Debbie Schramm Named Saxum President

Oklahoma public relations and marketing firm Saxum recently promoted Debbie Schramm to President. She previously served as Executive Vice President and General Manager. Congratulations, Debbie. Saxum is based in Oklahoma City and also has an office in Tulsa.

See http://www.saxum.com/news/saxum-names-debbie-schramm-president/

Kathy Potts Honored by Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits

The Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits has named Kathy Pottts as "Volunteer of the Year." Potts is a board member of the Center and Chair-Elect. She is a VP and senior member of the health care group at REES Associates, Inc. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor of Arts, Fine Arts & History from Oklahoma State University.

Lori Montag Honored With 2011 Innovator of the Year Award

The Journal Record's Innovator of the Year award recently  went to Broken Arrow based Big Time Brands which is owned by Lori Montag and Jim Howard.

Among their hugely popular products are the zany bandz, the Slap Watch and the Splash Watch. See a Tulsa World article on the watches popularity.

You can read all about Lori and Jim and the awards banquet HERE and view JR photos by clicking HERE.

Beverly Kinzie's New Book "Early Woods County"

I don't ordinarily take guest blogs but I believe in promoting Oklahoma women writers. So here is a piece written by Beverly S. Kinzie. She is the author of a new pictorial history entitled Early Woods County. This book went on sale today, May 30, 2011. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/kpprAd. You can save 20% of the purchase on this book by going to http://bit.ly/kpprAd and typing in WOODSCO at checkout. Enjoy!

The women of Woods County, Oklahoma were from the time of the ‘Run’ of 1893 till the present a sturdy lot.

When reading journals of the early pioneers to gather information for my book, Early Woods County, the women talked about living for months at a time on claims with small children, far from any town while their husbands traveled to find work for cash money, so that they could come back and make improvements on their claim. She was the glue that held the family together.

Many of the original women that came west to settle in the newly opened Cherokee Strip were from back east, and had probably lived for a while in Kansas. They came from established homes, and had attended school and were church orientated.

They moved here to live in sod houses, dug-outs, or half dug-outs. This generally was one large room with a small loft for the children to sleep in. They cooked over an open fireplace and in the summer cooked outside. They felt lucky to have a dug well on their claim, or be close to a spring for water.

The women of Early Woods County were very concerned about education, and after getting a roof over their heads, the next thing they wanted was schools for their children.

This has carried forward until this day. Woods County is fortunate to have good public schools, a Vo-Tech School and Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Women that have the desire for education can obtain it to any degree that she wants.

It was the push of the women that the churches eventually outnumbered the saloons.

There are several entries in journals that stand out in my mind about the early women:

One woman said when she was expecting relatives from back east she was uneasy about them staying in her dugout home, as the relatives had a fine two story home. But, much to her surprise they praised her ingenuity in running the homestead under such primitive conditions.

Another woman thought she was privileged to have a wood floor laid over the dirt.

But when the boards warped and the bugs and snakes came in she ripped it out herself.

Several mothers told how she and the girls would work in the fields at harvest if there were no boys in the family. Today women and girls still work at harvest time driving trucks full of grain to the elevator and plowing with tractors. Of course it is much more comfortable with the cabs and air-conditioning that is now on the tractors and trucks.

My mother-in-law who was born in a dugout in 1894 and lived there for many years always said the greatest invention that came to the homesteader’s was indoor plumbing. When I was a little girl in the 1940s during WWII living on a farm we had an outhouse. It always terrified me to have to go there to take care of business.

Tulsan Karen Morgan to be Honored

Tomorrow the Tulsa Professional Chapter of The Association of Women in Communications holds their 39th Annual Newsmakers Luncheon at Southern Hills Country Club.

Honorees this year are volunteer community leader Roxana Lorton, Tulsa Indian Health Care Resource Center CEO Carmelita Skeeter and Karen Morgan (pictured left), former CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma. Under Karen's tenure, Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma established the highly successful program at Turley Correctional Center -- Project M.E.N.D. (Mothers Encouraging and Nurturing Their Daughters). She is currently Vice Chair of the statewide Oklahoma Women's Coalition.

