Depression. Armold shares her memories and experiences during the flu epidemic of 1918 including the death of her mother and sister. Additionally, she discusses the Depression, working at a library in El Reno, and attending Texas Christian University.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Mary M. Wyatt was born in North Carolina in 1900. She moved with her family to Oklahoma in 1902. She worked on the family farm picking cotton and attended Watonga High School. She attended Langston University. She worked around town doing domestic work and canned and sewed for the soldiers during World War Two. She shares her memories of growing up on the farm including her chores and school. She also discusses the Depression, the Tulsa Race Riots, and her work for the soldiers in World War Two.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Opal Horner was born October 20, 1903 in Wanette, Oklahoma. Her father was Grover Holloway from Kansas and her mother was Ophelia Lambert from Alabama. Her father was an original allottee in the Pottawatomi. The Pottawatomi that traveled to Oklahoma were called the "Runaways." She married in 1923 and had 8 children.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Ollie Gage was born March 9, 1900 in Putnam County, Tennessee to Jeff Henry and Chrissy Robinson. They came to Oklahoma in 1908. She was one of 13 children. She married Edward Gage in 1921. He was on the Mexican border with General Pershing for two years, then went to World War I. She had 4 sons in the military. One son, Calvin Gage, was a composer and had his own band.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Lucian B. Jackson, Jr. was born May 5, 1910 in Cornish, Oklahoma. His father was Lucian "Lute" B. Jackson and his mother was Louise Hargess. His father was a rancher. His uncle, Green Jackson worked for Jesse Chisholm in 1866 and made the first cattle drive that Chisholm made. His father worked for cattle baron, Billy Washington in the 1870's. Lucian owned his own ranch. He discusses early law enforcement, famous Oklahomans he knew, and his work in the cattle industry.

Released on 2010-12-13.

Mamie Bostick was born West of Tribbey in 1919. She worked on the family farm picking cotton and working in the gin weighing the cotton. She helped butcher the calves and did laundry. She married in 1936. Her husband helped build the Navy base in Norman during World War Two. She had run the Bostick store for nine years at the time of the interview.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Emma Boudreau was born in 1897 in Antlers, Oklahoma. She was born to T. B. Edwards and Minnie Dyson. She attended St. Agnes Academy in Ardmore until she was 18 years old. In 1917 she met her husband, Louis Boudreau, from Purcell who was a friend of B. C. Clark. She was a housewife until World War Two when she opened a canteen and took nursing classes once a week. She shares her memories of St. Agnes Academy including routines, teachers, and meals. Additionally, she discusses her work during the second world war and talks about B.C. Clark.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Dr. Samuel Coleman was born on December 25, 1877 in Louisiana. His mother was born a slave in Louisiana. He went to medical school in Nashville, Tennessee in the late 1890s and graduated from Meharry Medical College in 1903. He practiced medicine in Fordyce, Arkansas, but was forced to leave Fordyce because he was an African-American who was delivering white babies. He was 104 years old at the time of this interview.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Lena Draughon was born on Christmas day 1879 in Whitesboro, Texas. She moved with her family to Davis, Oklahoma in 1894. She taught in Davis and her brothers ran a hardware store. She discusses meat prices, the games she played as a child, and home remedies.

Released on 2010-12-13.

Lee Mosely was born in 1894 and came to Indian Territory in 1900 from Alabama. He farmed for most of his life. He enlisted in the army during World War One and was sent to Denver, Salt Lake City, and San Diego. He spent most of the war guarding the shipyards in San Diego. He discusses living in Byars and the flu epidemic in San Diego.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Mr. Robert Labadie was an Osage Indian whose maternal grandfather came with the Osages when they were moved to Oklahoma. His father was born at the Osage Mission at St. Paul, Kansas in 1868. He started ranching in 1927 and attended military school with Sylvester Tinker.

