Voices of Oklahoma
Voices of Oklahoma
Subscribe
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 feel close to history as they listen to these personal reflections.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
May 15, 2023
Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear
Geoffrey Standing Bear is the Principal Chief of the Osage Nation. He is the great-grandson of Osage Principal Chief Fred Lookout.Before his election, Chief Standing Bear practiced law for 34 years. He concentrated on federal Indian law receiving national recognition by Best Lawyers in America, Oklahoma Super Lawyers, and a listing with Chambers and Partners.
He served as Assistant Principal Chief of the Osage Tribe from 1990 through 1994 and was a Member of the Osage Nation Congress from 2010 to 2014. While a practicing lawyer, he was involved in the first Indian gaming cases in Oklahoma, representing the Muscogee Creek Nation, Seneca-Cayuga Tribe, and several other tribes.
He also was General Counsel to the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association.The book Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann has focused attention on the Osage Nation. In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma.
After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured cars and lived in mansions. Then one by one, the Osage began to be killed.As a young man, Chief Standing Bear heard his family talk about the Osage wealth and the fear of being killed.In his oral history interview, Chief Standing Bear talks about the filming of Killers of the Flower Moon.
playlist_add
May 3, 2023
Joseph Williams
While Joe Williams is primarily known in Tulsa as an oilman, his friends and family speak of him as a bird hunter and conservationist, and then an astute businessman and oilman. It is Williams’ work on behalf of the country’s largest preserved tract of native tallgrass prairie that is his lasting legacy. He is given credit for making it happen, thus the preserve was renamed the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in 2015.
He is past chairman of both the Oklahoma Board of Trustees and the National Board of Governors for The Nature Conservancy.In 1959, Joe Williams never intended to get involved in the family-owned Williams Brothers pipeline construction business. He had other plans. Fate stepped in, however, and he spent thirty-five years with the multibillion-dollar company, the last fifteen as chairman and chief executive officer. When he retired in 1994, the Williams Cos. was a more focused, greatly expanded, and significantly more profitable enterprise than when he assumed the chairmanship in 1979.
Joe is a former fellow and trustee of the Yale Corporation and member of the Yale Institute of Biosphere Studies. He has received honorary degrees from Yale University, the University of Tulsa, and Phillips University. He is a former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 1988, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
playlist_add
Apr 10, 2023
14th Anniversary
April 10th, 2010 the oral history website Voices of Oklahoma was launched. We began collecting stories in 2009. So, on this, our 14th anniversary, we would like to share the history of Voices of Oklahoma as we relate some of our experiences in collecting over 270 oral histories of Oklahomans.
We will talk about how the concept originated, the many places we have visited for these recordings, and what we have learned: that teachers make a difference, that the gifts of talented artists are apparent at a very early age, and there are defining moments in all our lives — some more dramatic than others.
We also want to give credit to those behind the scenes who have made this project successful. Our website is being used as a resource for education and research, providing primary source material for historians, scholars, and educators.Thank you for taking time to listen to the history of Voices of Oklahoma.
playlist_add
Apr 5, 2023
Bob McCormack
Bob McCormack was one of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s premier photographers. A native of Pompey, New York (just a few miles east of Syracuse), Bob’s family moved to Lathrop, Missouri, while Bob was still a child.
Bob came to Tulsa during the great depression. He spent his first night in Tracy Park. The next morning he went to the Tulsa World, where Eugene Lorton hired him immediately and sent him to Claremore because Will Rogers’ plane had crashed, killing Rogers and Wiley Post.
Celebrities, it so happened, were always McCormack’s favorite subjects. When movie theaters were still showplaces, a number of movie stars came through Tulsa for premieres and promotional tours. McCormack met them at the train station and backstage.
He took a job at Douglas Aircraft as its chief photographer. Four years later, he opened a studio of his own. His work has appeared in national publications such as “Life,” “Collier’s,” “Sports Afield,” “National Geographic,” and many others.
He covered the opening of Philbrook Museum in 1939 for the Associated Press.
Bob McCormack died April 4, 2003. Bob’s son John became a very accomplished photographer and tells the story of his father on the oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.
playlist_add
Mar 16, 2023
Jimmy O'Neill
For those who remember the television show “Shindig!” but may have forgotten the host, this story will remind you of the very talented Jimmy O’Neill, who was from Enid, Oklahoma.
He started his radio career at 16 in Enid, then on to WKY Oklahoma City and KQV Pittsburgh before making his Los Angeles debut at the brand-new KRLA in 1960. The station had just adopted a top-40 format.
At the age of 20, Jimmy O’Neill had the most popular program in his time slot, making him the youngest person ever to have a No. 1 show.Jimmy was 24 when he hosted “Shindig!” which was on ABC television from September 1964 to January 1966 and for a time ran twice a week. Besides the Beatles, among its list of superstars, “Shindig!” featured the Who, the Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke, the Beach Boys, and the Righteous Brothers.
Jimmy was also the owner of Pandora’s Box, an influential Sunset Strip music venue in West Hollywood, California.Jimmy eventually left Los Angeles for KOB in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then WOW, Omaha, Nebraska, where John Erling worked with him at WOW and KOIL.Jimmy was 73 when he died January 11th, 2013.
For Jimmy’s story, John interviewed Jimmy’s former wife Eve O’Neil, whose brother was actor Troy Donahue.If you search the web for Jimmy O’Neill, you’ll find examples of his extraordinary work. Listen to the Jimmy O’Neill story on the oral history website and podcast VoicesofOklahoma.com.
playlist_add
Mar 7, 2023
James C. Leake
James C. Leake was a Television pioneer along with his wife Marjory Griffin Lake and brother-in-law John “J.T.” Griffin. In the 1940s, they applied to the FCC for licenses to put television stations in Little Rock, Arkansas (KATV), Tulsa, Oklahoma (KTUL) and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (KWTV). They put these three stations on the air in nine months.
What you are about to hear is James Leake describing the process from application time, their competition, money issues, to building studios, and to when they went on the air, December 1953.It was February 3, 1998, when Mr. Leake recorded this oral history account of Oklahoma and Arkansas television. He was 83 years old when he talked for an hour without an interviewer or notes as he recalled in interesting detail the many challenges they faced in constructing these stations “put on by folks who had never seen it.”
We are grateful to Nancy and Richard Sevenoaks (daughter and son-in-law) of Jimmy Leake for providing this recording. James C. Leake was 86 when he died July 3, 2001.
playlist_add
Feb 27, 2023
Ernestine Dillard
Ernestine Dillard of Bixby, Oklahoma is perhaps best remembered for her April 23, 1995 performance when she electrified 11,000 mourners and a national television audience with her “God Bless America” vocal arrangement. The medley closed the Oklahoma City Memorial Service honoring the victims of the Murrah Building bombing.
In 1994, Ernestine Dillard ended a 33-year career as a registered nurse—the last two years with the Tulsa County Health Department—to pursue music full time. That same year Dillard won the “American Traditions” competition at Savannah Onstage, an annual music festival in Georgia City.
Her performance career since then has included concert appearances at the American Cathedral in Paris; Geneva, Switzerland; the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Philadelphia’s “Let Freedom Ring” celebration featuring General Colin Powell; the Turner Broadcasting Trumpet Awards during 1996 and 1997 programs in Atlanta, Georgia; and many other prestigious events.
Ernestine Dillard received further awards and honors because of her community service and work with children.
Ernestine died February 16th, 2023.
playlist_add
Feb 23, 2023
J. Paul Getty
A Man’s Perspective on Business and Life was a film prepared for the employees of Getty Oil Company and Skelly Oil Company shortly before J. Paul Getty’s death on June 6, 1976, at age 83. James C. Leake and journalist Bob Gregory produced a 10-part series on Oklahoma oil men, which aired on KTUL Tulsa and KWTV Oklahoma City.
Harold Stuart, son-in-law of William “Bill” Skelly and former owner of KVOO Television and Radio, set up a series of interviews for Leake and Gregory which included J. Paul Getty. The announcer in this audio presentation, taken from the film, was the interviewer Bob Gregory.
It is believed to be Mr. Getty’s last interview, which was conducted at his estate in Sutton Place, England, where he died. At that time, Mr. Getty was known as one of the wealthiest men in the world.
A Man’s Perspective on Business and Life was donated to Voices of Oklahoma by Nancy Leake Sevenoaks and her husband Richard.
J. Paul Getty talks about coming to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, moving to Tulsa, and his fondness for William Skelly. Getty credits his father for his business success and shares his experience in the oil business on the oral history website VoicesOfOklahoma.com.
playlist_add
Feb 21, 2023
Nancy Sevenoaks
Oklahoma native James C. Leake, Sr., grew up on the farm his grandfather homesteaded in 1891.
He worked the soda counter at Rickner’s Bookstore and Restaurant in Norman while attending college at the University of Oklahoma and, as a trombone player, even took a job repairing the school’s band uniforms on a $10 sewing machine.
He became president of the band in 1938 and raised money for trips, where he often slept in the baggage car to protect the group’s uniforms and instruments.In 1940 Leake married Marjory Griffin, the daughter of grocery pioneer J. T. Griffin of Muskogee.
He became a salesman for Griffin Grocery Company and, during World War II, played an important role in expediting food shipments for the federal government.
Upon the death of J.T. Griffin, Leake assumed part of the management responsibilities of Griffin Enterprises. With his brother-in-law John “J.T.” Griffin, Leake established TV stations in Tulsa, Little Rock, and Oklahoma City.
His annual car auctions in Tulsa drew thousands of spectators from around the world.He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1979. His daughter Nancy Leake Sevenoaks tells the story of her father on VoicesOfOklahoma.com.
playlist_add
Feb 6, 2023
Mary Helen Stanley
In the late 1930s, women basically had four career choices – nurse, secretary, hairdresser, or teacher. Mary Helen Stanley decided to follow in her aunt’s footsteps to become a teacher. She began her career as a high school speech and English teacher and later joined the faculty at the University of Tulsa, where she taught speech and organized the university’s first debate team.
After taking more than a decade off to get married and devote her time to being a wife, homemaker, and mother of three, Stanley was forced to re-enter the workforce when her husband, Bob Stanley, died in 1959 of lung cancer.
Bob’s family-owned Stanley Funeral home in Tulsa. Mary Helen obtained her funeral service license and became a funeral director, becoming the oldest woman funeral director in Oklahoma when still working at the age of 85.
Stanley co-founded Oklahoma Parents Without Partners. In the early 1970s, she started the first grief counseling class at Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa.She is a member of the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association and was named Oklahoma Funeral Director of the Year in 2002.