Read more about the event and honorees in a Tulsa World article by clicking here.

Oklahoma's Link to Victoria's Secret

Oklahoma has a connection to Victoria's Secret and it is Sharen Jester Turney, President and CEO of the company. She has a degree in business education from the University of Oklahoma.

In fact, she is speaking at OU today (click here to view the invitation)! According to Forbes, her annual salary is $1,250,000; hope President Boren asks her for a donation for the university. I'd appreciate it if she would earmark it for scholarships for low-income single mothers. Just a thought....

Patrice Douglas Receiving 2011 Kate Barnard Award Today

Today is Kate Barnard Luncheon at Capitol Blue Room.

Edmond Mayor Patrice Douglas is being honored for her "elected service" as an Outstanding Oklahoma Woman.

The event is hosted by the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women. You can read more about Mayor Douglas and the Commission's event by clicking here.

Congrats, Mayor Douglas!

Nancy Day Named Tulsa Press Club 2011 Headliner

Club President Ashley Parrish has announced that Nancy Day, executive director of the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice, is one of the Tulsa Press Club's 2011 Headliners. Read more here.

Women Leaders in the 2011 Oklahoma Legislature

SENATE

There are 48 Oklahoma State Senators; 32 are Republicans.

There are four women in the Senate -- one Republican (Kim David) and three Democrats (Constance Johnson, Judy McIntyre, and Susan Paddack).

There are 21 Senate committees, subcommittees and joint committees. The sole Republican woman, Kim David, is Vice Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

HOUSE 

There are 101 Oklahoma State Representatives; 70 are Republicans.

There are fifteen women in the House -- 11  Republicans (Lisa Billy, Ann Coody, Marian Cooksey, Lee Denney, Elise Hall, Sally Kern, Skye McNiel, Jadine Nollan, Leslie Osborn, Pam Peterson and Sue Tibbs)  and four Democrats (Rebecca Hamilton, Jeannie McDaniel, Anastasia Pittman and Emily Virgin).

There are 26 House committees, subcommittees and joint committees. Eight of the 11 women Republicans in the House were appointed as chair or vice chair of a House Committee.

The women chairs are:

Pam Peterson (Human Services)
Sue Tibbs (Public Safety)
Ann Coody (Common Education)
Sally Kern (Long-Term Care and Senior Services)
Lee Denney (Appropriations Subcommittee on Education)
Lisa Billy (Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety)

The women vice-chairs are:

Marian Cooksey (Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Health and Social Services)
Leslie Osborn (Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services)

Oklahoma Women We Lost in 2010

Some really remarkable Oklahoma women died in 2010. First to come to mind are Hannah Atkins and Wilma Mankiller - both amazing women - one African American and the other Native American. We also lost actress Rue McClanahan. Who else can you think of? Leave a comment and let us know!

Marion Paden Elected to Lead OKC Downtown Rotary

Congratulations to Marion Paden on being elected the 2011 Vice President of the third largest Rotary club in the world (the OKC Downtown Rotary Club). This means that, in 2012, she will become only the second woman to serve as president of this prestigious organization. (Meg Salyer was the first female president of this 540 member club in 2003.) Dr. Paden is Executive Vice President of Oklahoma City Community College.

Deborah Reheard Heads Oklahoma Bar Association

It is a first for the Oklahoma Bar Association! The OBA's top three newly-elected officers are WOMEN. Who are these extraordinary women? Deborah Reheard of Eufaula will serve as the 2011 President of the Oklahoma Bar Association. She earned her JD from Tulsa College of Law in 1987. She has served the OBA in numerous leadership roles including as chair of the Women in Law Committee (2002, 2003 and 2009) and was the first woman elected to Oklahoma's Judicial Nominating Commission.
Meanwhile Cathy Christiansen of Oklahoma City has been elected to serve as 2011 President Elect and Judge Reta Strubhar of Piedmont will serve as 2011 Vice President. Their swearing-in ceremony is January 14, 2011 at the Oklahoma Supreme Court in Oklahoma City. Congratulations to all three!
For more information see okbar.org story here.