Mrs. Labadie was born and raised in Muskogee. and worked with Alice Robertson for the Red Cross during World War I.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Dilla Boles Todd was born on Pond Creek. Her father worked at the Carpenter Ranch. She discusses the places she played as a child, the Hominy Trading Post, and the Tinker family.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Dica Jane Mitchelll attended a Catholic Osage boarding school in 1906. She was a member of the Mandolin Club at school. Her father was the keeper of the original wampum belt of the Cherokees. Dica is more Cherokee than she is Osage. She married Ted Lorch, an actor, in 1907.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Bessie Tinker Potter was born on Pond Creek in 1894. She is an Osage Indian. She went to Catholic school in Bartlesville where she learned to speak English. Her chores around the house were to make the beds and fan away flies during meal time. She volunteered to help veterans and has earned the nickname Aunt Bessie. She shares her memories of traveling to and from Bartlesville, doing chores around the house, and going to local Pow-Wows.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Villa Tinker-Hill was born in 1903. She is an Osage Indian, born in Pawhuska. Her father, Ed Tinker, was the first newspaper publisher in Osage County. His brother was General Tinker, the namesake of Tinker Air Force Base. She married in 1949. She discusses her brother who was commissioned in the Army Air Corps in 1918. He was killed in the Battle of Midway in 1942.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Willie Blake was born in Indian Territory. She worked for the Red Cross during World War One, and her husband fought in the war. Her favorite band was the Bob Wills band. Her daughter married into the Tinker family. Blake speaks about her early childhood in Texas and later Duncan, Oklahoma.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Oral history interview with Jimmy Revard at the Tinker Family Reunion

Released on 2012-02-17.

Oral History interview with Louis F. Burns at the Tinker Family Reunion.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Jesse Teeters was born in Springfield Missouri in 1903. She moved with her family to Springfield, Colorado then to Arkansas. He worked on the family farm raising cattle and growing broomcorn. He ran a general store and organized several baseball teams. He moved to Boise City, Oklahoma after taking sick. He shares his experiences in Colorado during the dust storms, flu epidemic, and the doctor he went to in Oklahoma.

A digitized version of this is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Ruby Easley was born in Kenton, Oklahoma in 1897. She moved with her family to La Junta at the age of eight. She returned to Kenton in 1917 and married a rancher. She worked as the Post Master in Kenton. She shares her experiences as a rancher including the freedoms, cattle round-ups, and ranching during the Depression.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

P.W. Walton was born in Blane County, Oklahoma in 1908. He moved with his family to the panhandle in 1917. The settled southeast of Boise City, Oklahoma. In 1929 he left Oklahoma for Indiana where he opened his own restaurant called "The Airliner." He returned to Oklahoma after selling the business in 1962. He shares his experiences working on the farm in the panhandle, owning the restaurant and living in a nursing home.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Wade Loofburrow was born in Beaver City, Oklahoma in 1898. He graduated from Beaver High School in 1915 and went on to study at the University of Oklahoma. He graduated from law school in 1919. During World War One, he served in the horse cavalry. He practiced law in Beaver and Buffalo and worked for the U.S. Treasury in Oklahoma. He shares his experiences practicing law and serving in the military in World War One. Additionally, he discusses the history of Beaver and the games he played as a child.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

W.W. Clifton was born in Missouri in 1889. He moved with his family to Oklahoma in 1906. He worked with his father and brother to build a house on the family claim. He also worked on the family farm growing broom corn. He married in 1917 and was turned down for service during World War One. He shares his experiences working on the different family claims, including his own. He compares the depression of 1907 with the depression of the 1930s and discusses the early history of Boise City.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Marion Collins was born in Clayton, New Mexico in 1896. She moved with her family to Kenton, Oklahoma. She worked on the family farm making head cheese and rendering lard. Her brother-in-law took over the local hotel and she went to work doing laundry. She moved to Colorado and taught school from 1914-1916. She married and moved to Denver in 1920 and then they moved to Kenton in 1921. She shares her memories of early Kenton, including the local hotel, her house and World War One. Additionally, she discusses her time in Colorado and bootleggers around Boise City.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Fern Behrendt was born in Indiana in 1899. She moved to Oklahoma with her family in 1906. She did chores on the family farm until they moved to Missouri in 1912. During World War One she took over her husbands mail route because he was in the military. She nursed flu patients during the epidemic until she caught the disease. She discusses her family's journey from Indiana, the history of Boise City, and the teaching arrangements she grew up with.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