She was 101 at the time of this oral history recording on October 13, 2022.
playlist_add
Jan 27, 2023
Marina Metevelis
Marina Metevelis answered the call to defend the United States as one of the iconic bandanna-clad Rosie the Riveters.
Marina was sixteen when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941—an event that inspired her to apply for a job at the Wichita aircraft plant where the B-17 Flying Fortresses met the wings that carried them into battle. She became a Rosie the Riveter her senior year in high school.
When Marina was a kid, she spent summers in Tulsa visiting her uncles. They were 32nd Degree Masons…and so were the oil barons. During those visits, she met all of the oil barons—thus her knowledge of Tulsa’s history and the tunnels in its historic downtown. She became a tour guide through those famous tunnels in 1992.
Marina was also a librarian at Tulsa Community College (TCC) and later served as Director of The Heritage Center at TCC.Marina was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1924.
playlist_add
Jan 13, 2023
George Krumme
George Krumme was born and reared in rural Oklahoma, about five miles northeast of Okemah. His early education took place in a rural school. He finished high school at age 16 in Bristow and then attended Oklahoma A&M as a music major.World War II changed the course of his life. He left A&M to study weather forecasting at Spartan School of Aeronautics and then taught aviation cadets in Texas. Krumme enlisted in the Army Air Corps and received training in mathematics and physics at Pomona College in Claremont, California. Reassignment to the infantry led him to Europe during the Battle of the Bulge, and he was awarded a Purple Heart.After the war, he returned to Pomona to earn a bachelor’s degree and was named to Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation, he returned to Bristow, joining his family as a partner in Krumme Oil Company.He moved to Tulsa in 1960 and studied on nights and weekends at The University of Tulsa to earn his master’s degree in petroleum engineering and Ph.D. in earth sci…
playlist_add
Jan 6, 2023
Warren Spahn
“The greatest game ever pitched” was an event that may best describe the baseball story of Warren Spahn. For in that game, he displayed the strength and the stamina that earned him the title of the greatest major league left-handed pitcher of all time.
Warren Edward Spahn was a baseball hero and a hero on the battlefields of World War II. His 363 wins on the baseball field made him the all-time winningest left-handed hurler in the game.
In 1973, Warren Spahn was admitted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. And on the battlefield he was a true hero as he was awarded the Battlefield Commission and a Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds.
As a young boy, Greg Spahn observed his father in the locker room, in the dugout, and on the playing field. And it is Greg who tells his father’s story on VoicesofOklahoma.com.
playlist_add
Jan 4, 2023
Julius Pegues
Julius Pegues was the first Black varsity basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh, and went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force as a weather forecaster and later as an advisor to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A star basketball at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, he was forced to matriculate to the University of Pittsburgh because University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and the University of Tulsa did not allow Black players.Julius quickly transitioned from a walk-on to a scholarship player after averaging 20 points per game in his first month. He finished as one of only 34 players in the program's history to score 1,000 career points.
The NBA's St. Louis Hawks picked Pegues in the fourth round of the 1958 draft, but he had to serve in the military as he was in the Air Force ROTC at Pitt.
In Tulsa, he was best known for his work to memorialize Tulsa’s 1921 Race Massacre and the history and culture of Black Tulsans through the John Hope Franklin Center for Re…
playlist_add
Dec 5, 2022
JV Haney
He’s a small-town guy who charmed the big city. He was merely a name who coached high school sports before he became the face of Oklahoma high school athletics.
Through his appearances on radio and television, J.V. Haney became the state’s most significant voice of high school sports.
From the late 1980s through the early 2000s, Haney promoted Oklahoma high school sports from his pulpit that was Cox cable television. Through football season, basketball season and an assortment of lesser-recognized seasons, Haney provided the passion and the commentary for television audiences statewide.
In the 1970’s, Coach Haney led Tulsa’s Edison High school to three state tournament appearances during his time as head basketball coach. He later spent four years with the Webster basketball program. During his career as a high school basketball coach, he recorded 313 wins. In the 80s Haney launched his broadcasting career. Due to Haney's outstanding career, he was elected to be president of…
playlist_add
Nov 28, 2022
Jim Goodwin
James Osby Goodwin was one of eight siblings who grew up next door to Tulsa’s St. Monica Catholic Church. His father purchased a 150-acre farm in the community of Alsuma at East 51st Street and South Mingo Road. Nearby railroad tracks separated whites and blacks. At 9 years old, Goodwin became an amputee when he lost his right arm in a horseback riding accident that involved a train on the Katy Railroad.
Jim Goodwin is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Tulsa college of law. As a lawyer he successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for the constitutionality of local statutes regarding freedom of speech and he was co-counsel in the matter of reparation for victims of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.
Jim is the publisher of The Oklahoma Eagle, Oklahoma’s longest-running Black-owned newspaper. The paper is a successor to the Tulsa Star newspaper, which was burned down in the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.
Jim serve…
playlist_add
Oct 27, 2022
Joyce Jackson
Joyce Jackson was in Junior High School when she became part of the Katz Drugstore sit-in in 1958, the beginning of a movement that contributed to race relations reform in Oklahoma.
Joyce was the first black woman on television in Oklahoma at KOCO 5, Oklahoma City, becoming an award-winning broadcast journalist, producer and talk show host.
In 1982 she began a career in the Oklahoma Department of Justice as a public relations officer until 1997 when she left the agency to become the Communications Director for the Illinois Department of Corrections. She returned to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections as the Executive Communications Administrator in 2005.
Joyce also worked as a professional model for 20 years and was the owner of a modeling/charm school.
She retired from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in 2014 after 24 years of service.
See more on our website: https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/jackson-joyce/
playlist_add
Sep 13, 2022
Governor David Walters
David Walters was the 24th governor of Oklahoma from 1991 to 1995. Born in Canute, Oklahoma, he was a project manager for Governor David Boren and the youngest executive officer working for the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. In 1986, Walters was the Democratic nominee for governor of Oklahoma, but was defeated by Republican Henry L. Bellmon. On November 6, 1990 Walters was elected governor, carrying 75 of the state’s 77 counties.
During his term, education funding increased by approximately 30 percent, and a $350 million bond issue for higher education brought construction and renovation to every state college campus.
Walters did not seek re-election and was defeated in a 2002 campaign for the United States Senate. He is the CEO of Walters Power International, a global provider of local power.
In this oral history interview David talks about cotton farming, Harvard, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, and the death of his son Shaun.
See more: https://voicesofoklahoma.com/inte…
playlist_add
Aug 29, 2022
Jim Rodgers
Dr. James A. Rodgers, a neurosurgery specialist in Tulsa, Oklahoma, completed his medical school prerequisites at the University of Tulsa in 1972. He then graduated with honors from the University of Oklahoma medical school in 1976. After completing his internship and residency in neurosurgery in 1981, he opened a solo practice in Muskogee, Oklahoma, returning to Tulsa in 1989. In his solo practice, he focused on cervical and lumbar spine problems.
One of the founders of Tulsa Spine and Specialty Hospital, a physician-owned hospital, Dr. Rodgers has nearly 50 years of diverse experience in neurosurgery.
Beyond his medical career, he developed a strong interest in music in his youth that eventually led to owning and rehabilitating the internationally known music venue, Cain’s Ballroom. This Tulsa landmark, inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2005, is remembered for its role in the history of western swing music, and rock’n’roll.
Dr. Rodgers’s advice to young peop…
playlist_add
Jul 25, 2022
Frank Riesinger
Riesinger’s Jewelry was a mainstay in Utica Square for over fifty years with a heritage that dates back to the fourth floor above the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Tulsa. That was where Frank Riesinger’s father, Otto, presided for many years over a jewelry repair store repairing items sent to him by retail jewelry stores in Tulsa.
Frank was home from military service when he witnessed downtown Tulsa’s celebration of V-J Day (Victory over Japan) on August 14, 1945. Following his military service, Frank used the G.I. Bill to attend the University of Tulsa, graduating with a degree in business administration in 1949. It was while he was attending TU that he had a unique encounter with Thomas Gilcrease.
Frank learned the jewelry business from his father and opened Riesinger’s retail store in Utica Square in 1952, one of the first stores in one of Tulsa’s first shopping centers. He and his wife Bobbie operated Riesinger’s Jewelry until 1983.
Through the years, Frank attended WW…
playlist_add
May 16, 2022
Joe Cappy
Joe Cappy had a front-row seat to a strange episode in U.S. car manufacturing history: the 1987 sale of American Motors Corp. to Chrysler-the deal that gave the Jeep brand to Chrysler and made Joe Cappy the last American Motors Corporation CEO.
Joe played several roles in this story which goes back to when the French car company Renault partnered with AMC, lending AMC operating capital and eventually acquiring a major interest in the company.
After the assassination of Renault’s chairman Georges Besse, Renault sold AMC to Chrysler.
Joe’s first job out of college was with the Ford Motor Company where he held various sales, marketing, and financial positions.
In the 1990’s Joe and his wife Patty, came to Tulsa to divest Dollar Thrifty from Chrysler. He became CEO of Dollar Thrifty Automotive group after Chrysler sold the rental car company, retiring in 2003.
See more information on our website: https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/cappy-joe/
playlist_add
Apr 21, 2022
John Hughes
The Hughes Osage County ranch started as a land purchase in 1938 by John Hughes’s father, an oil industry pioneer with Phillips Petroleum Co. John Hughes was a junior in high school when he purchased his first cattle — at $100 a head for strays he had gathered for Boots Adams of Phillips Petroleum.
After graduating from College High School in 1951, Hughes attended Oklahoma A&M College — now Oklahoma State University — earning a bachelor’s degree in animal science. He left college in 1955 and took over the day-to-day management of the Hughes cattle operation.
John maintained the ranch as a cow/calf operation for more than 30 years before converting it to a stocker business in the late 1980s. Since 1989, the Hughes Ranch has also been the home to thousands of adopted wild mustangs.
Under his direction, the Hughes Ranch grew from 1,800 acres when it was started until it covered more than 12,000 acres. The ranch property extends from just southwest of Bartlesville to the north…
playlist_add
Mar 21, 2022
Dale McNamara
Dale McNamara wanted to play golf, but there was no team at the University of Tulsa, so she entered tournaments on her own and became the first woman to win an athletic letter at TU. In 1974, when Tulsa decided to start a women’s golf team and McNamara volunteered to coach the team. They had no money, no support, and no players.
