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Voices of Oklahoma

Voices of Oklahoma

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Voices of Oklahoma.com is dedicated to the preservation of the oral history of Oklahoma. Voices and stories of famous Oklahomans and ordinary citizens are captured forever in their own words. Oil and gas, ranching, politics, education and more are all visited in these far-ranging interviews. Students researching any of these areas can listen to first-person accounts of the way life was and draw from knowledge that may guide and shape their future. In addition to students, any visitor will fe ...
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Rick Brinkley was the minister of the Collinsville Community Church, an Emmy-nominated television producer in Oklahoma, Baltimore, and New York City, and President/CEO of Eastern Oklahoma’s Better Business Bureau and then its Chief Operating Officer from 1999 to 2015. He became a State Senator in 2010, serving as the Chair of Pensions, Vice-Chair o…
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Fred Harris grew up in the small town of Walters, Oklahoma, where he was born in a two-room house. He was first elected to the Oklahoma State Senate where he was one of its youngest members. He made an unsuccessful race for governor of Oklahoma in 1962. In 1964, he entered the race to serve out the unexpired term of U.S. Senator Robert S. Kerr who …
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Roy Bliss grew up in Worland, Wyoming where his father was in the Culligan Soft Water business. A neighbor, Tom Mitchell, read about cable television in a magazine. Roy’s father owned an airplane and Tom asked if Roy’s father would “fly around to see if they could find a TV signal, line-of-sight”, which they found coming from Billings, Montana. And…
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Oklahoma native John A. Brock was raised in Oklahoma City and graduated from Classen High School in 1948. In 1953 he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. in Geological Engineering. He served in the U.S. Army Artillery in Korea from 1953 to 1955 when he began his career in the oil business with Shell Oil Company. John returned to Ok…
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Three days after Pat Woodrum’s graduation from OU, she began working at the Tulsa City-County Library system as a branch librarian. Woodrum served in nearly every position until she became the executive director of the Tulsa City-County Library System in 1976, where she served for 32 years. Pat helped establish Tulsa’s Day Center for the Homeless a…
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Warren Gene Morris was a World War II veteran working up the ranks becoming Captain in the Army Air Force flying B-29s. By the age of 21 had flown thirty-four combat missions in the South Pacific. Often, he would fly for 15 hours or more — seven or eight hours to the target and then back to the base. He contracted polio while on duty, crippling him…
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Joseph Henry Carter has reported for United Press International in Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and Dallas, for Sapulpa and Honolulu newspapers, and for the Oklahoma Journal. He was an aide to congressmen and to Presidents Johnson and Carter, and was director of communications for the Democratic party. Carter also was press secretary to Gov. David H…
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Francis W. “Steve” Stephenson was the founder of Steve’s Sundry Books and Magazines in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which he opened in November of 1947 at 12th and Harvard. Steve shared part of a building with Ernest Moody of Moody’s Jewelry. He met his wife Hazel while earning a marketing degree from Oklahoma A&M now known as Oklahoma State University. After …
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The Bumgarner family has deep roots in Tulsa that began in 1903 when John’s grandfather, A.A.Bumgarner, came to Tulsa and established a grocery store at 15 East 2nd Street. A.A. was successful in business and established a family tradition of community service through his work as a board member for Tulsa Public Schools. The cornerstone of the old C…
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Jeanne Eason Phillips was born August 26, 1924, in Etna, Oklahoma, but spent her early childhood years in Slick, Oklahoma, growing up with her seven brothers. While Jeanne was still quite young, her parents moved the family near Sapulpa where they enjoyed the conveniences of electricity and modern plumbing. Eventually they settled in a segregated T…
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Jim Stovall is an American writer best known for his bestselling novel The Ultimate Gift. The book was made into the movie The Ultimate Gift, distributed by 20th Century Fox. Stovall is blind and is an advocate for people with blindness. He works to make television and movies accessible to the blind as President of the Narrative Television Network,…