John Duncan was born in Lebanon, Missouri in 1880. His father, John Duncan fought for the Confederate Army in the Civil War. He moved with his family to the Oklahoma panhandle in 1900. Later he moved to Lamar, Colorado where he ran a ranch. During the drought in 1950 he moved his family and their cattle to Kenton, Oklahoma. He shares his experiences running a ranch, and working as a fireman for the St.Louis and Santa Fe Railroads. Additionally, he discusses the price of beef and the dust storms.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Mr. Barrick was born in Dallas County, Missouri in 1890. He moved to Boise City, Oklahoma in 1912. He joined the army during World War One and was elected sheriff in 1924.

Mrs. Barrick was born in Unionville, Missouri in 1898. She moved with her family to the panhandle in 1906. They were married in 1917. They lost one son in World War Two. They discuss the Depression, dust storms, and their time in Boise, Idaho.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Mildred McHard was born in Dardenell, Arkansas in 1907. She moved to Oklahoma with her family in 1908. She worked on the family farm doing chores such as laundry, pumping water, and bringing in wood and coal for the fires. She married a World War One Veteran in 1928 and they started a farm. During World War Two, she helped wrap bandages. She shares her experiences growing up on a farm and of working on her farm as an adult. Additionally, she discusses the dust storms and the Woodward tornado of 1947.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Annie Drummond was born in Farmington, Missouri in 1890. Her father grew tobacco and she helped strip and hang the plants in addition to doing other outside chores because she was a "tomboy." She moved to Oklahoma City in 1901 or 1902 and married Jessie Drummond in 1907. They moved to New York in 1915 and returned to Oklahoma before the dust storms. She worked for an old Italian man making tamales. She shares her memories of the farm as a child and talks about her husbands work as a printer.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Annette Jenkins was born in Longview, Texas in 1892. She worked on the family farm gathering eggs, weeding the garden, and performing house chores. She moved from Longview at the age of twenty- four to Chillicothe, Texas. During World War One she knitted socks for the soldiers. She married a door-to-door salesman. She shares her memories of growing up on the farm in Longview, Texas and the trip from Longview. Additionally, she discusses the dust storms in Texas and the World's Fair in 1936.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Jodie Hereford was born in Gallatin Tennessee in 1897. Her father ran two businesses; a furniture business and an undertaker business. She moved with her family to Nashville at the age of nineteen. In 1916 her father bought a furniture store in Muskogee and the family moved to Oklahoma. She married in 1916. During World War One she knitted sweaters and wrapped bandages for the soldiers. She shares her memories of growing up in Tennessee and life in Oklahoma.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Sarah Nelson was born in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1913. Her father was transferred around the country doing various jobs. They lived in Oklahoma City in 1923 and then again in 1934. Her family ate beans, okra and fried potatoes during the Depression. She worked in the cafeteria at Will Rogers Airport for two months during the second world war. She remembers being downtown during V-J day. She shares her memories of early Oklahoma including flooding in 1923, Community Camps, and the post-war celebrations.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Both originals and duplicative copies.

