Perle Mesta Profiled in The Oklahoman

If you thought Pele Mesta just gave great parties, think again. She was only the third women ever named to a diplomatic post by the US and was such a committed feminist that she changed her name from Pearl to Perle as a political statement. She was the model for the lead character in Irving Berlin's Broadway play and subsequent movie "Call Me Madam."

Here is the newspaper story; too bad the newspaper doesn't post the great photographs associated with the article. Click here to read about Mesta at the Oklahoma Women's Network website (scroll down to her name). Once there, click on her name for other bios on Perle Mesta. Or read her autobiography, Perle: My Story. Buy it at Amazon or check your local library.

Women Pilots Museum in Oklahoma City

Dedicated to preserving the history of women in aviation, the Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots is located at 4300 Amelia Earhart Drive in Oklahoma City.

In addition to displays, the museum offers a research library and archives and is working on offering an aviation educational program. The museum was named for the 99 women pilots who signed the museum’s initial charter. For more, click here.

We Need More Like Anna Korn

Leading up to the Centennial celebration, The Oklahoman is running profiles on noteable Oklahomans. On November 27, 2006, they ran a story about Anna Korn (1869-1965). She founded the Oklahoma Women’s Legislative Council, lobbied for women to get the right to vote and serve on juries plus urged the Legislature to establish a separate ward for women at the state penitentiary. She also founded the Oklahoma Memorial Association – the precursor to the Oklahoma Heritage Association which maintains the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Go Anna!

Oklahoma African-American Women's Stories

The Oklahoma Uncrowned Queens Project is seeking stories of ordinary black women in Oklahoma who impacted their communities. Some women already profiled include Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Betty Mason, Janetta Chapple, Ruth Faine, Mazola McKerson and Clara Luper. The collected stories will by published in a book, Uncrowned Queens: African-American Women Community Builders of Oklahoma, 1907-2007. Peggy Brooks-Bertram and Barbara Seals Nevergold started collecting histories of black women in 1999. Obtain a nomination form and read biographies of Oklahoma women at their website.

Mindy Stitt New OERB Head

On May 4, Mindy Stitt was named Executive Director of the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board. That's the organization that does all the "environmental restoration" you see in their TV ads.

Oklahoma's Territorial Women

Author Glenda Carlile's book Buckskin, Calico, and Lace: Oklahoma's Territorial Women (Oklahoma City: Southern Hills Publishing, 1990) features chapters on many characters and saints of the period.

Women profiled include Mary Alice Hearrell Murray (the wife of AP Murray - Oklahoma's first Governor), famous madam "Big Anne" Wynn, socialite Anna Murphy Overholser, outlaws Cattle Annie, Little Britches and Belle Star, newspaper publisher Elva Shartel Ferguson, Kate Barnard and more. Add it to your Oklahoma women library; a used copy via Amazon can be had for around $5.00.

Oklahoma Women in Politics (1900-1930)

Suzanne H. Schrems, PhD. of Norman has written a fascinating book about the role of women in early Oklahoma politics. She covers the far left, woman's suffrage, conservatives, even the role of women in the Ku Klux Klan.
One chapter is dedicated to the only woman from Oklahoma to serve in the US Congress -- Alice Mary Robertson. (Hint: I doubt many of us would vote for her if she ran for Congress today.) At Amazon.com, look for Across the Political Spectrum: Oklahoma Women in Politics in the Early Twentieth Century, 1900-1930 (Lincoln, NE: Writers Club Press, 2001)

A Report on The Status of Women in Oklahoma

The Institute for Women's Policy Research's study reports on how Oklahoma women rank in five areas: political participation, employment and earnings, social and economic autonomy, reproductive rights and health and well-being.

Trish Long, PhD Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Women’s Studies Program at Oklahoma State University serves on their 35 member National Advisory Committee for The Status of Women in the States Project.

It is an excellent work but somewhat discouraging.

Indomitable Oklahoma Women

This book by Opan Hartssell was published in hard cover by the Oklahoma Heritage Association in January of 1994.

It features some wonderful profiles of women - some famous and others just extraordinary!

OCU Law School to Honor Women in the Law

Oklahoma City University will hold The Legal Affair Dinner and Awards Gala on the evening of Thursday, May 18 at the Okahoma City Golf and Country Club. To be honored are Marjorie Downing (Professor of Law 1972-1997) and Nancy I Kenderline (Professor of Law 1977-2005. Also receiving awards are The Honorable Reta M. Strubhar (Marian P. Opala Award for Lifetime Achievement in Law), The Honorable Patricia D. MacGuigan (Distinguished Lawe Alumna), M. Susie Magaw-Viele (Law Alumna Association Award for Community Service), Keri C. Prince (Outstanding Young Alumna) and Scoggins & Cross, PLLC (Law Firm Mark of Distinction). Congratulations to the honorees. Proceeds will help to endow scholarships in the names of Professors Downing and Kenderline.

Jean Warner Update

After three plus years with N.E.W. Leadership which, along with Cindy Simon Rosenthal, she founded and ran at OU, Jean took a hiatus to travel to Kenya twice with United Methodist church sponsored mission teams. She was team leader for the second team that built a library for deaf children. She now does this weblog plus the Oklahoma Women's Network website.
Want to help - offer input - correct mistakes? Leave a comment here or go to her website and click on CONTACT (bottom of page) to contact her.