Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame facts for kids
The Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame is a special honor created in 1982 by Governor George Nigh. It celebrates amazing women from Oklahoma who have done great things. These women are often pioneers, meaning they were the first to do something important in their field. They have made Oklahoma a better place and are role models for others. Some are "unsung heroes" who made a big difference without getting a lot of attention.
This award is one of the events run by the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women. The commission's goal is to make life better for women, children, and families in the state. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no new women were added to the Hall of Fame in 2020 and 2021.
Who Can Be Nominated?
To be considered for the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame, a woman must be known as an Oklahoman or have lived in the State of Oklahoma for most of her life. She cannot be a current member of the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women.
The women who are chosen usually have:
- Been a pioneer in their job or in a project that helps Oklahoma.
- Made a big, positive change in the State of Oklahoma.
- Acted as a great role model for other women in Oklahoma.
- Been an "unsung hero" who made a difference in the lives of Oklahomans.
- Supported other women or worked to change laws to help women.
- Shown the strong and positive spirit of Oklahoma.
Hall of Fame Members
| Name | Image | Birth–Death | Year | Area of achievement | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nancy Anthony | 2024 | Leader of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation | |||
| Marilyn Mauer Hugon | 2024 | Board member of the Duncan Regional Hospital | |||
| Edie Roodman | 2024 | Leader of the Oklahoma Israel Exchange and former leader of the Jewish Federation of Oklahoma City | |||
| Jane Semple Umsted | 2024 | Choctaw artist | |||
| Crystal Stovall | 2024 | Co-founder of the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship | |||
| Molly Wehrenberg | 2024 | Nurse and Spanish translator | |||
| Mo Anderson | (b. 1937) | 2023 | Business leader | ||
| Patricia Fennell | 2023 | Community activist | |||
| Ann Felton Gilliland | 2023 | Community leader | |||
| Donna Grabow | (b. 1945) | 2023 | Community leader | ||
| Kim Garrett-Funk | 2023 | Business leader | |||
| Cathy Keating | (b. 1950) | 2023 | Philanthropist (a person who helps others), First Lady of Oklahoma | ||
| Freddye Harper Williams | (1917–2001) | 2023† | Community leader | ||
| Sue Ann Arnall | (b. 1956) | 2022 | Business leader and philanthropist | ||
| Carleen Burger | (b. 1951) | 2022 | Community leader | ||
| Janice Dobbs | 2022 | Community leader | |||
| Wanda Jackson |  |
(b. 1937) | 2022 | Singer and musician | |
| Roseline Nsikak | 2022 | Community leader | |||
| Kayse Shrum | .jpg) |
(b. 1972) | 2022 | President of Oklahoma State University | |
| Betty McElderry | (1939–2019) | 2022† | Community leader | ||
| Anna Belle Wiedemann |  |
(b. 1931) | 2022 | Community leader | |
| Helen Holmes |  |
(1915–1997) | 2019† | Journalist, historian, Women's Army Corps officer | |
| Noma Gurich | .JPG) |
(b. 1952) | 2019 | Judge | |
| Ollie Starr | (b. 1941) | 2019 | Community leader | ||
| Judy Love | (b. 1937) | 2019 | Philanthropist | ||
| Susan Chambers | 2018 | Doctor and founding partner of Lakeside Women's Hospital in Oklahoma City | |||
| Jane Anne Jayroe |  |
(b. 1946) | 2018 | Broadcaster, author, Miss Oklahoma, Miss America | |
| Joan Gilmore | (1927–2022) | 2018 | Journalist | ||
| Willa Johnson | (1939–2022) | 2018 | City and county government leader | ||
| Kay Rhoads | 2018 | Principal Chief of the Sac and Fox Nation | |||
