1830s
Narcissa Clark Chisholm Owen (03 oct 1831 – 12 jul 1911 | Webbers Falls, Cherokee Nation – Washington DC) artist, educator, Cherokee, memoirist, painter, finger weaver, tapestry artist
1840s
1850s
Alice Brown Davis (10 sep 1852 – 21 jun 1935 | Park Hill, Indian Territory – Wewoka OK) educator, postmistress, cultural leader, first female Seminole Chief
Alice Mary Robertson (02 jan 1854 – 01 jul 1931 | Tullahassee Mission, Creek Nation – Muskogee OK) politician, educator, social worker, anti-feminist, Native American rights advocate
1860s
1870s
Lulu May Hefner (09 aug 1874 – 19 jul 1954 | Nowata OK – Oklahoma City OK) milliner, Cherokee, businesswoman, first female oil driller in Oklahoma
Elinore Pruitt Rupert Stewart (03 jun 1876 – 08 oct 1933 | Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory – Rock Springs WY) author, homesteader, letter correspondent, aka the Woman Homesteader
1880s
Anna Lewis (25 oct 1885 – 01 aug 1961 | Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory – Pushmataha OK) author, professor, historian, focus on history of US Southwest
Nettie Williams McBirney (24 nov 1887 – 16 dec 1982 | Tulsa OK – Tulsa OK) inventor, food writer, aka Aunt Chick, entrepreneur, newspaper columnist, cookbook author / collector
Lucy Tayiah Eads (04 oct 1888 – 11 oct 1961 | Indian Territory OK – Pawhuska OK) nurse, aka Cha-me and Chief Lucy, first female tribal chief of Kaw Indians
Muriel Hazel Wright (31 mar 1889 – 27 feb 1975 | Lehigh OK – Oklahoma City OK) editor, author, teacher, Choctaw historian, aka The Historian of Oklahoma
1890s
Ruth Muskrat Bronson (03 oct 1897 – 12 jun 1982 | Delaware County OK – Tucson AZ) author, educator, Cherokee cultural activist
Blanche Sewell (27 oct 1898 – 02 feb 1949 | Lowe Township OK – Burbank CA) Hollywood film editor, edited original Wizard of Oz film
Katherine Cross (13 mar 1899 – 10 oct 1917 | Konawa OK – Konawa OK) folk figure, local legend, tombstone [stolen 2016] read murdered by human wolves
1900s
Sarah Rector (03 mar 1902 – 22 jul 1967 | Taft, Oklahoma Indian Territory – Kansas City MO) land owner, businesswoman, African-American-Muscogee, aka Richest Colored Girl in the World
Florence Owens Thompson (01 sep 1903 – 16 sep 1983 | Indian Territory OK – Scotts Valley CA) social / photographic icon, aka Migrant Mother [WPA photo by Dorothea Lange]
Sanora Babb (21 apr 1907 – 31 dec 2005 | Red Rock OK – Hollywood Hills CA) poet, novelist, literary editor
Mary Golda Ross (09 aug 1908 – 29 apr 2008 | Park Hill OK – Los Altos CA) Cherokee, first known female Native American engineer, satellite / ballistic missile designer, advocate for female Native American engineers, posthumously endowed National Museum of the American Indian
Zenobia Powell Perry (03 oct 1908 – 17 jan 2004 | Boley OK – Greene County OH) opera / concert song / musical composer
1910s
Evelyn La Rue Pittman (06 jan 1910 – 15 dec 1992 | McAlester OK – Oklahoma City OK) author, composer, producer, choral director, music educator
Mildred Imoch Cleghorn (11 dec 1910 – 15 apr 1997 | Fort Sill OK – Apache OK) aka Eh-Ohn and Lay-a-Bet, Chiricahua Apache educator, traditional dollmaker, home extension agent, home economics teacher, first chairperson of Fort Sill Apache Tribe
Mary Blair (21 oct 1911 – 26 jul 1978 | McAlester OK – Soquel CA) artist, animator, designer, children’s book illustrator, born Mary Browne Robinson, produced projects for The Walt Disney Company
Sally Kirkland (01 jul 1912 – 01 may 1989 | El Reno OK – New York NY) born Sarah Finney, WWII Pacific correspondent, manager at Lord & Taylor, Vogue magazine fashion editor, only fashion editor at Life magazine [1947-1969]