Helen Marie Barnhart was born in Cable, Ohio in 1910. Her family moved to the United States from Germany. Her father was a travelling minister, and her mother ran a dairy in every city they lived in. She moved to Oklahoma in 1939 and married Mr. Barnhart, a son of a wealthy family. She worked in hospitals and as a bullet inspector while in Oklahoma City. She discusses her family history and the history of the Barnhart family. Additionally, she shares her memories of the schools she attended, her father's poetry, and the town of Barnhart.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Paul Wiard was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1903. He moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1919 where He worked for the Joseph Horne Company for thirty-eight years. He moved to Oklahoma in 1980. He discusses poetry and the differences between Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City and Edmond.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Marion Thede was born in Davis, Oklahoma in 1903. She lived in Davis for fourteen years then moved with her family to Norman. She studied English and music in collage and graduated in three years. She moved to South America and lived in a colony until 1927 when she returned to Oklahoma in order to make enough money to return to South America. She played second violin in an orchestra where she met Mr. Thede. She shares her experiences of living in South America including preparing meals, interactions with the local people and growing crops. Additionally, she shares her memories of life after returning from South America.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Evelyn McCann was born in Lincoln County, Oklahoma in 1914. She worked as a stenographer at the Cooperative Press in 1933. She discusses Cooperative Press and talks about her family history.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Mae Van Camp was born in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota in 1892. She graduated from Moorehead College in 1912. She went on to attend Greg College in 1916-1917. She volunteered to be a therapist for the U.S. Army in 1917 and worked in Boston and Missouri. She worked for the founders of Blue Cross, Blue Shield and was the director of hospital relations for the state of Missouri. She discusses her work in as a physical therapist and shares her memories of the Depression and Armistice Day.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

John Travis Lilley was born in Dangerfield, Texas in 1891. He graduated from Honeygrove High School and was drafted into the army in 1917. He was a member of the 343rd Machine Gun Batallion. He was in the Army of the Occupation. He moved to Oklahoma in 1913. He was also drafted into World War Two. He shares some of his memories of both wars and discusses farming cotton and plowing with horses.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Lois Alder was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma in 1927. His father was a Baptist Minister and he grew up in and around the Nuyaka Mission for Creek Indians. They moved around Oklahoma for his fathers job and ended up in Martha, Oklahoma. Alder joined the army in 1953 and spent twenty years in the military as a Chaplain. He served in Vietnam at the Michelin Rubber Plantation. He married in 1951. He shares his memories of growing up in the Mission and of moving around to different churches. Additionally, he shares his experiences with the military and gives his thoughts on the atomic bomb.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Pearl Mades was born in Magnum, Oklahoma in 1908. She moved to Colorado in 1914 and then returned to Oklahoma City in 1918. She was a flapper during the 1920s and was a member of the Red Cross Motor Corps in World War Two. She discusses flappers, V-J day, and Armistice day in Oklahoma City

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Lola Margaret Isom was born in Avery, Texas in 1910. She lived in Tom, Oklahoma and then moved to Idabel in 1927 or 1928. She worked in Kerr's Department Store and the capitol building. In 1933, she attended "Century of Progress" in Chicago. She discusses her time at Blackwood Business College and working various jobs in Oklahoma City.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Rovilla Donaghe was born in Smithcenter, Kansas in 1888. She moved with her family to Oklahoma in 1905. She worked for the war effort during World War One. She shares her memories of the trip to Oklahoma in a wagon train. Additionally, she discusses home remedies for illnesses, the Depression of 1907, and statehood in El Reno.

47 minutes

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

All originals.

Clarence Bassett was born in Arkansas in 1891. He worked on the family farm growing cotton. During the 1930's he dug ditches for the Works Progress Administration. He raised cotton during the dust bowl and moved with his wife to Davis, Oklahoma. He shares his memories of his childhood on the farm, the flu epidemic of 1918, and the dust bowl. Additionally, he shares his experience moving from Arkansas to Oklahoma.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Dora Wolfe was born near Flint Ridge, Oklahoma in 1886. She talks about her chores on the farm, the Dawes Commission, and her family

