Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame was established in 1982 by Oklahoma Governor George Nigh "to honor Oklahoma women who are pioneers in their field or in a project that benefits Oklahoma; who have made a significant contribution to the State of Oklahoma; who serve or have served as role models to other Oklahoma women; who may be "unsung heroes," but have made a difference in the lives of Oklahomans or Americans because of their actions; who have championed other women, women's issues, or served as public policy advocates for the issues important to women; and who exemplify the Oklahoma spirit."^[1]

The Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame is one of several events sponsored by the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women to support its mission, "To improve the quality of life for women, children and families in Oklahoma."^[2] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no inductees in 2020 and 2021.

Eligibility requirements

• Must be a woman who has either lived in the State of Oklahoma for a major portion of her life or who is easily identified as an Oklahoman;
• Must not be a current member of the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women;

And shall include:

• Women who are pioneers in their field or in a project that benefits Oklahoma.
• Women who have made a significant contribution to the State of Oklahoma.
• Women who serve or have served as role models to other Oklahoma women.
• Women who may be "unsung heroes" but have made a difference in the lives of Oklahomans or Americans because of their actions.
• Women who have championed other women, women's issues, or served as public policy advocates for the issues important to women.
• Women who exemplify the Oklahoma spirit.^[3]

Inductees

Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame

Name	Image	Birth–Death	Year	Area of achievement	Ref(s)
Mo Anderson			2023		[4]
Patricia Fennell			2023		[4]
Ann Felton Gilliland			2023		[4]
Donna Grabow			2023		[4]
Kim Garrett Funk			2023		[4]
Cathy Keating			2023		[4]
Freddye Harper Williams		(1917–2001)	2023		[4]
Sue Ann Arnall			2022		[5]
Carleen Burger			2022		[5]
Janice Dobbs			2022		[5]
Wanda Jackson			2022		[5]
Roseline Nsikak			2022		[5]
Kayse Shrum			2022		[5]
Betty McElderry			2022		[5]
Anna Belle Wiedemann			2022		[5]
Helen Holmes		(1915–1997)	2019	Journalist, historian, Women's Army Corps officer	[6]
Noma Gurich			2019	Jurist	[6]
Ollie Starr			2019		[6]
Judy Love			2019	Philanthropist	[6]
Susan Chambers			2018	OB/GYN founding partner of Lakeside Women's Hospital in Oklahoma City	[7]
Jane Anne Jayroe			2018	Broadcaster, author, Miss Oklahoma, Miss America	[7]
Joan Gilmore		(1927–2022)	2018	Journalist	[7]
Willa Johnson			2018	City and county office holder	[7]
Kay Rhoads			2018	Principal Chief of the Sac and Fox Nation	[7]
Linda Cavanaugh			2017	Journalist	[8]
Glenda Love			2017	Executive director of the Ronald McDonald House in Tulsa	[8]
Pat Potts			2017	First woman to serve as President of the Oklahoma City School Board	[8]
Meg Salyer			2017	Volunteerism	[8]
Rhonda Walters			2017	Helped create /he Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women	[8]
Edith Kinney Gaylord			2017	Journalist	[8]
LaDonna Harris		(b. 1931)	2015	Comanche activist	[9]
Mary Mélon			2015	Newspaper publisher; The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools	[10]
Marion Paden			2015	Oklahoma Community City College	[10]
Thelma Parks			2015	Civil rights	[10]
Ramona Paul			2015	Education	[10]
Patty Roloff			2015	Owner Oklahoma City 89ers	[10]
Avis Scaramucci			2015	Entrepreneur	[10]
Ida Blackburn			2013	Television personality, public relations	[11]
Elaine Dodd			2013	Law enforcement	[11]
Lou Kerr			2013	Businesswoman	[11]
Terri Watkins			2013	Investigative journalist	[11]
Nancy Miller			2013	Television producer	[11]
Linda Haneborg			2013	Political activist, businesswoman	[11]
Laura Boyd		(b. 1949)	2011	Oklahoma state representative; first woman nominee for Governor of Oklahoma	[12]
Chloe Brown			2011	Founded The Chloe House transition home for women	[12]
Joy Culbreath			2011	Executive Director of all Choctaw Nation Education Service	[12]
Marcia Mitchell			2011	Founded The Little Light House faith-based mission to assist children with a wide range of developmental disabilities including autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy	[12]
Ardina Moore		(b. 1930)	2011	Preservationist for the Quapaw language	[12]
Cindy Ross			2011	First female president of Cameron University	[12]
Kathy Taylor		(b. 1955)	2011	Mayor of Tulsa	[12]
Helen Harrod Thompson			2011	Co-creator of the Family Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence in Ardmore	[12]
Rita Aragon		(b. 1947)	2009	United States Air National Guard two-star general	[13]
