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)

Betty Boyd Remembered

Tulsa native Betty Boyd, one of Oklahoma's pioneer TV personalities and former a state legislator, died today at the age of 86. Boyd served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1990 to 2000 (Democrat - District 23/east Tulsa County). Boyd co-authored the bill creating the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa campus, advocated reading programs in early grades and expanded school teacher and administrator training. As a breast cancer survivor, her legislative agenda also included health issues. According to the Tulsa World, "While serving in the House, Betty Boyd was the oldest member, the only great-grandmother and one of only a few women to chair more than one committee." You can read the full Tulsa World article about Betty Boyd by clicking here.

OSU's Oral History Research Program Interviews Oklahoma's Women Legislators

Oklahoma State University has an oral history program which operates out of the Edmond Lowe Library. One initiative records the voices of the women inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame which is hosted by the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women. Project leader here is Juliana Nykolaiszyn.

Another effort is their "Remembering Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel: Poet and Dust Bowl Emigrant" project. Here prreservation of materials, historical documents and oral memories focus on Oklahoma poet Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel. Project leader on this effort is Karen Neurohr.

Not surprisingly, the project I get most excited about is OSU's oral history of the "Women of the Oklahoma Legislature." Here OSU is chronicling the lives of the women who served in the Oklahoma House and Senate. It records their memories plus holds historical documents of these extraordinary women past and present. This project is lead by Tanya Finchum.

The image in the post comes out of that effort. Hope they get more information up on the Internet so we can know more on this project (or maybe it is there and I can't find it). :-)

Here is a list of all women who have served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. (Anyone know of a similar list for all women who have served in the Oklahoma State Senate?)