Olivia J. Hooker (12 feb 1915 – 21 nov 2018 | Muskogee OK – White Plains NY) professor, psychologist, first black female WWII SPAR (Semper Paratus Always Ready) Coast Guard Women’s Reserve, co-founded APA Division 33 of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Mareta West (09 aug 1915 – 02 nov 1998 | Norman OK – Oklahoma City OK) author, first female astro-geologist, chose site for first US Apollo 11 moon landing
Edith Kinney Gaylord Harper (05 mar 1916 – 28 jan 2001 | Oklahoma City OK – Oklahoma City OK) journalist, philanthropist, founded Inasmuch Foundation, founded Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation
Retha Walden Gambaro (09 dec 1917 – 09 sep 2013 | Indian Territory OK – Stafford VA) Native American artist, sculptor, inventor
Carol Brice (16 apr 1918 – 14 feb 1985 | Sedalia NC – Norman OK) operatic contralto
Patience Sewell Latting (27 aug 1918 – 29 dec 2012 | Texhoma OK – Oklahoma City OK) politician, economist, statistician, researcher, first female mayor of Oklahoma City
Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel (22 dec 1918 – 13 apr 2007 | Lincoln County OK – Tulare CA) poet, aka The Okie Poet, Dustbowl immigrant from Oklahoma to California
Jennifer Jones (02 mar 1919 – 17 dec 2009 | Tulsa OK – Malibu CA) actress, born Phylis Lee Isley, anti-suicide activist, mental health education foundation founder
Elizabeth [Betty] Ann Elliott (19 mar 1918 – 07 jul 2001 | Cordell OK – Dallas TX) aka Aunt Betty, pioneered expansion women’s roles in petroleum geology, active member of American Association of Petroleum Geologists [AAPG]
1920s
Helen Breese Nibouar (06 jun 1921 – 28 dec 2017 | Washington County OK – Austin TX) teacher, civic volunteer, pioneer female cryptographer, member of first WWII group to work on SIGABA cipher
Fredell Lack (19 feb 1922 – 20 aug 2017 | Tulsa OK – Houston TX) violinist, chamber musician, retired master teacher, animal welfare activist
Jeanne Lavonne Humphrey Block (17 jul 1923 – 04 dec 1981 | Tulsa OK – Berkekely CA) author, psychologist, child development expert, focus on sex-role socialization
Phyllis Ann Lyon (10 nov 1924 – 09 apr 2020 | Tulsa OK – San Francisco CA) editor, reporter, journalist, gay rights activist, co-founded first US social / political lesbian organization, Daughters of Bilitis
Edna Moscelyne Larkin (14 jan 1925 – 25 apr 2012 | Miami OK – Tulsa OK) ballerina, co-founded Tulsa Civic Ballet and School, one of first Native American ballerinas called The Five Moons, taught ballet to schoolchildren and college students
Elizabeth Maria [Betty] Tallchief (24 jan 1925 – 11 apr 2003 | Fairfax OK – Chicago IL) aka Ki He Kah Stah Tsa, first Native American prima ballerina, Scots-Irish-Osage-American
Marilyn Mason (29 jun 1925 – 04 apr 2019 | Alva OK – Fort Lauderdale FL) teacher, organ soloist, concert organist, recording artist
Marjorie Louise Tallchief (19 oct 1926 – Fairfax OK) Osage, ballerina, first Native American named première danseuse étoile for Paris Opera Ballet
Jeane Duane Jordan Kirkpatrick (19 nov 1926 – 07 dec 2006 | Duncan OK – Bethesda MD) US diplomat, author, anti-communist, political science professor
Doris Jean Lemar-McLemore (16 apr 1927 – 30 aug 2016 | Andarko OK – Andarko OK) Wichita language speaker / preservationist
Beverly Willis (17 feb 1928 – Tulsa OK) architect, researcher, philanthropist
Julia Compton Moore (10 feb 1929 – 18 apr 2004 | Fort Sill OK – Auburn AL) Army daughter / wife / mother, survivor support network activist / innovator
Doris Mason Littrell (28 apr 1929 – Apache OK) retired Native American art dealer / gallery owner