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Louis Strothman was born in Mulhall, Oklahoma in 1903. Rose Strothman was born in Mulhall,Oklahoma in 1905. Brother and Sister. They discuss the chores they did on the family farm, early Mulhall, schools, and the Works Progress Administration.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Cecil Samara was born in Oklahoma City in 1916. His parents came to the United States from Lebanon. He had a paper route and helped build Tinker field. He discusses his feelings on Oklahoma and talks about his first football game. Samara was a well known fan of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

John Black Owl was born in Thomas, Oklahoma in 1903. He is the grandson of White Horse who signed the Medicine Lodge Treaty. He attended the Seger Indian School. He discusses his duties as Chief. Mrs. Black Owl discusses the Chilocco Indian School.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Vernnie A. Niles was born in Niles, Oklahoma in 1909. He worked on the family farm doing chores such as the laundry. He moved to El Reno in 1919 and began working on the railroad in 1926, working on the Ft. Reno section of the Rock Island Railroad. During World War Two he worked for the train service. He shares his experiences in the railroad industry. Additionally, he discusses bootlegging in El Reno.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2010-12-13.

Floyd Belknap was born in LaClede County Missouri in 1889. His father cleaned up battlefields. He moved with his family to Oklahoma in 1901 to homestead. During the Depression, he worked for the Works Progress Administration for forty cents an hour. During World War Two, he worked at a Navy base in Clinton. He shares his memories of the trip to Oklahoma as well as the depression of 1907 and Armistice Day.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Mr. Rudolph Baisch was born November 9, 1909 in Russia and immigrated to the United States in 1913. His family settled in Bessie, Oklahoma in 1914. Mr. Baisch shares his stories about his early life in Russia, the trip coming over to the United States, and the reasons why his family chose to come to the United States. He discusses life in Bessie; notable persons of the time, cattle drives, dust storms, and Black Sunday.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Ben Clark III was born in 1915. He is the grandson of Ben Clark, an Indian scout. He worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps Indian Division during the 1930s. From 1937-1944 he worked in Concho School. He discusses his chores on the farm growing up, the schools he attended and, alcoholism.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

J.D. Wright was born in 1921. He grew up in Shawnee, went to basic training at Camp Gruber and was in Los Angles when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. In 1949 he started working for OG&E on a line crew. He talks about the Civilian Conservation Corps in Purcell, his childhood in Shawnee, and his fathers death.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Israel Slutzky was born in Minsk, Russia in 1902. He moved to Oklahoma in 1920. He worked for the railroad in Shawnee. He describes Minsk and Lachwa, Russia and discusses attending Hebrew schools in Russia.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Moneta Dillingham was born in Texas in 1886. She describes her life during major events such as the Depression, Armistice Day, and statehood day. Additionally she discusses the saw mills of the area and women's suffrage and farming.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Leta Blair Wheeler was born neat Weatherford n 1902. She taught 7th and 8th grade. She talks about her chores growing up, World War One, and describes Weatherford.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Rebecca Little Bird Tall Sun was born near Anadarko in 1892. She was married two times. First to Little Bird and then to Dan Tall Sun. She is Cheyenne and does beadwork. She talks about preparing the hides for beadwork, chores around the house, and travelling by covered wagon.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Inez Rushton ws born in Missouri in 1888. She moved with her family to Kansas and then to Weatherford Oklahoma. She married Rufus Rushton and moved to Moffet, Colorado. She participated in war work during the first World War and returned to Oklahoma in 1920.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Barney Christy was born in Velma Oklahoma in 1899. In the first interview Christy talks about his great grandfathers that participated in the Mexican War and the Civil War, his experiences in the Navy during World War Two, and Granite, Oklahoma.