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Charles Francis Colcord was a notable figure of the Old West—a cattle rancher, U.S. Marshal, chief of police, businessman, and pioneer. The community of Colcord, Oklahoma, bears his name. He was also the grandfather of Tulsa philanthropist Walt Helmrich. During the Oklahoma boom of the 1890s, Colcord served as Oklahoma City's first sheriff and as C…
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Jim Tygart was a World War II veteran who drove a jeep during the D-Day invasion and other campaigns before being wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. The D-Day invasion launched on June 6, 1944. On the next day, Tygart went ashore at Omaha Beach, Normandy. It was in Belgium, after the start of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, that he was w…
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As an industrious young man, Joe McGraw worked at Kewanee Oil Company during the day and attended the TU College of Law at night to earn his degree. He added duties as the TU Law librarian after his night classes for his last two years of law school, demonstrating the determination and strong work ethic that would lead to his tremendous career achi…
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Bart Conner is the most accomplished male gymnast America has ever produced. He is the only American gymnast to win gold medals at every level of national and international competition. Bart was a member of the gold medal-winning men’s gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games and won an individual gold on the parallel bars. He was also part…
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U.S. Representative and Senator from Oklahoma from 1987, James Mountain Inhofe was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on November 17, 1934. He grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended public schools and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tulsa. He served in the U.S. Army and worked in aviation, real estate, and insurance for three deca…
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It was at the Oklahoma Military Academy in Claremore that Alex Adwan got his start in journalism. He was the editor of OMA’s Guidon newspaper and the Vedette yearbook in the mid-40s. Alex attended both high school and junior college at OMA. He graduated from junior college in 1948 and continued his journalism studies at the University of Oklahoma. …
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Born near Chelsea, Oklahoma, Gerome Riley attended a rural all-black school through the Eighth grade. And because of segregation he had to choose between going to Claremore, Nowata, or Vinita for high school. He selected Claremore Lincoln and became a member of Claremore’s only boys’ basketball state championship team in 1952. Gerome was a member o…
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Growing up in an artistic household, Patrick S. Gordon took his first painting lessons from his mother, Janelle Gordon, a locally recognized still life painter. He began his formal studies under the tutelage of the widely regarded watercolorist Glenn Godsey, at the University of Tulsa. Patrick received his BFA from the University of Tulsa in 1974, …
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Dr. Don G. Nelson specialized in Internal Medicine and pulmonology for 60 years. He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1965. Don became affiliated in Oklahoma with multiple hospitals including Hillcrest Hospital South, St. Francis Hospital, and the Veteran Affairs Hospital in Muskogee. He was born in Moline, Illinois, …
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In celebration of Voices of Oklahoma's 15th anniversary, founder John Erling shares this oral history example: a recording of his father, John Arnt Frette telling the story about how his father emigrated from Norway and built (and re-built) their family home. Though John Erling regrets not recording his mother's voice, it's thanks to this recording…
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James Gray East grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma and, while attending Oklahoma State University started, an underground newspaper which led to employment with the Daily Oklahoman. Realizing he was interested in crime reporting, he moved to Binghamton, New York to report on the Mafia for a Gannett-owned newspaper. Moving back to Oklahoma, Jim worked fo…
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Richard Chapman was the head track coach and history teacher at the year-old Memorial High School in 1963. In 1965, “Coach.” as he became known, was hired as head football coach at Edison High School, where, in his second season, he led his team to win the District Championship title. Coach was named Tulsa Tribune Coach of the Year in 1966. He coac…
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The tenth of fifteen children, Leona Mitchell began her musical journey by singing in her father's church choir. She received a scholarship from Oklahoma City University in 1971, earning a bachelor's degree in music. Leona debuted with the San Francisco Spring Opera Theater in 1972, and on December 15th, 1975, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut …
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Tulsa civic leader and oilman Robert LaFortune was born at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, January 24, 1927. In 1920, his father Joseph Aloysius LaFortune and his mother Gertrude Leona Tremel LaFortune, had moved to Tulsa from South Bend, Indiana. Joseph LaFortune worked for Warren Petroleum Company for approximately 30 years, retiring as executi…
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Cyrus Stevens Avery was a businessperson, oilman, and highway commissioner. He created the U.S. Route 66 while being a member of the federal board appointed to create the Federal Highway System, then pushed for the establishment of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to pave and promote the highway. As such, he is known as the "Father of Route 66". And…
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Ray Bingham was an agent, producer, and manager for some of country music’s biggest stars. Music has made Ray’s world go around since he was nine and started listening to western swing bands at local ballrooms. Music was popular entertainment in Claremore, and where Patty Page, Tommy Alsup and Stone Horse started out. His life story is the history …
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When Peggy Josephine Varnadow was signed by Universal Pictures in 1949, the public relations staff whittled down her name to the barest essentials, and thus Peggy Dow was born. Born in Columbia, Mississippi, her family eventually settled in Louisiana where she attended Louisiana State and Northwestern University in Illinois. Local modeling and radi…
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Oklahoma native John L. Massey grew up in Boswell, Guthrie, and Durant and graduated from Southeastern State University (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) in 1960. While a senior in college, he won his first race for the State House of Representatives, serving two terms in that body and two additional terms in the state Senate. Mr. Massey…
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Centenarian Dr. Herb Lipe was born February 10th, 1924, in Claremore, Oklahoma, growing up during the Depression and Dust Bowl. His Father, Clark, and Mother, Virginia, owned a grocery store in Claremore and were proprietors of acreage near Oologah, where they had a pecan orchard.Herb joined the Navy in 1943 during World War II, serving in the Paci…
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The legendary oilman W.G. Skelly was 50 years old when the book Oklahoma Leaders was published. The book was published in 1928 when Mr. Skelly had already made many noteworthy accomplishments. As you listen to the reading of the book, you will hear how W.G. Skelly was regarded in 1928.Voices of Oklahoma
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Petty’s Fine Foods was a specialty food store in Tulsa, Oklahoma's Utica Square. It closed in February 2016 after more than 70 years of being a staple of Tulsa shoppers. The grocery store was established in 1945 by L.G. Rowan and Robert Petty. The business, which was then called Rowan & Petty, opened at the corner of East 21st Street and South Whee…
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In 2011, Harry Kaiser’s World War II medals were finally issued to him. An Army corporal during the war, Kaiser served with the 60th Infantry Regiment attached to the 9th Armored Division and saw combat during the Battle of the Bulge, including the defense of Bastogne, then across central Europe, and finally at the firefight over the Remagen Bridge…
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Through strong friendships, hard work, and pure salesmanship, entrepreneur Denny Cresap grew a one-truck, one-employee beer distributorship in Bartlesville into one of Anheuser-Busch’s top 20 distributors in the United States. Premium Beers of Oklahoma became a large, multi-location company providing services to 27 counties in the state prior to it…
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N. Scott Momaday, an internationally acclaimed poet, novelist, playwright, storyteller, artist and teacher, was born in Lawton, Oklahoma. He grew up in various communities in the Southwest. His parents, who were teachers, moved among reservation schools. He is enrolled in the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma but also has Cherokee heritage from his mother. M…
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There is a distinguished Tulsa family that is associated with several downtown Tulsa real estate properties. The Mayo family was responsible for building the Mayo Building, the Petroleum Building, the Mayo Hotel, and the adjacent Mayo Motor Inn parking garage. Today, a fourth-generation Mayo family member, Peter Mayo, follows this heritage in resto…
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Montie Box, known as “Mr. Sand Springs,” was a real estate developer, civic leader, and philanthropist.After graduation from Sand Springs High School, he joined the Navy Reserve and soon began attending Oklahoma A&M College, now Oklahoma State University. After service during the Korean War, he returned home to begin a 68-year career in real estate…