Dale went on to become one of the most legendary and successful collegiate women’s golf coaches in history. In 26 years, her teams won four national championships and finished as the national runner-up five times. Her teams won 80 tournaments and produced 28 All-Americans. In 1985, in one of the most memorable seasons in college women’s golf history, McNamara coached Tulsa to eight victories in 13 tournaments.
The University of Tulsa became the gold standard for college women’s golf in the 1970s and 1980s.
playlist_add
Mar 16, 2022
Robert Henry
Robert Henry is a former United States circuit judge and was the 17th president of Oklahoma City University. He formerly served as the attorney general of Oklahoma from 1986 to 1991, before resigning early in his second term to become the dean of the Oklahoma City University School of Law, where he remained until 1994. President Bill Clinton appointed Henry as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, a position he held until he resigned in 2010 to return to Oklahoma City University as president. He retired as president in 2018 and since has worked as an attorney specializing in mediation, moot courts, and appellate advocacy.
playlist_add
Mar 2, 2022
Church Studios - Leon Russell & Steve Ripley
As the Church Studios in Tulsa get ready to open after a major refurbishment, we share the stories of Steve Ripley, who owned the historic studio for many years. Steve knew Leon Russell well, and worked hard to preserve thousands of recordings and the equipment to play them.
You can hear Steve's entire interview on Voices of Oklahoma:
https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/ripley-steve/
playlist_add
Feb 22, 2022
Bill Atherton
Upon graduation from Oklahoma State University, Bill Atherton worked with Core Laboratories, Inc. in the Texas Gulf Coast and South America, and served as an officer in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. After his time with Core, he operated his own petroleum reservoir engineering company in Trinidad, West Indies, from 1960 to 1964.
But Bill’s career took a turn when his friend, Pat Murphy, talked him into partnering in a new franchise out of Wichita, KS, called Pizza Hut—at the time Bill had never even heard of pizza, but it would change his life. Soon, Bill became the Co-founder, chairman and CEO of A&M Food Services, Inc. from 1964 to 1986 when the company was merged into PEPSICO, Inc. At the time of the merger, A&M Food Services was the largest Pizza Hut franchise owner in the United States. He was also founder of Taco Hut, Inc. and served as Chairman and CEO until its sale in 1983.
Bill has been instrumental in key fundraising activities at Oklahoma State University and Hillsd…
playlist_add
Feb 15, 2022
Clarence Oliver
Clarence G. Oliver, Jr., Ed.D., Emeritus Professor and former Dean of the College of Education at Oral Roberts University and retired Superintendent of Schools for Broken Arrow Public Schools, has enjoyed success in three distinct career fields—Journalism, Military, and Education. He has been a teacher, journalist, Army officer, school administrator, newspaper editor and publisher, author, community leader, university professor, and dean of a university college of education.
In 1955, Dr. Oliver moved to Broken Arrow from Ada, sight unseen, to teach at Broken Arrow Public Schools and rose to the rank of superintendent. He served in that role from 1974-1992.
Prior to his long-time career in educational administration, Oliver had an extensive journalism career, including serving as news editor of The Watonga Republican, a historic western Oklahoma newspaper; managing editor of the Broken Arrow Ledger and six other newspapers. He was also a Broken Arrow historian.
Clarence has authore…
playlist_add
Feb 6, 2022
Jay O'Meilia
Philip Jay O’Meilia was born in 1927 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Between military stints during WWII and Korea (serving as a Navy artist), he attended the Art Students League in New York and the Chicago Academy of Fine Art.
O’Meilia’s work has been displayed in galleries and museums across America, including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Academy of Design in New York, and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
His sculptures, paintings, serigraphs, and prints are in the permanent collections of more than 500 private and corporate organizations worldwide.
In 1965, he won first place in a national competition sponsored by Abercrombie & Fitch for his painting Night Baseball, which began his rise to prominence as one of the country’s finest sports artist.
O’Meilia is highly regarded for his artistic depiction of professional and collegiate football, particularly the University of Oklahoma.
In 1970, he created his first sculpture, On Deck whi…
playlist_add
Jan 12, 2022
Randy Foutch
Randy A. Foutch fits the bill as an entrepreneurial oilman. Born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology at the University of Texas and a Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Houston.
His success as an oil and gas executive began with forming privately held companies. Foutch founded Lariat Petroleum, Inc. in 1996 and served as President until January 2001 when it was sold to Newfield Exploration, Inc. Foutch also founded Latigo Petroleum, Inc. and served as President and CEO until selling it to Pogo Producing Co., for 750 million dollars in 2006. Latigo co-won an Oklahoma Venture of the Year Award. He also founded Laredo Petroleum in 2006 and served as Chairman and CEO until 2019.
Among many other honors and appearances, Randy was inducted into the University of Tulsa’s 2010 Business Hall of Fame. He has been a guest commentator on CBS News and was an invited speaker at Harvard Business School’s 2010 Annual Energy Sym…
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2021
Clifton Taulbert
Clifton Taulbert was born in 1945 in Glen Allan, Mississippi, a small town in the Mississippi Delta. He graduated valedictorian from O’Bannon High School in Greenville, Mississippi, in 1963. He received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Sociology from Oral Roberts University and graduated from the Southwest Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. He later obtained an associate degree in health care management from Tulsa Community College.
Clifton also spent a few years in the United States Air Force, where he attained the rank of sergeant and served in a classified position with the 89th Presidential Wing of the US Air Force in Washington D.C. He is now an internationally acclaimed speaker, author, entrepreneur, and filmmaker.
Taulbert has authored thirteen books. He was the winner of the NAACP’s 27th Image Award for Literary Work: Nonfiction for his book When We Were Colored, which was produced as a film.
In 2014, Taulbert published his fourth memoir titl…
playlist_add
Oct 28, 2021
David Easton & Jimmy Steinmeyer
David Easton was one of the world’s most sought-after interior designers and architects. He was noted in the ’80s for his English-style houses, catering to a clientele with a taste for grandeur. David was named to the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1992.
David was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1937 and was smitten by design from an early age, visiting Marshall Field’s department store in Chicago with his grandmother, where he was delighted by the fantasy and design of the store’s Trend House. He moved to New York City in 1959, received an architecture degree from Pratt Institute. He won the Fontainebleau scholarship that allowed him to study in Europe before returning to New York, where he worked with modern furniture designer, Edward Wormley; and then in 1967, he joined the well-known firm Parish-Hadley before starting his own practice in 1972.
David could design Georgian mansions on the back of a napkin, making his name creating extraordinary architectural designs for m…
playlist_add
Jul 21, 2021
Jeannie McDaniel
A longtime Tulsan, Jeannie McDaniel has worked to better her city for more than twenty-five years. She worked at the Citizens Crime Commission from 1981 to 1991—serving as director from 1986 through 1991—coordinating programs like Alert Neighbors and Crime Stoppers with the Tulsa Police Department.
In 1991, McDaniel created the full-time position of Mayor’s Office for Neighborhood, registering hundreds of neighborhood associations, and built the annual Neighborhood Block Party program.
Elected to the House of Representatives in 2004, she was appointed to the Health Committee. In that role in 2005, she hosted an interim study on mental health, which resulted in funding Tulsa’s Mental Health Court. She carried legislation that resulted in public school students being permitted to carry medicine for allergies. As a member of the Education Committee, she continued to focus on high-quality standards for students, supported college tuition assistance (OHLAP) for our young people, a…
playlist_add
Jun 18, 2021
Maxine Zarrow
Maxine and her family are known for their active and generous commitment to the Jewish community, mental health, homelessness, and social services.
Maxine’s husband, Jack Zarrow, joined his father and brother Henry in the family business, Sooner Pipe and Supply. The iconic Tulsa firm enabled a great deal of the family’s philanthropy and employed, among other friends and family, the Zarrow’s son Scott, who passed away at age 54 in December, 2012. Like his parents, Scott was active in the Tulsa and Tulsa Jewish community. His passing is a loss to the family and to Tulsa.
Maxine and Jack created their own family foundation and played a leading role in the formation of the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center, located today near 71st & Lewis. The family’s commitment to fighting for the homeless is also celebrated today thanks to their gift, along with the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, of the land that is now occupied by the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless.
"Tulsa…
playlist_add
May 27, 2021
Oklahoma Voices - Race Massacre
Over the past twelve years, Voices of Oklahoma has been collecting stories of the 1921 Race Massacre. As we observe the centennial of the event, we are presenting the oral histories of eleven people who shared their memories and their reflections on May 31st & June 1st, 1921.
During this podcast you will hear Opal Moss, Wess Young, Wavel Ashbaugh, Otis Clark, Joe Moore, Bruce Fisher, Jenkin Jones Jr., Nancy Feldman, Dr. G. Calvin McCutchen and Reuben Gant.
Of this group, seven are no longer with us, which demonstrates the importance of oral history and underlines our theme: “Preserving Oklahoma’s legacy, one voice at a time.”
Full interviews are available on our website: VoicesofOklahoma.com
playlist_add
Apr 30, 2021
Voices of Sports Legends - Gary Ward
Voices of Sports Legends is a collection of events and interviews which sports historian Wayne McCombs has collected and recorded. He has donated this material to the oral history website VoicesofOklahoma.com.
You will hear former Tulsa World sportswriter Bill Connors, Jerry Webber sports and news anchor for channel 2 KJRH, A. Ray Smith former owner of the then Tulsa Oilers baseball team, Oklahoma State baseball coach Gary Ward, TU football coach Glenn Dobbs, Diamond Baseball Dinners, and more.
We are grateful to Wayne McCombs for the preservation of these voices and stories!
playlist_add
Apr 28, 2021
Voices of Sports Legends - Bill Connors
Voices of Sports Legends is a collection of events and interviews which sports historian Wayne McCombs has collected and recorded. He has donated this material to the oral history website VoicesofOklahoma.com.
You will hear former Tulsa World sportswriter Bill Connors, Jerry Webber sports and news anchor for channel 2 KJRH, A. Ray Smith former owner of the then Tulsa Oilers baseball team, Oklahoma State baseball coach Gary Ward, TU football coach Glenn Dobbs, Diamond Baseball Dinners, and more.
We are grateful to Wayne McCombs for the preservation of these voices and stories!
playlist_add
Apr 26, 2021
Voices of Sports Legends - Jerry Webber
Voices of Sports Legends is a collection of events and interviews which sports historian Wayne McCombs has collected and recorded. He has donated this material to the oral history website VoicesofOklahoma.com.