Suzanne Edmondson		(b. 1945)	2009	Founder of Friends of Eddie Warrior (FEW) Foundation	[14]
Edna Hennessee		(1911–2011)	2009	Entrepreneur	[15]
Kim Henry			2009	First Lady of the State of Oklahoma	[14]
Mirabeau Lamar Looney		(1871–1935)	2009	First woman member of the Oklahoma Senate	[16]
Susan Savage		(b. 1952)	2009	First woman mayor of Tulsa	[14]
Carolyn Whitener			2009	1970s sexual discrimination lawsuit	[14]
Sherri Coale		(b. 1965)	2007	Head coach of the University of Oklahoma Sooners	[14]
Ginny Creveling			2007	Community activist	[14]
Joe Anna Hibler		(b. 1939)	2007	First woman president of Southwestern Oklahoma State University	[14]
Maxine Horner		(b. 1933)	2007	One of the first African American women to serve in the Oklahoma State Senate	[14]
Kay Martin			2007	Second female superintendent to lead an Oklahoma technology center	[14]
Terry Neese			2007	Entrepreneur, public policy strategist, women's equality advocate	[14]
Claudia Tarrington		(d. 2003)	2007	Political consultant	[14]
Carolyn Thompson Taylor			2007	State representative, associate professor of political science at Rogers State University	[14]
Della Warrior			2007	First and only woman to date to serve as the chairperson and chief executive officer for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe	[14]
Wanda L. Bass		(1927–2008)	2005	Philanthropist	[14]
Nancy Coats-Ashley		(b. 1972)	2005	District Court Judge for Oklahoma County	[14]
Mary Fallin		(b. 1954)	2005	Governor of Oklahoma	[17]
Bessie S. McColgin		(1875–1972)	2005	First woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives	[18]
Jeanine Rhea			2005	Professor Emeritus in the Department of Management at Oklahoma State University	[14]
Stephanie Kulp Seymour		(b. 1940)	2005	First female Chief Judge of the Tenth Circuit	[14]
Esther Houser			2003	State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in the Aging Services Division of the Department of Human Services	[14]
Vicki Miles-LaGrange		(b. 1953)	2003	First woman U.S. Attorney in Oklahoma	[19]
Linda Morrissey		(b. 1953)	2003	Tulsa County District Judge	[14]
Lynn Schusterman		(b. 1939)	2003	Philanthropist, president of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation	[14]
Donna Shirley		(b. 1941)	2003	Aerospace engineer, head of the Mars Exploration Program in 1994	[20]
Jari Askins		(b. 1953)	2001	Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma	[21]
Shirley Bellmon		(1927–2000)	2001	First Lady of the State of Oklahoma	[14]
Dorothy Moses DeWitty		(b. 1926)	2001	First African-American woman president of the League of Women Voters	[14]
Sandy Garrett		(b. 1943)	2001	First woman elected Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction	[14]
Lynn Jones			2001	Police woman, developed the first Officers’ Street Survival course in Oklahoma	[14]
Yvonne Kauger		(b. 1947)	2001	Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court 1997-1998	[22]
Jill Zink Tarbel		(d. 2009)	2001	Advocate for disabled persons, trustee for the University of Tulsa	[14]
Dana Tiger		(b. 1961)	2001	Native American artist	[14]
Isabel Keith Baker		(b. 1929)	1997	Oklahoma State University Board of Regents	[14]
Jessie Thatcher Bost		(1875–1963)	1997	First woman to graduate from a university in Oklahoma	[23]
Norma Eagleton		(b. 1934)	1997	Finance and Revenue Commissioner; Board of Regents for Rogers State College	[14]
Kay Goebel		(b. 1929)	1997	Community activist	[14]
Ruth Hardman		(1914–2005)	1997	Philanthropist,	[14]
Beverly Horse		(1931–2010)[24]	1997	Human rights activist	[14]
Mazola McKerson		(1921–2014)	1997	First African-American and first female to serve on the Ardmore City Council; first African-American female mayor of Ardmore; first chair of the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women	[14]
Penny Williams		(b. 1937)	1997	State legislator	[14]
Betty Boyd		(1924–2011)	1996	Pioneer woman journalist	[14]
Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher		(1924–1995)	1996	Civil rights activist	[25]
Lela Foreman			1996	Civil rights activist	[14]
Sandy Ingraham		(b. 1947)	1996	Child Advocate of the Decade	[14]
Lorena Males		(1909–2006)	1996	Community activist	[14]
Bernice Shedrick		(b. 1940)	1996	Attorney, judge, state legislator	[14]
Valree Fletcher Wynn		(b. 1922)	1996	Professor Emeritus at Cameron University; first African American to teach at Lawton High School, to teach at Cameron University, and to serve on the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges.	[14]
Nancy Feldman		(1922–2014)	1995	Civil rights activist	[14]
Barbara J. Gardner-Anderson			1995	First woman to chair the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce	[14]
Ruthe Blalock Jones		(b. 1939)	1995	Delaware-Shawnee Native American artist and Director Emeritus and associate professor of art at Bacone College	[26]