Pearl Carter Scott Story in Film and Book

A while back I got to attend the premier of the movie "Pearl: The Story of Pearl Carter Scott". It is the true story of a young Oklahoma woman who remains to this day "the youngest licensed pilot in America." Pearl was Chickasaw and the Chickasaw Nation was instrumental in getting this charming movie produced.

On Monday, December 20 at 6:30 p.m. the producer of the film, along with the author of the book "Never Give Up! The Life of Pearl Scott Carter" , and several cast members from the film "Pearl: The Story of Pearl Scott Carter" will be at Full Circle Bookstore in 50 Penn Place, Oklahoma City. The DVD and the book will be on sale. Y'all come!

Oklahoma Arts Council Honors Oklahoma Women

Fifteen individuals and organizations were recently honored for their significant contributions to the arts in Oklahoma. The awards ceremony took place November 10, 2010 on the fourth floor Rotunda of the Oklahoma State Capitol. Two women -- Ann Graves of Tulsa and Michi Susan of Oklahoma City -- received the Governor’s Arts Award. Other Oklahoma women were also recognized at this Oklahoma Arts Council sponsored annual event. You can read about them in this Oklahoman article and in this Tulsa World article.

OU's Jill Irvine Doing Research in the Balkans

Great news for Dr. Jill Irvine, Director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma. She received a US State Department Research Fellowship and will be working as a Research Associate at the Five Colleges Women's Studies Research Center at Mt. Holyoke and as an affiliate  of Harvard University's Center for European Studies. She'll travel to the Balkans to do fieldwork on women, war, and political transformation.

E. Ann Nalley Inducted Into Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame

Dr. E. Ann Nalley, Professor of Chemistry at Cameron University, was inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame last month. She was the only woman among the 11 academic inductees this year. Congratulations, Dr. Nalley! Read more here.  The Hall of Fame is a program of the Oklahoma Higher Education Heritage Society.

"Muscogee Daughter"

Susan Supernaw was Miss Oklahoma of 1971 and wrote a book about her experience -  "Muscogee Daughter: My Sojourn to the Miss American Pageant" - a  decade ago. Her book manuscript received the Native Writers' "Circle of the Americas Award" in 2003 but the book took a while to get published. Now University of Nebraska Press has published this fascinating tale. I am eager to read it and add it to my Oklahoma Women library! You can read Betty Lytle's book review in The Oklahoman here and a review of the book in Monsters and Critics here.

Kristen Chenoweth to be Inducted into OK Hall of FameInduct Kristin Chenoweth, Judy Love Tomorrow

The Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is November 4. Six Oklahomans will be inducted including two women -- Judy Love and Kristin Chenoweth. Read more about the program and honorees here.

Jennifer Seal Named Oklahoma's Preserve America History Teacher of the Year

Putnam City North High School teacher Jennifer Seal has been selected the Oklahoma Preserve America History Teacher for 2010.

One teacher is selected from each state. Read more about Seal, what she and her school get along with the honor, and what comes next for Seal HERE.

Kristy Stewart with Norman's Women's Resource Center Receives National Honor

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) has announced the 2009 recipients of the Visionary Voice Award. This award recognizes the creativity, hard work, and dedication of individuals around the country working to address and prevent sexual violence. Winners are selected by their respective state, tribal, or territory anti-sexual violence coalitions and represent a wide range of individuals doing this critical work at the local level. Twelve individuals were honored this year including Kristy Stewart of Oklahoma. According to the NSVRC website,

"Kristy Stewart has been Coordinator of Crisis Services at Women’s Resource Center in Norman, OK, since 2002, having served as a women’s advocate since 1984. She quickly advanced from Intake Worker to Women’s Advocate to Supervisor to her current position. Kristy is actively involved in the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, especially in the area of legislative initiative and technology development. Kristy led her agency’s efforts in developing a model rape crisis center on the campus of Women’s Resource Center that has set the standard for sexual assault services in Oklahoma."

Congratulations, Kristy! The NSVRC provides resources and information on sexual violence to rape crisis centers, state, territory and tribal coalitions, allied organizations, agencies, educators, media and the general public.