In the second interview he again discusses his grandfathers' military experiences as well as his own. Additionally, he discusses his fathers time with the Texas Rangers, picking cotton on the farm as a child, and participating in athletic events during school.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Lillian Hays was born in Antioch, Oklahoma in 1908. Her husband was a dentist inn Weatherford and served with the 45th Division. She discusses the "Try E" Club (Try Everything) in the 1920s and the dust storms.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Florence Sellars was born near Clarksville, Georgia in 1902. She moved with her family to Hydro, Oklahoma in 1914. She discusses cotton farming, the chores and games she did as a child, and V-J Day in Hydro.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Essie O'Guinn was born in Texarkana, Arkansas in 1912. He father was a coal minter in Arkansas. She walked twenty five miles to Louisiana to join her brother. In 1927, she moved to Seminole, Oklahoma and worked in a rooming house. She also worked in the Clinton Sanitarium from where she retired in 1962. She discusses the Tulsa Race Riots, Jim Crow Laws, and the treatment of black people. Additionally, she talks about African Americans making whiskey down by the river.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Florence Stewart was born South East of Clinton, Oklahoma in 1898. Her father was a farmer and he staked a claim and eventually built a four room house. She discusses the dugout, chores around the house, the games she played, and making head cheese.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Mavis Doering was born in Hominy, Oklahoma in 1929. Her parents were both Cherokee. Her father worked in the oil fields and her mother was a school teacher. She is a descendent of the Starr family. Her maternal grandmother attended the Cherokee Female Seminary and became a teacher. She had a grandfather that attended the Cherokee Male Seminary. She weaves her baskets using traditional Cherokee designs as well as original designs she has created. She discusses her family history, the creation story of the Cherokees, and the history of Cherokee basket weaving. Additionally, she talks about her own basket making including the types of materials used and where she gets her designs from.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Donald Berthrong was born in Wisconsin in 1922. He joined the Army in 1942. He was sent to Missouri and then to Illinois for aircraft school. He served with the Arm Air Corps and entered Officer Candidate School. He was sent to the Philippines and was in Manila on V-J Day. After he returned he attended Michigan State University and received a BA in History in 1947, a Masters in 1948, and a PhD in 1952. He taught history at the University of Kansas City and then went to the University of Oklahoma. He taught there for 18 years in the History Dept. He discusses his military experiences as well as his research and study with the Indians.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Frank C. Marshall was born in Avoca, Wisconsin in 1900. He moved with his family to Oklahoma in 1902. In 1923, he went to work for the 101 show and worked for the Miller brothers for ten years. After the show closed he went to work for the Ringling Brothers from 1934-1936. Then he went on to work for the Highway Patrol and then joined the Navy in 1942. He shares his experiences of early Perry, working for the 101 show, and the Ringling Brothers. Additionally, he describes the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair, the Woodward tornado of 1947, and interesting cases he worked on while a patrolman.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Irene Treeman was born in Wellington, Kansas in 1891. Her father staked a claim during the run of 1893 in Perry, Oklahoma. Her Uncle and Grandfather opened a bank in Perry and her father opened a lumber yard. During World War One her father was the chairman of the Red Cross. She married in 1916 and her husband attended Oklahoma A&M. She discusses early Perry including, the prominent people, parades and the Depression of the 1930s.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Eugene Bucke was born near Coyle, Oklahoma in 1889. He still lived on the original homestead at the time of this interview. He discusses early Coyle, chores on the farm, and the World War Two war effort.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Zella Patterson was born near Langston, Oklahoma in 1909. Her grandparents were owned by a Mr. Maxwell from Austin, Texas. She graduated from Langston University and went on to receive a Masters from Colorado State College in 1941. She discusses her childhood, the war effort during both wars, and the history of Langston University.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Jacques Hans Galrein was born in Germany in 1888. He studied art in Germany and came to Oklahoma by way of New York. He began working at Oklahoma A&M in 1914 and gained citizenship in 1944. He discusses his reasons for coming to the United States and Oklahoma, discrimination of Germans in the U.S. during World War One, and how he developed his style of painting.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