You will hear former Tulsa World sportswriter Bill Connors, Jerry Webber sports and news anchor for channel 2 KJRH, A. Ray Smith former owner of the then Tulsa Oilers baseball team, Oklahoma State baseball coach Gary Ward, TU football coach Glenn Dobbs, Diamond Baseball Dinners, and more.
We are grateful to Wayne McCombs for the preservation of these voices and stories!
playlist_add
Apr 24, 2021
Voices of Sports Legends - Glenn Dobbs
Voices of Sports Legends is a collection of events and interviews which sports historian Wayne McCombs has collected and recorded. He has donated this material to the oral history website VoicesofOklahoma.com.
You will hear former Tulsa World sportswriter Bill Connors, Jerry Webber sports and news anchor for channel 2 KJRH, A. Ray Smith former owner of the then Tulsa Oilers baseball team, Oklahoma State baseball coach Gary Ward, TU football coach Glenn Dobbs, Diamond Baseball Dinners, and more.
We are grateful to Wayne McCombs for the preservation of these voices and stories!
playlist_add
Apr 22, 2021
Voices of Sports Legends - A. Ray Smith
Voices of Sports Legends is a collection of events and interviews which sports historian Wayne McCombs has collected and recorded. He has donated this material to the oral history website VoicesofOklahoma.com.
You will hear former Tulsa World sportswriter Bill Connors, Jerry Webber sports and news anchor for channel 2 KJRH, A. Ray Smith former owner of the then Tulsa Oilers baseball team, Oklahoma State baseball coach Gary Ward, TU football coach Glenn Dobbs, Diamond Baseball Dinners, and more.
We are grateful to Wayne McCombs for the preservation of these voices and stories!
playlist_add
Mar 23, 2021
Oklahoma Voices - ORU Golden Eagles Basketball
With the Golden Eagles basketball team in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA basketball tournaments, we look back to when Oral Roberts University basketball came into its own in the seventies.
From an oral history recorded April 7, 2011, Coach Ken Trickey and player Richard Fuqua talk about the days when OU, OSU and TU would not play ORU. Also, how Ken helped design the interior of the Mabee Center.
The full interview is available on our website: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/trickey-ken/
playlist_add
Mar 22, 2021
Harry Stege
As Chief of Police, from 1977 to 1983, five of the officers recognized at the Tulsa Police Officers’ Memorial, fell during Harry Stege’s term as chief. One of the more tragic incidents was the helicopter crash that killed two officers in one instance. During Chief Stege’s term, many new components were added to the Police Department and the Aviation Unit was one of those new components. Also, as a young officer working I.D. or the 1970’s version of “CSI”, Stege was among the first officers to respond to Thurman Spybuck when Spybuck was shot and killed in the line of duty.
Harry Stege was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As a teenager he left Tulsa Central High School before he graduated, joining the Navy, and finishing his GED early. After a stint in Korea during the war, he returned to Tulsa to work a few odd jobs before joining the Tulsa Police Department in 1955 as a third-generation law officer. After several promotions, he was appointed police chief by former Mayor Bob LaFort…
playlist_add
Mar 18, 2021
Keith Ballard
Dr. Keith Ballard’s education career started in Coweta, Oklahoma in 1972. Two years later Keith moved to Oologah, Oklahoma where he was a teacher, administrative assistant, assistant high school principal, assistant superintendent, and became superintendent in 1986. He joined Claremore Public Schools as superintendent in 1992 and then became the executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association in 2000, where he served for eight years. He has served as an adjunct professor of school law for Southern Nazarene University and Oral Roberts University.
Ballard retired from Tulsa Public Schools after seven years as superintendent. He spearheaded Project Schoolhouse, which addressed changing student populations and school building utilization.
As of 2021, he was back in the classroom serving as a professor in educational leadership at the University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Ballard’s many honors include induction into the Oklahoma Education Hall of Fame.
Superintendent of Sch…
playlist_add
Mar 12, 2021
Oklahoma Voices - Women's History Month
Every year, March is designated Women’s History Month. It is a time for observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. As we dig into the stories from our 12-year archive, we can listen to many Oklahoma women who have made this state great!
Angie Debo is one of them. She overcame gender discrimination to become our state’s greatest historian of American Indian history. Her portrait is in our state capitol rotunda.
During this podcast, Episode 16, we will also highlight other women of great influence in Oklahoma.
These women are great role models for the younger generation. Be sure to share. We listened so you could listen.
The full interviews will these amazing women are available on our website: www.voicesofoklahoma.com
playlist_add
Mar 5, 2021
Bill Lobeck
William E. Lobeck Jr. began his career in the 1960s at Norfolk Pontiac and Chevrolet dealerships, Norfolk, Virginia, cultivating daily rental car companies as his largest customers.
He created the very first dealer repurchase program and established a special purpose leasing company out of a need to serve his customers. Eventually, manufacturers took notice of these programs and today repurchase programs and special purpose leasing agreements are a significant component of the automotive and daily car rental industries.
Lobeck was ultimately persuaded to join one of his daily rental customers, Dallas-based American International, becoming president and CEO in 1979. During his 11-year tenure, the company grew from 18 offices in seven states to nearly 300 offices across the country.
In 1981, Lobeck and four partners purchased Thrifty Car Rental, a North American car rental franchise system with great potential but in serious financial trouble. Reengineering every aspect of the company…
playlist_add
Feb 24, 2021
Oklahoma Voices - Black History Month
While Black History Month celebrates the accomplishments of African Americans nationwide, we can point to those who deserve recognition in our state of Oklahoma.
From the archives of Voices of Oklahoma, we salute Clara Luper, Dr. George Henderson, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, and a great civil rights story from the University of Tulsa.
Three of the storytellers are no longer with us but we captured their voice and story for future generations.
You can explore more on our website: www.voicesofoklahoma.com
playlist_add
Feb 16, 2021
David Morgan
On March 9, 1967, Tulsa, Oklahoma native David Morgan went to the Corvette Assembly Plant in North St. Louis, Missouri to take delivery of a new Corvette. It was a special-order L88 bought by Sunray DX Oil. David drove the car from St. Louis to Yenko Chevrolet in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania for its initial race preparation. Twenty-three days later it was on the grid for its first race, the 1967 12 hours of Sebring. David and Don Yenko co-drove to first place. David went on to win the 1967 SCCA Midwest Division Championship with the car.
David Morgan was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma at Hillcrest Hospital in 1926. He first began racing Soap Box Derby cars when he was 12 years old, racing down Berry Hill in Tulsa.
As an adult, his first car race was in 1958 when he won a sports car club of America divisional event in Ft. Stockton, N.M. That started him on a ten-year racing career. Monday through Friday David was a Tulsa insurance executive, and on the weekends, he was a race car driver. Through…
playlist_add
Feb 10, 2021
State Senator Maxine Horner
Maxine Horner was one of the first two African American women to serve in the Oklahoma Senate. While working for Congressman James R. Jones she became interested in politics, which prompted her to run for an open seat in 1986. She termed out in 2004. Maxine’s focus was on economic development and education. Of the many bills she sponsored, her highlight piece of legislation was the OHLAP bill known as Oklahoma’s Promise. She introduced the idea and saw it through to passage. Some of the students receiving financial aid from this bill went on to serve in the Oklahoma legislature. All of this from a woman who was not allowed to shop in many downtown Tulsa stores and was asked to move to the back of the bus when using public transportation. Her legislative career included serving as the first female chair of the Democratic Caucus and the chair of the Business and Labor committee. Maxine is also credited with founding the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and was inducted in the Oklahoma Wome…
playlist_add
Feb 5, 2021
Oklahoma Voices - Carrie Dickerson
Our news is filled with protests, some of it is “good trouble”.
There was a protest that took place in Oklahoma in the seventies, led by activist Carrie Dickerson, which resulted in the cancellation of the proposed Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant, near Inola, Oklahoma.
In our library of oral histories, we have the Carrie Dickerson story as told by her daughter, Patricia Lemon, for VoicesofOklahoma.com
It all started when Carrie saw a newspaper headline, in 1973, about the Public Service Company of Oklahoma announcing plans to build the Black Fox Nuclear power plant.
This is a profile in courage story! Individuals can make a difference!
You can explore more about Carrie Dickerson on our website: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/dickerson-carrie/
playlist_add
Jan 28, 2021
Ramona Reed
In episode 3 of the Ken Burns documentary “Country Music,” a picture was used featuring the stage of the Grand Ole Opry from 1949 which included Ramona Reed. Ramona was working for WSM Radio as Martha White representing the Martha White Flour Company. Hank Williams is seen in the background. Ramona went on to work for WSM during the summer of 1949, performing on a morning radio show each weekday and then appearing on the Grand Ole Opry on Friday and Saturday.
Ramona grew up on a farm near Talihina, Oklahoma and by the time she was 15, she was singing for a Saturday morning radio show in McAlester, Oklahoma. She sang on the Grand Ole Opry for the first time when she was 17.
After college in Denver, Colorado, and then two years in Nashville, she moved to Dallas, Texas where the Bob Wills Ranch House had just opened. She auditioned for Bob which led to two years of touring and performing with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. She performed at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa many times wi…
playlist_add
Dec 30, 2020
Billy Parker
While Billy Parker was a mainstay on country radio, his claim to fame was as an influential disc jockey, not as a performer. Ironically, for all of the Top 40 hits he spun over the course of his decades on the air, not one of them was his own. Born July 19, 1939, in Tuskegee, OK, he began playing guitar as a child and by the age of 14 had made his professional debut on the Tulsa radio program Big Red Jamboree. A few years later, he began performing in clubs and in 1959 landed his first job as a DJ.
By 1963, Billy was the regular daytime disc jockey on Wichita, Kansas’ KFDI and also hosted a Tulsa television program. In the same year, he cut his first single, “The Line Between Love and Hate,” and was named “Mr. DJ U.S.A.” in a nationwide poll, which helped land him at Nashville’s WSM. After releasing another record, “I’m Drinking All the Time,” in 1966, Parker began playing with Ernest Tubbs Troubadours in 1968 and stayed with the group for three years, until he joine…
playlist_add
Dec 21, 2020
Oklahoma Voices - Jim Thorpe Medals
“Seeking to Restore Thorpe’s Gold Medals, More Than 100 Years Later.”
That headline caught my attention because of course Jim Thorpe is a Native American from the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma. He was known as the greatest athlete from the first 50 years of the 20th century.
I interviewed Jim Thorpe’s son, Bill Thorpe, August 3rd, 2015 at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame museum in Oklahoma City. When I asked Bill who is father was, he said “Jim Thorpe, greatest athlete in the world”.