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Charlie Soap has dedicated his entire career to strengthening many Cherokee communities in northeastern Oklahoma. Serving under three chiefs, he was community service group leader for the Cherokee Nation, overseeing a $100 million budget dedicated to many projects including public transit services, roads, bridges, and infrastructure. Following his …
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Mollie Blansett Williford is a native of Houston, Texas, where she attended Stephen F. Austin State College. Her marriage in 1957 to Galveston native Richard Williford, who was in the oil industry, meant the couple would move to various communities. When they moved to Tulsa, Mollie began volunteering. Her work at Key Elementary would be the beginni…
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As a public relations man, Steve Turnbo was a fixture in local Tulsa business and civics for more than five decades, helping clients and nonprofits tell their stories in the media, at community gatherings, and wherever decision-makers congregated. His behind-the-scenes work over the years helped build toll roads, construct stadiums and arenas, pass…
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In 1953, Troy Smith purchased an old root beer stand on the outskirts of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Within the next six years, he perfected a simple but memorable menu and added controlled parking, canopies, music, a carhop, and an innovative system for ordering food over an intercom speaker system. Most importantly, he formed the first of many partnership…
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Community volunteer Nancy McDonald’s service to Tulsa has touched the very soul of the state of Oklahoma. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Nancy began her career as a medical technologist. While her children were growing up in Tulsa, her interests turned to education and youth development. She was very active as a PTA volunteer and became …
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Becky Dixon, president and owner of AyerPlay Productions, began her career in broadcasting at KTUL-TV in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she was both a news and sports anchor. In just six years, she was hired by ABC Sports and became the first woman to host a network sports show when she joined Frank Gifford as co-host of ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Dixon s…
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Carlton D'metrius Pearson, born on March 19, 1953, is an American minister and gospel music artist. He gained recognition as the pastor of the Higher Dimensions Evangelistic Center Incorporated, later known as the Higher Dimensions Family Church, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His church flourished during the 1990s, attracting an average attendance of…
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Sherman Ray survived WWII Nazi death camp, Auschwitz, by sewing German uniforms. He was targeted by the Germans not once, but twice to be transported to the infamous Auschwitz. The first time, as a young man, was with his family. Sherman had heard rumors of the camps and wanted his family to jump from the train with him to escape, but they refused,…
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King Kirchner was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Tulsa-based Unit Corporation from 1963-2001. Following retirement, he continued to serve as a director of Unit Corporation, the fourth largest onshore drilling contractor in the United States. Kirchner grew up in Perry and graduated from Perry High School in 1945. At age sixteen…
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During its halcyon days dominating the Northeastern Oklahoma radio market, KAKC-AM gave the world several memorable disk-jockeys—it was the era of personality DJs and Top 40 radio: Happy Harry Wilson. Roger Rocka. Dick Schmitz. But the most memorable of all to Tulsa-area teens was: George Basil Seagraves III. With a name like that (and coming from …
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The grandfather of Jenkin “Jenk” Lloyd Jones Jr., Richard Lloyd Jones, bought the Tulsa Democrat from Charles Page (the founder of Sand Springs, OK) and turned it into the Tulsa Tribune. The Tribune was an afternoon newspaper and was consistently a republican paper; it never endorsed a democrat for U.S. president and did not endorse a democrat for …
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Killers of the Flower Moon is the story of serial murders of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation which took place mainly in Fairfax, Oklahoma. Joe Conner, an Osage, lost a family member to the greed. An aunt, Sybil Bolton, was murdered in Pawhuska in 1925. Joe and his wife Carol are founding members of the Fairfax Community Foundation which own…
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David Bernstein was the Executive Director of the Tulsa Mental Health Association from 1969-1973 and was instrumental in developing the first 24-hour telephone suicide prevention hotline in the Southwest, which evolved into today’s 211 Helpline. He was then Executive Director of the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa from 1973-1985. While t…
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