Johnston Murray was an American lawyer,politician,and the 14th governor of Oklahoma from 1951 to 1955. He was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1956,Murray switched parties and joined the Republican Party.
Mary L. Easley served as the Oklahoma Senator representing District 18,which includes Mayes,Tulsa and Wagoner counties from her win in a special election in 2004 until 2010. She previously served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1996 through 2004,representing District 78.
Judy Eason McIntyre is an American politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A Democrat,McIntyre served as an Oklahoma state Senator from 2004 to 2012 representing District 11,which includes Osage and Tulsa counties. She also served as State Representative from 2002 to 2004 representing District 73 where she was the first freshman appointed to the Speaker's Leadership Team. For the 16 years before her election to the Oklahoma Legislature,she was an elected board member for the Tulsa Public Schools in Tulsa,Oklahoma.
Clement Vann Rogers was an American politician and judge in Indian Territory. Clem Rogers' parents were both mixed-blood Cherokees who moved to Indian Territory in 1832,several years before the Trail of Tears. Before the American Civil War,Clem allied with the "Treaty Party",a Cherokee faction that supported signing the Treaty of New Echota. When the Civil War broke out,Clem enlisted in the Confederate Army,and served under General Stand Watie. After the war,he became active in Cherokee politics,first elected as a judge in the Cooweescoowee District,then served five terms in the Cherokee Senate. He later served as a delegate to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention. Rogers was the father of entertainer Will Rogers.
Skye D. McNiel is an American politician who served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 2006 until 2013. McNiel represented the 29th district.
Mary Bernice Shedrick is a politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Shedrick represented Oklahoma State Senate District 21 from 1980 to 1996. In 1994 she was a candidate for Governor of Oklahoma. Shedrick is now a part-time Administrative Law Judge in Payne and Logan counties and is a member of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
Pamela Peterson is an American Republican Party politician from the U.S. state of New York,who represented the 67th district in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 2004 to 2016. The district is contained in Tulsa County. She served as majority floor leader,the first woman to hold that post.
Anastasia A. Pittman is an American and Seminole Nation of Oklahoma politician from the state of Oklahoma. She has served on the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma General Council since 2021 representing the Dosar Barkus Band.
Joe Anna Hibler is an American educator. Much of her career was spent teaching business at the university level. Retired from active teaching,she is the former president of Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU),an inductee into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame,and currently a regent of the Regional University System of Oklahoma.
Barbara Masterson Staggs was a longtime educator in Muskogee,Oklahoma and a legislator in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. During her time in the legislature,Staggs assisted as a member of the Common Education Committee and was integral in passing many bills,such as one that lead to the creation of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee.
Sallie Davis Hayden was a suffragist in the Arizona Territory of the United States. She and her husband were founders of Hayden's Ferry,later Tempe,Arizona.
Penny Baldwin Williams was an American Democratic Party politician from Oklahoma. Williams served as a legislator in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988,representing District 70. She later was elected to the Oklahoma Senate,representing District 33,from 1989 to 2004. Senator Williams authored important bills on education during her time in the legislature,including the historic education reform act. Williams also authored a series of bills to strengthen math and science,and the bill creating the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. A supporter of the arts,Williams influenced art education in public schools,and was instrumental in the creation of the Art in Public Places Act.
Dorothy Conaghan Chiles was a U.S. politician from the state of Oklahoma. Her first husband,Brian Conaghan,died due to complications from leukemia while serving in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. In 1973,Chiles was elected to fill his vacant seat,and she served for thirteen years until 1986. She represented the 38th district,which includes Grant and Kay counties.
Joan Hastings, was a politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1975,Hastings served district 67 until 1984. After serving in the legislature,Hastings served for 16 years as Tulsa County Clerk,retiring in 2001. After retiring from public office,Hastings worked in real estate in the Tulsa area. She is an inductee of the Tulsa Central Hall of Fame.
Daisy Lawler is a former politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Lawler was elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 2002 and served until 2006,representing District 24. Lawler was an educator for 28 years before running for political office. Her dedication to education continued through her time in the legislature,as she was a tireless advocate for children,education,and improved care for the elderly.
Mirabeau. Lamar Looney was the first female member of the Oklahoma Senate. Looney was elected to public office as the registrar of deeds for Harmon County in 1912 and later as Harmon County Clerk in 1916 before women received the right to vote. In 1920,an amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave all women of the United States voting privileges,the same year that Looney ran for and was elected to the Oklahoma Senate. Looney served from 1920 until 1928,representing District 4. In 1926,she considered running for Lieutenant Governor but abandoned the race knowing that the courts would hold to the Oklahoma constitutional requirement that a man hold the office. Looney then decided to run for a spot in the U.S. Senate but lost her bid and returned to her fourth and final term in the Oklahoma Senate. Looney would remain the only woman in the Oklahoma Senate until 1975.
Patricia Weedn is an American politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Elected in 1989,Weedn served in the Oklahoma Senate,representing District 15,until 2000. Prior to her public office,Weedn worked as the McClain County Assessor for ten years. She was the first woman to be elected Senator in Cleveland and McClain counties. Weedn remains active in her community outside of the legislature and has two children.
Bernice Compton Mitchell was the first African American woman to be elected as county commissioner in Payne County,Oklahoma,and only the second woman in the state of Oklahoma to serve in this position. She served from 1986 until 1996. Mitchell also chaired the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women and served a time as the president of the Oklahoma Women's Political Caucus. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.
Minnie Lou Bradley was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 2006. Bradley is considered an innovator in the beef cattle industry.
Belle Reeves was an American Democratic politician from Washington. After first winning election as a write-in candidate in 1922,she served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives representing Chelan County from 1923 to 1927 and 1931 to 1938. She became the first female Washington Secretary of State in 1938 upon her appointment by Governor Clarence D. Martin. She served as Secretary of State for ten years through successful elections in 1940 and 1944,dying while in office in 1948. She was also the first woman featured at a national convention of either major party.