George Lynn Cross was born in South Dakota in 1905. He taught at the University of South Dakota from 1930-1934. After leaving South Dakota, he traveled to Oklahoma and was the acting dean of the graduate school at the University of Oklahoma from 1942-1943. In 1944, he was named the president of the University and held that position until 1968. He discusses the war effort at the university, segregation at OU, and the beginning of the football program. Additionally, he shares his experiences of growing up in South Dakota including schools he attended.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Robert Kohler was born in Boise City, Oklahoma in 1911. His father was a German immigrant who worked on windmills at the Anchor D Ranch near Guymon. He bought 27 homesteads over the years and created an irrigation system that helped them survive the Depression. His father used Japanese farmers during World War Two. Kohler attended school in Boise City and Garrett. He discusses the irrigation system on his fathers homestead, the effort to recharge the Oglala aquifer and the dust storms. Additionally, he shares his memories of the bombing of Boise City during World War Two.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Thelma Tevebaugh was born on Kohler Ranch in 1910. She worked on the family ranch butchering hogs and rendering lard. She discusses growing up on the ranch, the flu epidemic of 1918, moonshiners around Boise City, and the bombing of Boise City during World War Two.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

A.P (Red) Atkins was born in Kansas in 1902. He moved to the Oklahoma Panhandle in 1924. He discusses the difference between a farm and a ranch, the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps in the Panhandle, and how ranching has changed since the 1920s.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

E.E. Shackleford was born in Stroud, Oklahoma in 1903. He moved to the Panhandle in 1910 and then to Oklahoma City in 1926. He shares his memories of Statehood Day in Stroud, the schools he attended, and his chores on the farm.

Mrs. Shackleford was born in Harper, Kansas in 1909. Her father owned a dairy in Alva. She attended college in Alva and went on to teach school. She discusses the Depression, dust storms, and bootleggers.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Emma Louisa Love was born in Bliss, Oklahoma in 1899. She moved to Ponca City as a child where her father was the Postmaster. She attended school at Goodwell and married a banker in 1918. Love was a flapper during the 1920s. She discusses the schools she attended, her chores on the farm, and the flu epidemic. Additionally, she shares her memories of the Depression and dust storms.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Amanda Keylon was born in Indiana in 1896. She moved to Sherman County, Texas in 1908 and then to the Oklahoma Panhandle in 1917. She worked as a housekeeper and was married in 1914. She traveled to her honeymoon on a motorcycle. She discusses her one room house, the Depression, Pearl Harbor, and the World War Two war effort.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

John Norman Bridwell was born in Kentucky in 1894. He moved with his family to the Oklahoma Panhandle in 1908 for his mother's health. He worked for the railroad and lived in a section house. He discusses cattle drives, methods of keeping topsoil in place during the dust bowl, and moonshiners.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Edna Burdine Bridwell was born in Sentinel, Oklahoma in 1904. She moved to Hobart in 1916 and was a flapper during the 1920s. She attended college in Canyon and taught electricity to soldiers during World War Two. She discusses the flu epidemic in Hobart, progressive farming to save the topsoil, Pearl Harbor Day, and the Atomic Bomb.

Released on 2012-02-17.