Listen to Bill talk about growing up as the son of this “greatest athlete”.
Once again, our Oklahoma Voices are relevant to the headlines of the day.
You can hear the full interview with Bill Thorpe on our website: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/thorpe-jim/
playlist_add
Dec 16, 2020
John Hausam
Then he stepped off the path.
In his oral history, John F. Hausam talks about his military service in the Korean conflict and how he unwittingly avoided death by stepping off a path. His platoon leader stayed on the path and lost his life because he stepped on a land mine. John was allowed to live 89 years, dying September 15, 2020. He studied and worked as a draftsman but later received his real estate license and established John Hausam Realtors. The company went on to become one of the largest real estate companies in Tulsa while giving back to the community through various charitable organizations.
John served as a National Director for the National Association of Realtors and was appointed to many committees of the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors and was the past president of the local Multiple Listing Services.
Many John Hausam real estate agents have lived very successful lives because John stepped off that path.
Explore more about John on our website: https://www.voic…
playlist_add
Nov 24, 2020
Oklahoma Voices - Sherwin Miller Holocaust Museum
The Sherwin Miller Holocaust Museum has expanded its holocaust exhibit. The museum has been home to a holocaust exhibit for 14 years and while effective in telling the story, the addition makes the overall exhibit even more impactful.
This podcast features an interivew with Mickel Yantz, Director of Collections and Exhibits, and you will hear powerful testimony from Holocaust survivors Eva Unterman and Sherman Ray. They will give you their reasons for telling the story.
Be sure to visit the museum and share the story.
You can hear the full interviews with Eva Unterman and Sherman Ray on our website.
Eva Unterman: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/unterman-eva/
Sherman Ray: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/ray-sherman/
playlist_add
Nov 22, 2020
Joy Harjo
It has been announced that Tulsan Joy Harjo will continue as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States for a third year, becoming only the second laureate to serve more than two years.
Joy was born in Tulsa and is an enrolled member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. Growing up she was surrounded by artists and musicians: her mother wrote songs, her grandmother played the saxophone, and her aunt was an artist. Joy is a Tulsa Artist Fellow.
playlist_add
Oct 27, 2020
Oklahoma Voices - Kidnapped
And one more thing! From the oral history website Voices of Oklahoma, we have one more true
crime story. In this episode the victim tells the story.
Walt Helmerich was kidnapped June 3rd, 1974 on his way to work in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was told to “Do what I say or I am going to kill you”. He was blindfolded, bound and kept on the floorboard of a car that zipped from one phone booth to another as his abductor arranged for a ransom payment of $700,000.
Walt will tell you in great detail about the hours leading up to his release.
playlist_add
Oct 20, 2020
Frederick Drummond
“Come trade with me.” Those are the words that brought the Drummond family to Oklahoma and Osage County. Frederick Drummond (1864–1913) came to the former Osage Nation, Indian Territory, at age twenty-two in 1886. The Drummond name runs thick in the vast ranch lands of Osage County. The branches of the family tree–cousins, brothers, uncles–are extensive and storied.
No one understands the family legacy more than Frederick Ford Drummond, a third-generation rancher, who walked among pioneers as a child. Later, he paid homage to his father, Fred Gentner Drummond, and his grandfather in the only way he knew how–by carrying on the family business and by becoming one of many Oklahomans who strove to keep the state’s heritage alive.
Frederick Ford Drummond earned degrees from Oklahoma State and Stanford universities. After graduating from Stanford, he joined United Missouri Bank of Kansas City. Frederick Drummond’s education and banking experience equipped him to operate the…
playlist_add
Oct 15, 2020
Dave Whitlock
Dave Whitlock is a world-renowned fly fisherman and contributor of many articles, photos, and illustrations to the world’s top outdoor sports magazines. His first published piece was in Field & Stream in 1968.
Dave resigned his position as a research chemist and pooled his talents in painting, illustrating, writing, photography, fly fishing, fly tying and lecturing to embark on a new career as a full-time professional in the art of fly fishing.
He has written and illustrated six books—several of which are considered “bibles” by fly fishermen—and co-authored or contributed to dozens of others.
Dave is the best-known and most talented international figure in Oklahoma who is often not recognized in his home state of Oklahoma.
He has been inducted into five halls of fame and was named by Fly Fisherman Magazine one of its “50 Most Influential Fly Fishers in the Last 5 Decades”.
Dave’s wife Emily is an accomplished fly fisher and edits all of Dave’s work. They live bes…
playlist_add
Sep 21, 2020
Oklahoma Voices - More True Crime
The largest reaction to our podcasts came with the last episode: True Crime. Several wrote about encountering Whitey Bulger but also many wrote about bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd and family stories of Floyd encounters. He did grow up Oklahoma and robbed banks in our state.
So we continue with more True Crime for this 10th episode - stories taken
from our oral history website VoicesofOklahoma.com
We have two murder stories that took place in 1977. The first story is about the
murder of Kendal Ashmore and Kathy Brown in Tulsa and the second story
features the Girl Scout murders near Locust Grove, Oklahoma.
playlist_add
Sep 15, 2020
Dr James Buskirk
Dr. James B. Buskirk was Senior Minister at First United Methodist Church in Tulsa, for twelve years beginning September 1984. Prior to his First Methodist ministry he was the founding dean of the School of Theology at Oral Roberts University. Dr. Buskirk is the originator of two local church programs in creative ministry called “Motivation for Ministry” and “Affirmation Evangelism.”
Dr. Buskirk has been “Conference Preacher” at several annual conferences, spoken at jurisdictional conferences and at national conferences, and taught at several “Pastors’ Schools” in annual conferences and at “Ministers’ Week” in seminary settings. He has ministered in numerous churches in almost every state and preached and taught abroad.
Dr. Buskirk served over thirty years as a pastor. He served eight years as the chair-person of the Oklahoma Conference Board of Evangelism, four years on the Conference Board of Education, plus years of service on many other boards and in many…
playlist_add
Aug 27, 2020
Oklahoma Voices - True Crime
Name change! We have changed the name of our podcast because it is easier to remember! Just that simple! Oklahoma Voices! Do you remember the TV show Columbo, starring Peter Falk? He was famous for saying “Oh, just one more thing.” I was watching it recently as he was solving another murder case. True crime holds a fascination for us. True crime books are big sellers and true crime TV shows are highly watched. I thought of the true crime stories we have in our Voices of Oklahoma library and I thought of three murder cases, one is unsolved. Even Columbo couldn’t solve this one.
playlist_add
Aug 18, 2020
Dobie Langenkamp
Both of R. Dobie Langenkamp’s, grandfathers were Oklahoma pioneers in the 1920s in oil development. The younger Langenkamp worked as an oilfield roustabout, a pump station operator, and a refinery laborer while he was attending school. After Stanford and Harvard Law School he practiced oil and gas law in Oklahoma and twice was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Gas for the Department of Energy, where one of his responsibilities was to supervise the Naval Petroleum Reserve. After service in the government he founded and ran his own small independent oil and gas exploration company for 15 years. Later he was appointed Professor of Energy and Director of the National Energy Law and Policy Institute at Tulsa University Law School. Dobie Langenkamp has also served as energy consultant for the State Department and Department of Energy in Kazakhstan, the Republic of Georgia, and Iraq. He has lectured on international oil and gas law in Ghana, Angola, Uganda, Egypt, and Argenti…
playlist_add
Aug 11, 2020
Eskimo Joe's and Stan Clark
Voices of Oklahoma recalls the story of two graduates of Oklahoma State University, Stan Clark and Steve File, and their dream of opening a bar in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The bar opened July 21, 1975 and took on the name Eskimo Joe’s which came from their desire to have the coldest beer in town. Originally, Eskimo Joe’s was only a bar, but when the drinking age was raised from eighteen to twenty-one in 1984, the business became a restaurant as well.
In 1990, during his commencement speech, President George H. W. Bush endorsed Eskimo Joe’s cheese fries. In 2006, during his commencement speech, President George W. Bush followed his father’s footsteps and mentioned both the restaurant and the cheese fries.
Stan Clark, a native Tulsan, has built one of Oklahoma’s most recognized brands. The Stan Clark Companies, known as the “Three Amigos” includes the flagship Eskimo Joe’s as well as other restaurants and Eskimo Joe’s Promotional Products Group. From the most humble begi…
playlist_add
Jul 27, 2020
Allan Trimble
Allan Trimble won more state high school football championships in 22 seasons at Jenks than any head coach in Oklahoma history. But his first state title as a head coach was with the Jenks girls track team in 1995. Tremble had a 242-41 overall record and his Jenks teams made 17 state finals appearances. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and was No. 15 on MaxPreps’ 50 Greatest High School Football Coaches of All-Time.
Since 2016 he battled ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, which caused his death on December 1, 2019. He was 56. Don King, Jenks Trojans football play-by-play broadcaster, conducted this interview with Coach Trimble in April 2018 for Cox Communications. The recording was never released until now on Voices of Oklahoma. You will hear Coach talk about his early coaching days, his best Jenks team, the Jenks community, his ALS diagnosis, and you will hear his Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame speech.
You can find more about Allan Trimble on o…
playlist_add
Jul 22, 2020
Stories Behind the Voices - Teachers
COVID 19 is the impetus for this episode of Stories behind the Voices. The current news story is about sending our students back to school this fall. Teachers and administrators are grappling with the issue of class sizes, social distancing, and the wearing of masks. As I have been reading about this issue I started thinking about the teachers who were so influential in the lives of some of our storytellers on Voices of Oklahoma. Teacher names like Les Lang, Arthur D. Harrison, Sister Mary Andrews and more. This podcast is about those teachers and the lives they affected. As you listen, think of the teachers who took an interest in you and if you can, thank
them. They would be happy to hear from you!
Full interviews are available on our website.
playlist_add
Jul 20, 2020
Russell Myers & Broom-Hilda
Russell Myers is best known for his newspaper comic strip “Broom-Hilda”. He was born in Pittsburgh, Kansas but the family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma when he was 7. He was sketching and drawing while attending Lanier Elementary, Wilson Middle School, and Rogers High School. Russell attended the University of Tulsa, where his father was a faculty member.
Broom-Hilda was first published on April 19, 1970 and was carried by the Tulsa Tribune. And now, fifty years later, the Tulsa World continues its publication in 2020.
Russell talks about his first comic strip, his job with Hallmark cards, Dick Tracy and of course how Broom-Hilda was created.