1930s
Xernona Clayton Brady (30 aug 1930 – Muskogee OK) memoirist, broadcasting executive, civil rights activist / leader
Joan Hill (19 dec 1930 – 16 jun 2020 | Muskogee OK – Muskogee OK) born Che-se-quah [Red Bird], award-winning painter, Muscogee Creek artist of Cherokee ancestry
Marjorie Virginia Strider (26 jan 1931 – 27 aug 2014 | Guthrie OK – Saugerties NY) artist, sculptor, Pop Art painter, performance artist, soft-sculpture installation artist
LaDonna Vita Tabbytite Harris (26 feb 1931 – Temple OK) politician, social activist, Comanche, autobiographical author, founding president of Americans for Indian Opportunity, one of first inductees into National Native American Hall of Fame
Geraldyn [Jerrie] M. Cobb (05 mar 1931 – 18 mar 2019 | Norman OK – FL) aviator, commercial pilot, first US woman to fly at the Paris Air Show, unofficial female Mercury 13 member candidate, South American humanitarian supply transport missionary pilot
Minnie Lou Ottinger Bradley (15 dec 1931 – Hinton OK) teacher, Texas ranch matriarch, women’s trailblazer in livestock breeding and ranch management, first woman to win International Livestock Judging contest, first / only female president of American Angus Association
Mona Lee Bruster Brock (01 jan 1932 – 19 mar 2019 | Madill OK – Durant OK) farmer, teacher, school principal, FarmAid activist, family farm / suicide hotline counselor, aka The Angel on the Other End of the Line
Laurie Cabot (06 mar 1933 – Wewoka OK) author, priestess, store owner, born Mercedes Elizabeth Keersey, children with special needs activist, founded Cabot Tradition of the Science of Witchcraft and Witches’ League for Public Awareness
Donna Nigh (09 mar 1933 – Morris OK) civic leader, disability rights activist, former First Lady of Oklahoma
Georgia Myrle Miller (15 oct 1933 – Erick OK) fantasy author, pen names: Sasha Miller, G. S. Madden, Georgia Sallaska, Myrle Benedict
Ruth Burnett Love-Holloway (22 apr 1935 – Lawton OK) author, educator, education administrator, first African-American female superintendent Chicago Public Schools
Garn Stephens (10 apr 1936 – Tulsa OK) tv / film actress, screenwriter, crime / mystery novelist
Carolyn Gimpel Hart (25 aug 1936 – Oklahoma City OK) cozy mystery writer
Judy Hayden Farrell (01 mar 1938 – Quapaw OK) actress, soap opera writer, high school English / drama teacher
Joyce Carol Thomas (25 may 1938 – 13 aug 2016 | Ponca City OK – Stanford CA) poet, author, speaker, playwright
Joe Anna Hibler (05 may 1939 – Shattick OK) educator, business teacher, academic administrator, civic / social activist, board chair for Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma, former president of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, first woman in 55 years named college president in Oklahoma State
1940s
Judith L. Hand (04 feb 1940 – Cherokee OK) peace ethologist, fiction / nonfiction author
Anita Bryant (25 mar 1940 – Barnsdall OK) singer, autobiographical author, anti-gay political activist, singer for USO tours, former brand ambassador for Florida Citrus Commission, founder Anita Bryant Ministries International youth organization
Clara Sue Kidwell (08 jul 1941 – Tahlequah OK) author, scholar, historian, feminist, Choctaw / White Earth Chippewa, American Indian academic studies innovator / authority
Lelia Kasenia Smith Foley-Davis (07 nov 1942 – Taft OK) first African-American woman elected mayor in US
Marsha M. Linehan (05 may 1943 – Tulsa OK) author, professor, psychologist, created DBT [Dialectical Behavior Therapy], research focus on borderline personality disorder