| Linda Cavanaugh | (b. 1950) | 2017 | Journalist | ||
| Glenda Love | 2017 | Leader of the Ronald McDonald House in Tulsa | |||
| Pat Potts | 2017 | First woman to be President of the Oklahoma City School Board | |||
| Meg Salyer | 2017 | Volunteerism | |||
| Rhonda Walters | 2017 | First Lady of Oklahoma; Helped create the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women | |||
| Edith Kinney Gaylord | (1916– 2001) | 2017† | Journalist | ||
| LaDonna Harris |  |
(b. 1931) | 2015 | Comanche activist | |
| Mary Mélon-Tully | 2015 | Newspaper publisher; The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools | |||
| Marion Paden | 2015 | Oklahoma Community City College leader | |||
| Thelma Parks | (1923–2019) | 2015 | Civil rights activist | ||
| Ramona Paul | (1936–2013) | 2015 | Education | ||
| Patty Roloff | 2015 | Owner of the Oklahoma City 89ers baseball team | |||
| Avis Scaramucci | 2015 | Entrepreneur (a person who starts a business) | |||
| Ida Blackburn | (1929–2016) | 2013 | Television personality, public relations | ||
| Elaine Dodd | 2013 | Law enforcement | |||
| Lou Kerr | (1937–2024) | 2013 | Businesswoman | ||
| Terri Watkins | (b. 1954) | 2013 | Investigative journalist | ||
| Nancy Miller | 2013 | Television producer | |||
| Linda Haneborg | 2013 | Political activist, businesswoman | |||
| Laura Boyd |  |
(b. 1949) | 2011 | Oklahoma state representative; first woman nominated for Governor of Oklahoma | |
| Chloe Brown | (b. 1951) | 2011 | Founded The Chloe House, a home to help women | ||
| Joy Culbreath | (b. 1939) | 2011 | Leader of all Choctaw Nation Education Services | ||
| Marcia Mitchell | 2011 | Founded The Little Light House to help children with special needs | |||
| Ardina Moore | (1930–2022) | 2011 | Worked to save the Quapaw language | ||
| Cindy Ross | (b. 1950) | 2011 | First female president of Cameron University | ||
| Kathy Taylor | .jpg) |
(b. 1955) | 2011 | Mayor of Tulsa | |
| Helen Harrod Thompson | (b. 1931) | 2011 | Co-creator of a family shelter for victims of violence in Ardmore | ||
| Rita Aragon |  |
(b. 1947) | 2009 | United States Air National Guard two-star general | |
| Suzanne Edmondson | (b. 1945) | 2009 | Founder of a foundation to help women in prison | ||
| Edna Hennessee | (1919–2011) | 2009 | Entrepreneur | ||
| Kim Henry | 2009 | First Lady of Oklahoma | |||
| Mirabeau Lamar Looney | (1871–1935) | 2009† | First woman member of the Oklahoma Senate | ||
| Susan Savage |  |
(b. 1952) | 2009 | First woman mayor of Tulsa | |
| Carolyn Whitener | (b. 1941) | 2009 | Fought for equal rights for men and women in a famous 1970s court case | ||
| Sherri Coale |  |
(b. 1965) | 2007 | Head coach of the University of Oklahoma Sooners women's basketball team | |
| Ginny Creveling | (b. 1946) | 2007 | Community activist | ||
| Joe Anna Hibler | (b. 1939) | 2007 | First woman president of Southwestern Oklahoma State University | ||
| Maxine Horner |  |
(1933–2021) | 2007 | One of the first African American women to serve in the Oklahoma State Senate | |
| Kay Martin | 2007 | Second female leader of an Oklahoma technology center | |||
| Terry Neese |  |
(b. 1947) | 2007 | Entrepreneur and advocate for women's equality | |
| Claudia Tarrington | (1944–2003) | 2007† | Political consultant | ||
| Carolyn Thompson Taylor |  |
(b. 1957) | 2007 | State representative and professor of political science at Rogers State University | |
| Della Warrior | (b. 1946) | 2007 | First and only woman to be chairperson and leader of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe | ||
| Wanda L. Bass | (1927–2008) | 2005 | Philanthropist | ||
| Nancy Coats-Ashley | (b. 1939) | 2005 | District Court Judge for Oklahoma County | ||
| Mary Fallin |  |
(b. 1954) | 2005 | Governor of Oklahoma | |