Lydia Bostwick was born in Lehigh, Kansas in 1902. Her parents moved to the United States from Russia. The homesteaded East of Hooker, Oklahoma. She married in 1931. She discusses her childhood in Hooker, the dust storms, and the war effort for both World War One and Two.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Sadie Hampsten Nash was born in Jasper Illinois in 1905. Her parents homesteaded North of Hooker. She shares her memories of growing up in Hooker, the Depression, and Pearl Harbor Day.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Alma Hartman was born in Kansas in 1908. George Hofferber was born in Kansas in 1906. Their parents came to the United States from Russia. They moved with their family to the Oklahoma Panhandle in 1916. They worked on the family ranch herding cattle and butchering hogs. Mrs. Hartman went to work at a school in Locust Grove. She taught all eight grades in one room. She was a flapper during the 1920s. They discuss discrimination of Germans during World War One, recipes for sausage and headcheese, and teaching in early Oklahoma.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Berniece Welch was born in St. Joseph, Texas in 1897. She moved with her family to Indian Territory in 1900 and then to Guymon in 1904. She married in 1925 and owned the " Model Store" in Hooker. She discusses the dust storms, Pearl Harbor, and the flu epidemic of 1918.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Alice Noell was born in Cookville, Tennessee in 1888. She moved to Kansas in 1906 and then to Hooker, Oklahoma in 1914. She married in 1920. She discusses games she played as a child, Armistice Day in Liberal, Kansas, and the prominent people in Hooker.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Joseph P. Wilson was born in Davis, Oklahoma in 1901. His father worked in a cotton gin. He moved with his family to Blanchard by covered wagon. He attended law school in Lebanon, Tennessee and set up a law practice in Purcell in 1924. He was the county attorney for six years and was elected to the state house. He discusses his most interesting cases, the Depression and soup lines in Purcell, and various governors.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Minnie Bell Blanchard was born in Purcell in 1894. Her father was the first Mayor of Purcell. She lived next door to B.C. Clark and Blanchard was named for her father-in-law. She graduated from Purcell High school in 1912 and from Central State in Edmond in 1915. After graduation she taught in Mannsville, Purcell, Drumright, and Pawhuska. She married in 1926. she discusses early day Purcell, the Dallas World's Fair in 1936, and flappers in the 1920s.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Cecil Sutton was born in Tishomingo, Oklahoma in 1892. He moved to Tribbey in 1910. He worked as a roughneck in World War One in the Kansas Oil fields. During the 1920s he worked for T. B. Slick in the Seminole Oil Field. He discusses the Depression of 1907 and 1930, moonshine in the Seminole Oil Field, and farming and ranching methods.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

James Clark Nance was born in Rogers, Arkansas in 1893. He attended Rogers Academy in Rogers, Oklahoma. He moved to Oklahoma City in 1914 and bought a Weatherford newspaper. Nance married in 1913 and was elected to the House in 1920 and 1926. He went on to be the speaker of the house in 1929 and was elected to the Senate in 1932. He served in the Legislature from 1920 to 1960. At the time of the interview he owned a paper in Purcell. He shares his memories of the Spanish-American War, his time in the government, and the Depression of 1907. Additionally, he describes Governor Marland and Governor Murray.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

C.B. Buchanan covered the oil boom in Seminole, Oklahoma. He describes Seminole, Oklahoma, dance halls in Seminole, and his experiences in Borger, Texas.

Item List

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-07-31.

Eulalia C. Clark was born near Wheatland, Oklahoma in 1897. She attended Catholic schools and worked on the family farm. Her uncle staked a claim at what is now Will Rogers Airport. She married a mechanic and moved to Idabel in 1935. Her husband worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps restoring land in South West Oklahoma. She describes life on the farm, going to boarding school in Oklahoma City, and the Depression in Oklahoma City.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Stella Dihl was born in Kansas in 1899. Her father was a wheat farmer and homesteaded near Okeene, Oklahoma. She attended nursing school at St. Anthony Hospital in 1925. She shares her memories of her childhood in Okeene and nursing school.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

Edith Chubb was born in Tiffin, Ohio in 1889. She married Richard Chubb, a preacher from Oklahoma. She shares her memories of the Spanish-American War, her childhood in Ohio, and watching the Wright Brothers fly in Ohio.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.

H. Merle Woods was born in Parsons, Kansas in 1894. He moved to Welch, Oklahoma in 1907. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1917 with a degree in Journalism. He joined the army for World War One and was stationed at Fort Sill. In 1917 he was the editor of an El Reno newspaper. He served on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Historical Society. He discusses the University of Oklahoma including the number of students and the journalism department, his time in the Army Air Corps, and his career in the field of journalism.

A digitized version of this interview is available in the audio listening room

Released on 2012-02-17.