Additional information and the full interview are available here: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/myers-russell/
playlist_add
Jul 2, 2020
Wayne Creasy
If you want to know the story of the Wayne Creasy Insurance Agency, you must listen to Wayne tell you about selling vacuum sweepers. While waiting to go back to school for his PHD, he answered an ad for a sweeper salesman and went to Kansas City, Missouri to be trained. He eventually made a sale in the home of an insurance agent who thought Wayne would be perfect for the insurance business, which in time led to the Wayne Creasy Insurance Agency. Before moving to Tulsa Wayne met Jim Halsey in Independence, Missouri and helped Jim in his music promotion business. When they were both living in Tulsa, Jim Halsey convinced Roy Clark to think about moving to Tulsa. After staying in the Oakwold home of Wayne Creasy, Roy said “If you can find me a home like this, I will live in Tulsa”. Over the years, Wayne along with partners Roy Clark and Jim Halsey owned and operated two radio stations and a large apartment complex, built several office buildings, and purchased a large ranch south of Tu…
playlist_add
Jun 24, 2020
Stories Behind the Voices - Vice Presidential Selection
Vice President Joe Biden will soon select a woman as his running mate. Today, America is accepting of females in leadership positions at all levels of government and many businesses. But of course, it hasn’t always been that way. All across America women faced the so-called glass ceiling. As they did in Oklahoma.
Wilma Mankiller, Norma Eagleton and Stephanie Seymour are three examples of overcoming the prejudice of their male counterparts. History reminds us of the way it was and helps us appreciate present day attitudes.
We invite you to listen to the oral history interviews of these accomplished women and enjoy their full story on VoicesofOklahoma.com
Full interviews:
Wilma Mankiller - https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/mankiller-wilma/
Norma Eagleton - https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/eagleton-norma/
Stephanie Seymour - https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/seymour-stephanie/
playlist_add
Jun 9, 2020
WWII Veteran Paul Andert
World War II veteran Paul J. Andert enlisted in the U.S.Army in 1940 at the age of 17. Paul served as an infantry platoon sergeant in the 41st Armored Infantry, Company “B” during most of his five-year Army career. Mr. Andert served in Africa, Sicily and Europe while participating in seven major campaigns, plus making two major landing invasions. Oklahoman Paul Andert has vivid memories of General George Patton and General Dwight Eisenhower among others and remembers listening to Axis Sally. He was wounded twice and received the Silver Star, three Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.
Mr. Andert’s war stories are filled with blunt honesty and include the horror of war as he talks about the bravery of the infantryman. World War II vets and those who study the war years will appreciate his attention to detail as he talks about the instructions to “kill or be killed”. It is Paul Andert’s way of telling these stories which will make you feel like you were there. Paul is from Tul…
playlist_add
Jun 8, 2020
Stories Behind the Voices - Startups
Sometimes it is difficult to believe that large businesses started with a simple idea and a whole lot of hard work.
On a national basis, two teachers and a writer got together to start up a Seattle coffee bean seller with their own money in 1971, which became known as Starbucks. Nike started out of founder Phil Knight’s green Plymouth Valiant trunk.
In our sixth episode we feature three Oklahoma companies, Hobby Lobby, Bama Pie, and Greenleaf Nursery. You will hear David Green, Lilah Marshall and John Nickel tell their remarkable stories. They started simply with a piece of pie, a small box and a plant container.
We want to hear from you! If you know of other Oklahoma business startups let us know at info@voicesofoklahoma.com
Full Interview - David Green: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/green-david/
Full Interview - Lilah Marshall: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/marshall-lilah/
Full Interview - John Nickel: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/nicke…
playlist_add
Jun 4, 2020
Clayton Vaughn
Clayton Vaughn was born in Kansas and raised in Cushing, Oklahoma where he began his broadcast career. He moved to Tulsa and KAKC radio in 1958 and joined KOTV in 1964. In 1969, he moved to Los Angeles to work for KABC but returned to KOTV in 1971, where he served as news director. In 1979, he went to work for WNET-TV in New York City and the New Jersey Public Television System. He returned to KOTV in 1981.
During the course of his career he reported from nine national political conventions, traveled to Vietnam to report on area military servicemen and women, anchored from the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing site, presided over scores of political debates, and interviewed people from all walks of life.
His work at KOTV after his return from the west coast included five years as News Director and anchor of Oklahoma’s first and, to date, only 6 pm News Hour, which brought magazine-style reporting and news commentary to Tulsa television.
Clayton Vaughn’s broadcast journalism…
playlist_add
May 25, 2020
Coach Eddie Sutton
With 36 years of Division 1 coaching experience, Coach Eddie Sutton became the first coach to take four schools to The NCAA tournament. He is one of only eight major college men’s basketball coaches to have more than 800 (804) career wins. Coach Sutton played basketball at Oklahoma State University under the legendary coach Henry Iba. In 1959 he became head coach at Tulsa Central High School. His college coaching career began in 1967 when he founded the men’s basketball program at the College of Southern Idaho. He moved on to Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska where he made his first coaching appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1974. He made his next NCAA appearance with the University of Arkansas in 1978 while compiling a record of 260-75 in 11 seasons. He coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats for four years, leading them to the Elite Eight of the 1986 NCAA tournament.
Coach Sutton returned to Oklahoma State University in 1990 and in his 17 years in Stillwater the Cow…
playlist_add
May 12, 2020
Rabbi Charles Sherman
Rabbi Charles P. Sherman retired in 2013 after serving Temple Israel for nearly 40 years. Temple Israel is Tulsa’s only Reform Jewish congregation. Reform Judaism is the nation’s largest branch of Judaism, with about 1.5 million members in some 900-plus congregations in North America.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Rabbi Charles P. Sherman was educated at the University of Pittsburgh and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio where he was ordained in 1969.
Rabbi Sherman has been an Adjunct Instructor at the Phillips Theological Seminary and has taught in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Tulsa.
Rabbi Sherman has served as President of the Southwest Association of Reform Rabbis, the Tulsa Ministerial Alliance and the Tulsa Police and Fire Chaplaincy Corps. He is the only person to serve as president of both the National Conference for Community and Justice, Tulsa Region and the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry.
Si…
playlist_add
May 6, 2020
Stories Behind the Voices - Inventors
Thomas Edison is known as America’s greatest inventor and was responsible for 1,093 patents. His friend Henry Ford was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and chief developer of the assembly line for mass production. There is a museum dedicated to these two icons which includes their winter estates in Ft. Myers, Florida.
When touring their properties, I thought about inventors from Oklahoma. This podcast features three who were pioneers in our state. Ed Malzahn of Ditch Witch, Ed Taylor with cable television & CNN, and Dean VanTrease, who helped create Tulsa Community College. We are proud to have their entire oral histories in our library of stories.
You can listen to the full interviews here:
Dr Dean VanTrease
https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/vantrease-dean/
Ed Malzahn
https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/malzahn-ed/
Ed Taylor
https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/taylor-ed/
playlist_add
May 4, 2020
Judge Lee Roy West
Judge Lee Roy West
1929 - 2020
Lee Roy West has made several thousand friends in over 40 years of public service as a law teacher, state court judge, member of the Civil Aeronautics Board, federal judge and breeder and trainer of national champion bird dogs. Born in Clayton, Oklahoma, Judge West graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree and a law degree. He was a Marine Corp Lieutenant and earned his Master of Laws Degree from Harvard. Even though the West family was poor economically, they were wealthy in many important areas, including humor, wisdom, and friendships. West’s major contribution to Oklahoma and the nation may be his teaching that life is supposed to be fun. It’s not just okay to have fun–it’s required. Many say West’s most endearing trait is to teach those with whom he deals, how to be a good friend.
Since taking senior status in 1994 from the federal bench he has remained active hearing cases at both District and Circuit levels an…
playlist_add
Apr 24, 2020
Gathering Place - A Riverfront Masterpiece
Gathering Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is an award-winning 100-acre park located on the banks of the Arkansas River. After years of planning, the park broke ground in September 2014 and the first 66.5 acres opened in September 2018. The main attractions are the Chapman Adventure Playground, the Williams Lodge, a boathouse, splash playground, great lawn, outdoor sports courts, a skate park, a wetland pond and garden, and many trails, among other locations.
Voices of Oklahoma felt it was important to have an oral history recording detailing the overall construction, its challenges, description of materials used, and the emotional connection to the city. We did this so future generations using Gathering Place could hear the voice of Jeff Stava, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the project, describe the planning, preparation, and opening of the park, so they could understand the reason for such an enormous commitment by the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
playlist_add
Apr 15, 2020
Stories Behind the Voices - Celebrating 11 Years
The month of April is always a nice milestone for Voices of Oklahoma for it is the anniversary month of recording the oral histories of many Oklahomans. It was April 10th, 2010 that we launched our website with the oral history of Wilma Mankiller.
Wilma passed away on April 6th, 2010. We were in the finishing stages of building our website, so we scrambled to make her our first storyteller. We consider it a great honor to have the first female Chief of the Cherokee Nation as our first oral history.
But how did Voices of Oklahoma come about? In this episode I will tell you how the idea came to me, and the interesting details leading up to the launching of the site, which would become the only website in Oklahoma dedicated solely to oral history.
We would not have reached this milestone were it not for the foundations and individuals who have faithfully supported our mission. So, on behalf of our 233 storytellers, I say thank you for listening to their stories and listening to this po…
playlist_add
Apr 10, 2020
Chief Wilma Mankiller
The first woman elected as Chief of the Cherokee Nation was Wilma Pearl Mankiller. She was born November 18, 1945 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Her father was a full-blood Cherokee and her mother was of Dutch and Irish ancestry. Wilma served as Principal Chief from December 1985 – 1995.
Wilma Mankiller was motivated to become active in Cherokee tribal affairs due to several life events that she discusses in detail in this interview recorded in 2009.
Wilma was inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 1986, The Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1994 and received the Presidential Medal of Honor in 1998.
Up until her diagnosis with pancreatic cancer in late winter/spring 2010, she continued to write, speak and teach American Indian Culture proudly living on Mankiller Flats, in rural Adair County, Oklahoma, on her grandfather’s land.
playlist_add
Apr 2, 2020
Stories Behind the Voices - Former Governor Frank Keating
This month of April we observe the 25th anniversary of the OKC bombing, which took place April
19, 1995. You, no doubt, remember where you were when you heard of the bombing.
Former Governor Frank Keating had been in office for just three months when the attack took place. I asked Frank to visit with us here on Stories behind the Voices to get his reflection on that day. And to talk to him about the Coronavirus in relation to his personal life and to our state.