Mona Salyer Lambird		(1938–1999)	1995	First woman president of the Oklahoma Bar Association and the first woman elected to the Board of Governors of the Oklahoma Bar Association	[14]
Gloria Grace Langdon		(1927–2003)	1995	Tonkawa News publisher	[14]
Bernice Mitchell		(b. 1939)	1995	First African American woman to be elected as County Commissioner in Payne County, Oklahoma	[14]
Donna Nigh		(b. 1933)	1995	First Lady of the State of Oklahoma	[14]
Marie Cox		(d. 1994)	1993	Founded the North American Indian Women's Association	[14]
Anita Hill		(b. 1956)	1993	Attorney and academic	[27]
Moscelyne Larkin		(1925–2012)	1993	Native American ballerina	[28]
Jacqulyn Longacre		(b. 1932)	1993	Executive Director of Planned Parenthood	[14]
Shannon Lucid		(b. 1943)	1993	Biochemist, astronaut	[29]
Clara Luper		(1923–2011)	1993	Civic leader, civil rights activist	[30]
Opaline Deveraux Wadkins		(1912–2000)	1993	First African American nurse to earn a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma	[14]
Pat Woodrum			1993	Executive Director of the Tulsa City-County Library System	[14]
Sara Ruth Cohen		(1920–1986)	1986	Activist for the arts in the Jewish community	[14]
Vinita Cravens		(1909–1994)	1986	Stage productions promoter	[14]
Rubye Hibler Hall		(1912–2003)	1986	First African-American appointed to the State Regents for Higher Education	[14]
Elizabeth Ann McCurdy Holmes			1986	Continuing Education and Public Service at the University of Oklahoma	[14]
Grace Elizabeth Hudlin		(1908–1995)	1986	Political activist and first woman to head an electric cooperative in Oklahoma	[14]
Wilma Mankiller		(1945–2010)	1986	First woman elected chief of the Cherokees	[31]
Edna Mae Phelps	(1920 –2001)	[14]	1986	First woman to serve on the Oklahoma State Election Board
Evelyn La Rue Pittman		(1910–1992)	1986	Author, composer, choral director, producer, and music educator	[14]
Mae Boren Axton		(1914–1997)	1985	The woman who wrote Heartbreak Hotel; songwriter, promoter, mother of Hoyt Axton	[32]
June Tompkins Benson		(1915–1981)	1985	First woman mayor in Oklahoma	[14]
Pam Olson			1985	News journalist, CNN White House correspondent	[33]
Betty Durham Price			1985	Visual arts preservationist	[14]
Bertha Frank Teague		(1898–1991)	1985	Basketball coach; She established the first girls' basketball clinic in the Southwest	[34]
Angie Debo		(1890–1988)	1984	Historian who focused on Native Americans	[35]
Jeane Kirkpatrick		(1926–2006)	1984	Professor, diplomat, political activist	[36]
Jewell Russell Mann		(1903–1987)	1984	Feminist activist who was instrumental in amending the state constitution to allow women to hold elective office in Oklahoma	[14]
Zella J. Patterson		(1909–1986)	1984	Head of the Home Economics Department at Langston University	[14]
Zelia N. Breaux		(1880–1956)	1983	Organized the first music department at Oklahoma's Langston University and the school's first orchestra	[14]
Kate Frank		(1890–1982)	1983	First woman president of the Oklahoma Education Association	[14]
Leona Mitchell		(b. 1949)	1983	African-American and Chickasaw operatic soprano	[37]
Jean Pitts		(b. 1945)	1983	Cardiovascular surgeon and medical researcher	[14]
Juanita Stout		(1919–1998)	1983	First African-American woman elected to any judgeship in the United States and the first to serve on the Supreme Court of any state	[14]
Alma Wilson		(1917–1999)	1983	First woman to serve on the Oklahoma Supreme Court and its first woman as chief justice,	[38]
Hannah Diggs Atkins		(1923–2010)	1982	First African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives (1968 – 1980)	[39]
Kate Barnard		(1875–1930)	1982	First woman elected to statewide office by a male-only electorate	[40]
June Brooks		(1924–2010)	1982	Oil lobbyist	[41]
Gloria Stewart Farley		(1916–2006)	1982	Author, historian	[14]
Aloysius Larch-Miller		(1886–1920)	1982	Suffragist	[14]
Susan Ryan Peters		(1873–1965)	1982	Founded the Kiowa Indian School of Art	[14]
Christine Salmon		(1916–1985)	1982	Architect	[14]
Edyth Thomas Wallace		(1880–1975)	1982	Newspaper columnist and radio disc jockey	[14]

Notes

References

• Berson, Robin Kadison (1994). Marching to a Different Drummer: Unrecognized Heroes of American History. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press}. ISBN 0-313-28802-X.
• Haskins, James (1999). Distinguished African American Political and Governmental Leaders. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press. ISBN 1-57356-126-6.
• Martin, Mart (1999). The Almanac of Women and Minorities in American Politics. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-6870-7.
• Nolan, Cathal J. (1997). Notable U.S. Ambassadors since 1775: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-29195-0.

External links

• Photo Archive of 2007 Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame induction ceremony
• National Women's Hall of Fame, Women of the Hall