Lilah Denton Lindsey facts for kids
Lilah Denton Lindsey (born October 21, 1860 – died 1943) was an important Native American woman from the Muscogee and Cherokee nations. She was known for helping others, leading community groups, working to stop alcohol use (a movement called temperance), and being a teacher. Lilah Denton Lindsey was the first Muscogee woman to earn a college degree. She led many groups and was even the president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Indian Territory.
Contents
Lilah's Early Life and School Days
Lilah Denton was born in 1860 near Blue Creek in the Muscogee Nation, which was part of Indian Territory. Her father, John Denton, was Cherokee, and her mother, Susan (McKellop), was Muscogee. Both of her parents were born in Alabama. When they were children, their families were forced to move to Indian Territory in the 1830s. This event is known as the Indian Removal. Lilah's mother, Susan, was a doctor who helped people in the Muscogee Nation.
Lilah was the youngest of six children. She was the only one who lived to be an adult. When Lilah was 16, both of her parents passed away.
As a young girl, Lilah went to the Tullahassee Mission. This was a boarding school for Muscogee children that the Muscogee Nation started in 1850. Her mother had also gone to this school. Lilah's first teacher there was Eliza J. Baldwin. Ms. Baldwin helped Lilah with her education and encouraged her to help others, which became her life's work.
Lilah grew up speaking only the Muscogee language at home. At school, she learned English. She received scholarships to continue her education at Synodical Female College in Fulton, Missouri, and Hillsboro-Highland Institute in Hillsboro, Ohio. She graduated with honors from Hillsboro in 1883. Before graduating, she was asked to teach at the Wealaka Mission in the Muscogee Nation. This mission was where the Tullahassee Mission had moved in 1882.
While teaching, she was encouraged to study medicine. People thought she had a natural talent for it, perhaps because her mother was a doctor. She was the first Muscogee girl to graduate from that school.
Lilah as a Teacher
Lilah Denton was a very good teacher. She loved teaching, and soon became well-known in the old Indian Territory. She taught for a while at the Presbyterian Mission in Wealaka. She also taught at the Coweta Mission and for about three years in Tulsa. In total, she spent about 10 years teaching in mission schools.
In 1884, Lilah married Col. Lee W. Lindsey at the Wealaka Mission. He was born in Ohio in 1845. He had served in the Civil War with an Ohio cavalry group. After the war, he moved south and lived in Alabama for several years. He helped get stone for building the first machine shops in Birmingham. Later, he became a building contractor. In the 1870s, he moved to the Muscogee Nation in Indian Territory. Col. Lindsey finished building the walls of the Creek Council House in Okmulgee.
The couple moved to Tulsa in 1886. For many years, they were important people in the community life of Northeastern Oklahoma.
After she got married, Lilah Lindsey's friends asked her to teach in the public schools of Oklahoma. The State Board of Education did not even make her take the usual test for the job because of her excellent reputation.
Lilah as a Community Organizer
Lilah Lindsey lived in Tulsa for 28 years. She led many women's groups in the city. She also did a lot of charity work on her own. She visited people who were sick and collected donations for those in need. She even helped organize the Humane society to protect animals and people.
Her work helping others got the attention of state leaders. The Oklahoma Governor Charles N. Haskell chose her to represent Oklahoma at an international meeting about tuberculosis in Washington, D.C.. She was also sent to many state charity meetings. She helped get land donated to build a home for young women in need in Tulsa, called the Florence Crittenton Home. However, she became ill and could not finish building it.
For many years, Lindsey was active in the Women's Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions of the Southwest. She was a dedicated church worker and was one of the oldest members of the First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa.
She joined the WCTU and started a local chapter in Tulsa. From that time until Oklahoma became a state, she was the president of the Indian Territory WCTU. Later, she was the vice-president of the Oklahoma WCTU. She also served as president of the Tulsa County and local WCTU groups. For one year, she even edited the official newspaper of the Indian Territory WCTU. At a WCTU meeting in Boston that included women from all over the world, Lilah Lindsey was introduced as a "real native of America."
When Lindsey started the Tulsa chapter of the WCTU, she created the city's first women's club. The National WCTU was the first women's club in America. Lilah also arranged for a police matron to be appointed in Tulsa. This was the first time such a role existed in the state. A police matron was a woman who helped girls who were taken to court. When Lilah met with the city council to suggest this, she had everything so well planned that the idea was approved. The woman she recommended was hired the very next morning! Lilah also served as vice-president of the Women's National Rivers and Harbors Congress.
Lindsey also helped start the Maccabees and the Woman's Relief Corps groups in Tulsa. She was on the leadership board of the Woman's Relief Corps. One year, she checked the financial records of the local chapter in Atlantic City. She attended nine national meetings of the Grand Army of the Republic, a group for Civil War veterans.
Lilah Lindsey was very interested in protecting Native American landmarks. She especially cared about the Creek Capitol Building in Okmulgee. She wanted it to become a museum to save and explain Creek history and artifacts. Her husband built the stone wall around the building and planted trees there. She even taught school in one of its rooms for a time.
Lilah's Legacy
Lilah Denton Lindsey was honored by being inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1937. She passed away on December 22, 1943, in Tulsa. In 1957, a school was named Lilah Lindsey School in her honor.
Images for kids
-
Lilah Denton Lindsey
-
Lilah Denton Lindsey's signature