Judy Hendren Mello (14 jul 1943 – 21 oct 2003 | Chicasha OK – Manhattan NY) banker, feminist, investment banker / consultant, former president / CEO of First Women’s Bank (now defunct), president / CEO World Learning international educational non-profit organization
Norma Sharp (20 jul 1943 – Shawnee OK) operatic soprano, voice professor
Jana Jae (30 aug 1943 – Grove OK) country / blue grass fiddler, fiddle camp / fiddle festival organizer
Nancy Glenn-Nieto (20 sep 1944 – Oklahoma US) model, actress, fine art painter
Karen Lea Wynn Fonstad (18 apr 1945 – 11 mar 2005 | Oklahoma City OK – Oshkosh WI) author, academic, cartographer
Suzan Shown Harjo (02 jun 1945 – El Reno OK) poet, writer, lecturer, curator, policy advocate, Cheyenne / Hodulgee Muscogee, Native American rights activist, president Morning Star Institute
Wilma Pearl Mankiller (18 nov 1945 – 06 apr 2010 | Tahlequah OK – Adair County OK) Cherokee Chief, nonfiction / cookbook / autobiographical author
Anna Lee Walters (09 sep 1946 – Pawnee OK) novelist, short fiction writer, textbook author, autobiographical essayist, Pawnee / Otoe-Missouria member
Jane Anne Jayroe-Gamble (30 oct 1946 – Clinton OK) author, broadcaster, public official
Judith [Judy] Woodruff (20 nov 1946 – Tulsa OK) author, journalist, public television news host
Mary Kay Place (23 sep 1947 – Tulsa OK) singer, actress, director, screenwriter
LaRita [Rita] Aragon (03 dec 1947 – Oklahoma US) retired US Air National Guard general, first female Oklahoma Secretary of Veterans Affairs, former school teacher / principal
Susan Eloise [S. E.] Hinton (22 jul 1948 – Tulsa OK) young-adult novelist
Marion True (05 nov 1948 – Tahlequah OK) author, former J. Paul Getty (LA) Museum curator of antiquities, indicted in Italy and Greece for conspiracy to traffic in illicit antiquities, charges later dropped due to statute of limitations
Mary Pope Osborne (20 may 1949 – Fort Sill OK) American biographer, fictional diarist, children’s myth / fantasy / fairy tale author
Elizabeth Ann Herring Warren (22 jun 1949 – Oklahoma City OK) author, academic, politician, senior US Senator from Massachusetts
Leona Mitchell (13 oct 1949 – Enid OK) operatic soprano, former leading spinto soprano at NY Metropolitan Opera, African-American-Chickasaw
1950s
Kathleen Peery Duey (08 oct 1950 – 26 jun 2020 | Sayre OK – Fallbrook CA) children’s author/mentor
Pamela Morsi (12 mar 1951 – Oklahoma US) romance novelist, former librarian
LeAnne Howe (29 apr 1951 – Edmond OK) author, scholar, playwright
Joy Foster Harjo (09 may 1951 – Tulsa OK) Mvskoke poet, author, musician, Native American Renaissance writer
Alfre Woodard (08 nov 1952 – Tulsa OK) actress, producer, political activist, Christian Scientist, founder / board member Artists for a New South Africa
Teresa Miller (23 nov 1952 – Tahlequah OK) writer, television host, literary activist, creative writing professor
Cynthia S. [Cindy] Ross (09 dec 1952 – Wakita OK) retired higher education administrator, first female president of Cameron University
Irene Miracle (24 jan 1954 – Stillwater OK) tv / film actress, film director
Camille Engel (21 apr 1955 – Tulsa OK) self-taught realist painter, known for detailed portraits of birds, focus on still lifes / figuratives / landscapes / trompe-l’oeils / fruits and flowers / animal portraits
Sandra Faye [Sandi] Patty (12 jul 1956 – Oklahoma City OK) Christian singer, author, pianist, aka Sandii Patti, Sandi Patti Helvering, Sandi Parry Peslis
Anita Faye Hill (30 jul 1956 – Lone Tree OK) author, attorney, social / legal activist, US national political scandal figure / witness
Meg Gardiner (15 may 1957 – Oklahoma US) novelist, crime writer