We have recorded Frank’s oral history and the full interview is available at: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/keating-frank/
Listen now to Stories behind the Voices and an interview with former Governor Frank Keating.
playlist_add
Mar 26, 2020
Stories Behind the Voices - When we faced Polio
With Coronavirus bearing down on our population and occupying so much of our minds, I am reminded of another contagious disease the world faced many years ago. Polio frightened humanity and carried with it much the same symptoms as COVID-19. Leading to death and paralysis in so many, the spread of Polio caused the world to upend their everyday lives in hopes of avoiding the illness.
In our library we have two storytellers who will set the scene for you from the late 1940's and early 1950's. Those over 70 will be reminded of the fear they experienced and how humanity dealt with this horrible epidemic.
We would like to hear from you concerning your memories. Please send them to us at info@voicesofoklahoma.com
Thank you for listening, please share with your friends and family!
You can hear the full interview with Betty Boyd here:
https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/boyd-betty/
You can hear the full interview with Dr. C. T. Thompson here: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/inte…
playlist_add
Mar 7, 2020
Introducing Stories Behind the Voices - Gilcrease
Today we are introducing a new feature to our ongoing Voices of Oklahoma podcast. An addition to our regular interviews, Stories Behind the Voices will be unique episodes crafted to share with you interesting insights about the people who have recorded their history for our collection.
By sharing these details not available in the main interview, our goal is to help you discover our great storytellers and their personal journey.
The first of these new segments highlights our interview with Gene Fulsom Gilcrease, grandson of oilman and avid art collector Thomas Gilcrease. The Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa will soon be torn down to make way for a new building to house and exhibit the massive collection which art historian Richard Saunders once called “a kind of Smithsonian Institution of the American West.”
You can listen the full interview with Gene Gilcrease here: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/gilcrease-thomas/
playlist_add
Feb 28, 2020
Charles Ward
Charles W. Ward is an award-winning architect who received the inspiration for his profession as a soldier in WWII while viewing the Reims Cathedral from a window in an attic. As an infantry officer with the 5th Division, he infiltrated the German-occupied city of Reims to confirm rumors that the enemy was evacuating. After the war, he received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Oklahoma and gained attention for his work on many public projects. Some of his work includes The Tulsa City-County Library, The master plan for the Oklahoma State Library, Oklahoma City, LaFortune Football Stadium, the Tulsa Civic Center Plaza, South minster Presbyterian Church, and the First Methodist Church sanctuary. He taught himself to sketch and became known for sketches of cathedrals and other houses of worship in Italy, England, Mexico and elsewhere. And he is known by OU alumni and friends for detailed pen and pencil drawings of many of the most historic and beautiful buildings…
playlist_add
Feb 25, 2020
Sister M. Therese Gottschalk
Sister Mary Therese Gottschalk was born in 1931, in a tiny village in Bavaria, Germany, the second of 14 children. Sister Therese entered the Order of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother in 1952 and came to the United States the following year to finish her religious education at the Motherhouse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In 1960, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Creighton University and in 1970, a Master’s degree in Hospital Administration from St. Louis University. Between her years at college, she served as Director of the pharmacy and purchasing departments at St. Mary’s Hospital in Roswell, New Mexico.
Sister Therese first came to St. John’s Hospital, now St. John Medical Center, as an Assistant Administrator in 1970 before going back to Roswell two years later to serve as Chief Executive Officer of St. Mary’s Hospital. She returned to St. John in 1974 as the hospital’s President and was named CEO of the St. John Health System in 1982. While President an…
playlist_add
Feb 4, 2020
Judge Stephanie Seymour
Judge Stephanie Kulp Seymour, who joined a historic class of women judges in 1979 when she was appointed to the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, was encouraged early on by her parents to be an independent thinker.
While a youngster, she and her sister received the same encouragement as their two brothers. Seymour attended integrated public schools in Battle Creek, Michigan, but was home-schooled during long family trips around the country and overseas.
Seymour had hoped to attend Harvard or Yale, but those Ivy League colleges did not accept women as undergraduates in the 1950s. Seymour believes now that Smith College, an all-women’s school in western Massachusetts, better prepared her to compete among men after her graduation. She graduated from Harvard Law in 1965 where a recruiter told her he had no interest in hiring women. She later became his firm’s first female lawyer. When she moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1966, there were only five practicing female lawyers.
Upon her a…
playlist_add
Jan 10, 2020
Dr G Calvin McCutchen
During the civil rights era of the 1950s and ’60s, Dr. G. Calvin McCutchen established himself as a leader among black pastors, coordinating efforts locally in the push for desegregation. Along with the late Rev. B.S. Roberts, he helped organize youths for sit-in demonstrations at whites-only restaurants, including Borden’s Cafeteria in north Tulsa and Piccadilly’s downtown.
Dr. McCutchen served in the Marine Corps, then attended American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville and Tennessee State University. It was his first job offer out of college that brought him to Tulsa. Then three years later, on October 4, 1957, he was named pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church.
Dr. McCutchen retired in 2007 after 50 years as senior pastor. His late wife, Adelene, was one of Tulsa’s first black female police officers. The couple was married 59 years until her death in 2014. Dr. McCutchen died March 30, 2019.
playlist_add
Jan 3, 2020
Ed Taylor
Ed Taylor grew up in Camden, N.J., the son of an RCA executive making the Taylor Family the first on the block to have television.
After Taylor graduated from high school, he enrolled in Lehigh University where he majored in civil engineering. When he finished his degree, AT&T Corp. offered him a job in its management training program.
Ed spent the next 16 years of his life working for AT&T. It would be in his work for the telephone company where his desire to chart new territory would begin. While at AT&T, he helped build a satellite uplink station, the first to transmit calls between London and the United States. The company spent over $100 million on the technology that allowed 90 people to talk all at once.
It was Dec. 27, 1976, that Taylor began distributing Ted Turner’s WTBS in Atlanta to cable systems via satellite. That created the first superstation. Ed helped Turner get the station’s signal on satellite, then paid $1 for the right to sell that signal to cable systems a…
playlist_add
Dec 13, 2019
Ted Owens
From surviving the Great Depression and Dust Bowl eras to driving a Model A Ford, hearing and watching news footage of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and serving in the Korean War, Ted Owens’ life is full of stories in and out of sports.
In 1956, Ted Owens got his start in coaching basketball at Cameron Junior College in Lawton, Oklahoma, where he also helped lead the baseball program to a national title in 1958.
After that, he went on to match wits with basketball coaching legends Henry Iba, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, Bob Knight and John Wooden and traveled to Japan, China, Spain, Italy, Belgium, France, Switzerland, the Philippines, Korea, England and Israel to teach the game he loves.
Ted Owens guided the University of Kansas basketball team to six Big Eight conference championships and seven times to the NCAA Tournament. He was also a five-time Big Eight Coach of the Year and 1978 National Coach of the Year. Under Owens, the Jayhawks reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet Sixteen fi…
playlist_add
Dec 6, 2019
Tom Clark
Oklahoma University Regent Tom Clark was appointed by Governor Frank Keating in March 2001 for a seven-year term and was reappointed by Governor Brad Henry in March 2008. Clark graduated from Tulsa’s Edison High School in 1959 and from The University of Oklahoma in 1963 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He served as a flight instructor for five years in the U.S. Air Force, where he flew the supersonic T-38 jet. In 1968 he joined the family business, Tulsair, and, in 1986, he became the sole owner and President and Chief Executive. The company has two Aircraft Sales and Maintenance facilities covering a six-state region. Clark is also the owner of Tulsa’s landmark White River Fish Market and Restaurant. In addition to serving the Tulsa community as President of the Tulsa Boy’s Home, a Board member of the The Salvation Army and as a patron of numerous civic and charitable events, Clark helps shape the aviation industry through several committees. He previously serv…
playlist_add
Nov 25, 2019
Doug Campbell
Doug Campbell was born in Galveston, Texas, but moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the age of five with his family in 1952. The Campbells remained in the area and Doug graduated from Edison High School, after which he attended Oklahoma State University and earned a degree in interior design. After college graduation, he immediately found employment in his chosen field in Tulsa. In 1977, he began Campbell Design Associates of which Carolyn Fielder Nierenberg has been part of since the beginning. Doug’s career has taken him to projects all over North America, but no matter where he works his design philosophy remains the same—“less is more.” His work has been published in many magazines and not only was he involved in the beginning of the American Society of Interior Designers, but he served as state president and on the national board. Doug also served for many years on the boards for both Gilcrease and Philbrook Museums, as well as the board for 108 Contemporary Gallery. He is the pr…
playlist_add
Oct 31, 2019
Johnnie Coe
Joan Agnes “Johnnie” Coe lived her whole life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduating from Central High School and the University of Tulsa. Her parents lived in the downtown area and she would ride the streetcar to TU. While at TU she joined the Phi Mu Sorority and was active in the local alumni group until her death. Upon graduation, Johnnie began her career with Stanolind Oil and Gas Company. This company was sold many times during her 30 years there, eventually being bought by Amoco, then British Petroleum. She retired in 1972 to care for her mother. By then she had been promoted to the position of Senior Clerk in the Controllers Department. She worked part-time an additional six years for a private, local company and then retired for good. Upon retirement, Johnnie became very active in her beloved First Presbyterian Church, holding the honored position of the longest living member, serving as a Deacon, on the History and Archives Committee, Christian Fellowship Sunday School Class and t…
playlist_add
Oct 21, 2019
Gene Rainbolt
H.E. (Gene) Rainbolt acquired his first bank, the First American Bank in Purcell in 1962. In 1965 he acquired Federal National Bank in Shawnee, and two years later he and a group of investors began acquiring banks in Oklahoma, which led in 1985 to the formation of United Community Corporation, the State’s first multi-bank holding company. In 1989 BancFirst was founded, which is now the largest state-chartered bank in Oklahoma.
Gene Rainbolt was born and raised in a single-parent home during the Great Depression in Norman, Oklahoma, near the University of Oklahoma campus. He could have enjoyed a promising career in academia but instead left for Army service in Korea and Japan. He is best known for revolutionizing Oklahoma’s outdated and backward banking system, a feat that took nearly 30 years to achieve.
As Gene was building the largest state-chartered bank in Oklahoma he also helped dozens of overlooked-yet-promising children attend university while adopting a mission to create a…
playlist_add
Oct 17, 2019
George Matson "Golf Shop George"
For fifty-five years George Matson answered the phone at Southern Hills Country Club as “Golf Shop George”.
George painted houses in Ireland until 1955, by which time he had saved $400, enough for passage on the SS America to New York City and a train ticket to Tulsa, where an aunt had previously immigrated.