| Bessie S. McColgin | (1875–1972) | 2005† | First woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives | ||
| Jeanine Rhea |  |
(b. 1938) | 2005 | Professor at Oklahoma State University | |
| Stephanie Kulp Seymour | (b. 1940) | 2005 | First female Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit court | ||
| Esther Houser | (b. 1950) | 2003 | Advocate for the elderly in the Department of Human Services | ||
| Vicki Miles-LaGrange |  |
(b. 1953) | 2003 | First woman U.S. Attorney in Oklahoma | |
| Linda Morrissey | (b. 1953) | 2003 | Tulsa County District Judge | ||
| Lynn Schusterman | (b. 1939) | 2003 | Philanthropist and leader of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies | ||
| Donna Shirley |  |
(b. 1941) | 2003 | Aerospace engineer, head of the Mars Exploration Program in 1994 | |
| Jari Askins |  |
(b. 1953) | 2001 | Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma | |
| Shirley Bellmon | (1927–2000) | 2001† | First Lady of Oklahoma | ||
| Dorothy Moses DeWitty | (1926–2012) | 2001 | First African-American woman president of the League of Women Voters | ||
| Sandy Garrett | (b. 1943) | 2001 | First woman elected Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction | ||
| Lynn Jones | (b. 1949) | 2001 | Police woman, developed the first survival course for officers in Oklahoma | ||
| Yvonne Kauger | (b. 1937) | 2001 | Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court 1997-1998 | ||
| Jill Zink Tarbel | (1924–2009) | 2001 | Advocate for people with disabilities, trustee for the University of Tulsa | ||
| Dana Tiger | (b. 1961) | 2001 | Native American artist | ||
| Isabel Keith Baker | (1929–2019) | 1997 | Oklahoma State University Board of Regents | ||
| Jessie Thatcher Bost | (1875–1963) | 1997 | First woman to graduate from a university in Oklahoma | ||
| Norma Eagleton | (b. 1934) | 1997 | Finance and Revenue Commissioner; Board of Regents for Rogers State College | ||
| Kay Goebel | (b. 1929) | 1997 | Community activist | ||
| Ruth Hardman | (1914–2005) | 1997 | Philanthropist | ||
| Beverly Horse | (1931–2010) | 1997 | Human rights activist | ||
| Mazola McKerson | (1921–2014) | 1997 | First African-American and first female on the Ardmore City Council; first African-American female mayor of Ardmore | ||
| Penny Williams |  |
(1937–2018) | 1997 | State lawmaker | |
| Betty Boyd |  |
(1924–2011) | 1996 | Pioneer woman journalist | |
| Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher | (1924–1995) | 1996† | Civil rights activist | ||
| Lela Foreman | (1930–2015) | 1996 | Civil rights activist | ||
| Sandy Ingraham | (b. 1947) | 1996 | Child Advocate of the Decade | ||
| Lorena Males | (1909–2006) | 1996 | Community activist | ||
| Bernice Shedrick |  |
(b. 1940) | 1996 | Attorney, judge, state lawmaker | |
| Valree Fletcher Wynn | (1922–2021) | 1996 | Professor at Cameron University; first African American to teach at Lawton High School and Cameron University | ||
| Nancy Feldman | (1922–2014) | 1995 | Civil rights activist | ||
| Barbara J. Gardner-Anderson | (b. 1949) | 1995 | First woman to lead the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce | ||
| Ruthe Blalock Jones |  |
(b. 1939) | 1995 | Delaware-Shawnee Native American artist and professor of art at Bacone College | |
| Mona Salyer Lambird | (1938–1999) | 1995 | First woman president of the Oklahoma Bar Association | ||
| Gloria Grace Langdon | (1927–2003) | 1995 | Tonkawa News publisher | ||
| Bernice Mitchell | (1939–2021) | 1995 | First African American woman elected as County Commissioner in Payne County, Oklahoma | ||
| Donna Nigh | (b. 1933) | 1995 | First Lady of Oklahoma | ||
| Marie C. Cox | (1920–2005) | 1993 | Founded the North American Indian Women's Association | ||
| Anita Hill |  |
(b. 1956) | 1993 | Attorney and professor | |
| Moscelyne Larkin | (1925–2012) | 1993 | Native American ballerina | ||
| Jacqulyn Longacre | (b. 1932) | 1993 | Leader of a health organization for women | ||
| Shannon Lucid |  |
(b. 1943) | 1993 | Biochemist and astronaut | |
| Clara Luper | (1923–2011) | 1993 | Civic leader and civil rights activist | ||
| Opaline Deveraux Wadkins | (1912–2000) | 1993 | First African American nurse to earn a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma | ||
| Pat Woodrum | (b. 1941) | 1993 | Leader of the Tulsa City-County Library System | ||
| Sara Ruth Cohen | (1920–1986) | 1986 | Activist for the arts in the Jewish community | ||
| Vinita Cravens | (1909–1994) | 1986 | Promoter of stage shows | ||
| Rubye Hibler Hall | (1912–2003) | 1986 | First African-American appointed to the State Regents for Higher Education | ||
| Elizabeth Ann McCurdy Holmes | (1927–1983) | 1986† | Leader at the University of Oklahoma | ||
| Grace Elizabeth Hudlin | (1908–1995) | 1986 | Political activist and first woman to lead an electric company in Oklahoma | ||
| Wilma Mankiller | .jpg) |
(1945–2010) | 1986 | First woman elected chief of the Cherokee Nation | |
| Edna Mae Phelps | (1920–2001) | 1986 | First woman to serve on the Oklahoma State Election Board | ||
| Evelyn La Rue Pittman |  |
(1910–1992) | 1986 | Author, composer, and music teacher | |
| Mae Boren Axton | (1914–1997) | 1985 | Songwriter who wrote Heartbreak Hotel, promoter, mother of Hoyt Axton | ||
| June Tompkins Benson | (1915–1981) | 1985† | First woman mayor in Oklahoma | ||
| Pam Olson | (b. 1949) | 1985 | News journalist, CNN White House correspondent | ||
| Betty Durham Price | (1931–2023) | 1985 | Worked to preserve visual arts | ||
| Bertha Frank Teague | (1898–1991) | 1985 | Basketball coach; She started the first girls' basketball clinic in the Southwest | ||
| Angie Debo | (1890–1988) | 1984 | Historian who wrote about Native Americans | ||
| Jeane Kirkpatrick |  |
(1926–2006) | 1984 | Professor, diplomat, and political activist | |
| Jewell Russell Mann | (1903–1987) | 1984 | Activist who helped change the state constitution so women could hold office in Oklahoma | ||
| Zella J. Patterson | (1909–1986) | 1984 | Head of the Home Economics Department at Langston University | ||
| Zelia N. Breaux | (1880–1956) | 1983† | Organized the first music department and orchestra at Oklahoma's Langston University | ||
| Kate Frank | (1890–1982) | 1983† | First woman president of the Oklahoma Education Association | ||
| Leona Mitchell | (b. 1949) | 1983 | African-American and Chickasaw opera singer | ||
| Jean Pitts | (b. 1945) | 1983 | Heart surgeon and medical researcher | ||
| Juanita Stout | (1919–1998) | 1983 | First African-American woman elected as a judge in the United States | ||
| Alma Wilson | (1917–1999) | 1983 | First woman to serve on the Oklahoma Supreme Court and its first woman chief justice | ||
| Hannah Diggs Atkins | (1923–2010) | 1982 | First African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives | ||
| Kate Barnard |  |
(1875–1930) | 1982† | First woman elected to a statewide office when only men could vote | |
| June Brooks | (1924–2010) | 1982 | Oil lobbyist (a person who works to influence lawmakers) | ||
| Gloria Stewart Farley | (1916–2006) | 1982 | Author, historian | ||
| Aloysius Larch-Miller |  |
(1886–1920) | 1982† | Suffragist (a person who fought for women's right to vote) | |
| Susan Ryan Peters | (1873–1965) | 1982† | Founded the Kiowa Indian School of Art | ||
| Christine Salmon | (1916–1985) | 1982 | Architect | ||
| Edyth Thomas Wallace | (1880–1975) | 1982† | Newspaper columnist and radio disc jockey |
- †Honored after death
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Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.