After placing a small ad in the Tulsa World he received a call from Southern Hills Country Club and began work as a maintenance man. In 1955 he was asked to work in the golf pro shop where he spent fifty-five years with the nick name “Golf Shop George.”
Six national championships produced many fans including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus.
While you can’t help but smile when Matson begins a story, there have been serious times, such as May 17, 1981. That’s when Matson heard the gun shots that killed business man Roger M. Wheeler. Matson was the first on the scene.
George had a simple philosophy—greet people with a smile and a handshake.
Matson’s…
playlist_add
Sep 26, 2019
Henry Kravis
Tulsa native Henry R. Kravis co-founded the global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and is the Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer. The firm pioneered the development of the management buyout. The Kravis name is embedded in Tulsa, Oklahoma history. Philbrook Museum of Art’s Kravis Wing was named in honor of Henry’s father, Raymond F. Kravis, and Gilcrease Museum houses the Kravis Discovery Center. Henry’s mother, Bessie Roberts Kravis, was founder of the Tulsa Urban League, a member of the Tulsa Jewish Federation, and a promoter of the arts. Raymond F. Kravis was an oil and gas consultant and philanthropist. He was a board member of the St. John Medical Center foundation and was on the executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America. Radio station KRAV FM was founded by his brother George Kravis, who died in February 2018. Drawing on the example of his parents, Henry Kravis is known as a major New York City philanthropist for several cultural and educational instit…
playlist_add
Sep 24, 2019
Wanda Jackson
Wanda Jackson was only halfway through high school when, in 1954, country singer Hank Thompson heard her on an Oklahoma City radio show and asked her to record with his band, the Brazos Valley Boys. By the end of the decade, Jackson had become one of America’s first major female country and rockabilly singers.
Jackson was born in Maud, Oklahoma, but her father Tom – himself a country singer who quit because of the Depression – moved the family to California in 1941. He bought Wanda her first guitar two years later, gave her lessons and encouraged her to play piano as well. In addition, he took her to see such acts as Tex Williams, Spade Cooley and Bob Wills, which left a lasting impression on her young mind. Tom moved the family back to Oklahoma City when his daughter was 12 years old. In 1952, she won a local talent contest and was given a 15-minute daily show on KLPR. The program, soon upped to 30 minutes, lasted throughout Jackson’s high-school years. It’s here that Thomp…
playlist_add
Sep 13, 2019
T. Boone Pickens
Hard work, intuition and the nerve to take a chance describe T. Boone Pickens. A household name to the nation, Pickens is first an Oklahoman. His story ranges from earning a penny a paper as a young boy to making millions, and then billions. And then major losses. Many counted him out. But Pickens was far from out.
His modest upbringing provided the background for a work ethic that turned his remaining investment funds of $3 million into $8 billion in profit in just a few years. In 2008 The Pickens Plan was announced, designed to break America’s dependency on foreign oil. Boone invested $62 million to get the attention of the nation. And in 2010, America and Boone are waiting for a national energy plan. Pickens’ gift to his alma mater, Oklahoma State University remains the largest donation to a university’s athletic program in collegiate history. His total contributions to OSU amount to more than $400 million. Major academic gifts have also been made to the school, particularly…
playlist_add
Sep 12, 2019
Dr Bruce Howell
Dr. Bruce Howell’s career as an educator began in a one room country school in Southwest Iowa when he was 18 years old. Over the next forty-two years he was a teacher, coach, Superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools twice, and Dean of the College of Education at the University of Tulsa.
During his first term at TPS from 1973-1976, he played a role in desegregation and developed magnet programs. During his second term, 1990-1993, he led in the passage of bond issues, decentralized administration for more site-based management, and established both the Mayo Demonstration School and Eisenhower International School.
In 1969 Bruce heard Tulsa Tribune publisher/editor and historian, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, make a history presentation that he never forgot. And so, upon retiring as an educator, he took up the role of historian for Northeast Oklahoma. His books include: 1806: Settling the Cherokee Nation, Pathfinders: 19th Century Pioneers of Cherokee Territory, and Cherokee Echoes: Tales of Nort…
playlist_add
Sep 3, 2019
Enoch Kelly Haney
The only full blood American Indian to serve in the Oklahoma Legislature, Enoch Kelly Haney was elected as a state legislator and a senator. He became the Vice Chair of Appropriations his second term in the House before becoming the Chairman of the Appropriations committee in the Oklahoma State Senate. After over twenty years in the state legislature from 1980 to 2002, Kelly became the Principal Chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma in 2005 and served a four-year term.
Kelly Haney is an internationally recognized artist who has exhibited throughout the United States, England, Austria, and Asia and has received the title of Master Artist of the Five Civilized Tribes. In addition to decades of success as a painter, Kelly became the creator of the 22-foot bronze sculpture, The Guardian, that was chosen to top the Oklahoma State Capitol Dome. He was also commissioned to create the Chickasaw Warrior at the Chickasaw Nation Headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma. This comes from an artist who was…
playlist_add
Aug 28, 2019
Wes Watkins
Congressman Wes Watkins was raised on a small cattle and peanut farm near Bennington in southeast Oklahoma. As a young boy, Watkins was involved in 4-H and FFA and later became state FFA president. Wes found time for leadership positions in school despite working three part-time jobs, playing basketball and baseball, and earning the title of salutatorian of his graduating class.
Wes’s determination and success followed him to Oklahoma State University, where he worked on the college farm and lived in a converted chicken house. Wes again showed his leadership skills as president of the OSU student body. He was an honor student and selected as the Outstanding Agriculture Senior. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Agricultural Education from Oklahoma State University.
In 1974, Wes was first elected to public office when he won a seat in the Oklahoma State Senate. Two years later, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He ran for governor in 1990 and 1994. I…
playlist_add
Aug 19, 2019
Wess Young
Wessley Hubert “Wess” Young Sr., was a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, World War II veteran and longtime Tulsa activist.
Wess was four years old in 1921, when he, his mother and older sister were told to run for cover during the devastation. His family lost everything in the Tulsa Race Massacre and lived in a camp at the fairgrounds for months. Since Wess was so young in May and June of 1921, his memory is filled with the stories told to him by his parents and relatives. Wess traveled around the country during his life speaking about the event.
Along with fellow survivors, Wess gave his personal account of the historic race massacre at a briefing before members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other leaders on Capitol hill, May 10, 2005, in Washington.
He was founder and first president of the Brady Heights Neighborhood Association, and served on numerous municipal boards, including ones involving city planning and criminal justice.
Wess was 93 years old, August 21, 2009, wh…
playlist_add
Aug 2, 2019
Jana Jae
Musical talent runs through the family of Jan Jae. Her parents studied at the famed Juilliard School of Music in New York, and Jana was introduced to the classical study of the violin, on an eighth-size instrument, at the age of two. Then, thanks to the direction and inspiration of her grandfather–an accomplished champion fiddler in his own right–Jana also learned to love playing by ear. She honed her skill of fiddling into a fine art and won the Ladies National Championship several times. She also continued her classical training, winning scholarships to Interlochen and the International String Congress. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in music and studied abroad at the Vienna Academy of Music.
Jana got her big break at a Buck Owens concert in Redding, California when she was invited to play “Orange Blossom Special.” Buck offered her a job as the first female member of his Buckaroos band. She later became part of the regular team of performers on the television sh…
playlist_add
Jul 18, 2019
Sam P Daniel
Longtime lawyer and nature preservationist Sam P. Daniel died July 14, 2019.
While living in Oklahoma City during his grade school days, Sam P. Daniel was a neighbor of Federal Judge Alfred P. Murrah. Sam’s parents traveled frequently, so he spent many nights at the Murrah home. Sam loved the judge like a father and decided at an early age to follow in his footsteps. It was the Alfred P Murrah federal building that was the target of the
Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995.
Sam graduated from the University of Oklahoma law school and eventually joined the law firm of Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson. Sam had more than 50 years of experience in matters of oil & gas law, family law and general civil litigation. He enjoyed fly-fishing and bird hunting for many years. His collection of 37 species of North American migratory waterfowl, each one hunted by Sam, is on display at Woolaroc Museum and Wildlife Preserve near Bartlesville. His many honors include the Nature Works Wildlif…
playlist_add
Jul 17, 2019
Astronaut Bill Pogue
As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the landing on the moon, Oklahomans should know that a young man who was born in Okemah, Oklahoma and grew up in Sand Springs was on the support crew for Apollo 11. The support crew maintained the flight plan, checklists and developed procedures for emergency situations for the prime and backup crews. The support crew consisted of Ken Mattingly, Ronald Evans and Bill Pogue. Bill Pogue was ten years old while standing in an Oklahoma cotton field when he observed a DC-2 fly over and at that moment he “got the urge to be a pilot”.
Of course, the prime crew for Apollo 11 consisted of the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, along with Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. In chapter nine of our oral history interview with Bill Pogue, Bill talked about his relationship with Neil Armstrong.
You can hear Bill’s story from his days in Sand Springs, to a combat tour in Korea, his life with the Thunderbirds and his selection to be on the support crews…
playlist_add
Jul 5, 2019
Phil Kennamer
In 1935, the American Justice system was on trial as much as Phil Kennamer, who was the son of a prominent federal judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Despite having a high-powered former state attorney general leading his defense, and prominent psychiatrists testifying that he was insane at the time of the murder, Phil Kennamer was convicted of manslaughter in the killing of his friend, John Gorrell Jr., shortly after Thanksgiving Day 1934. He was 19 when sentenced to 25 years in prison. Kennamer claimed to have killed in self defense and to protect the wealthy debutante Virginia Wilcox—the object of his affection. Virginia was the daughter of Tulsa oil man H.F. Wilcox. The murder took place in the Forest Hills residential area, the wealthiest part of the Oil Capital of the World, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Ford sedan of John Gorrell Jr., the son of prominent physician John Gorrell Sr., came to rest at the triangular median of Victor Avenue and Forest Boulevard. When a key witness in the murder was…
playlist_add
Jun 24, 2019
Blue Cross Blue Shield
The Oklahoma plan for Group Hospital Services of Oklahoma opened its doors in the Tulsa Loan building at 4th and Main, March 15, 1940. The plan would soon adopt the Blue Cross name and logo. The interest in pre-paid hospital care had actually started in 1929 with a group of 1,500 school teachers in Dallas who contracted with Baylor Medical Center. These plans evolved as a result of the Great Depression.
In 1939, Oklahoma doctors went to Dallas to investigate this new form of paying for health care costs. The following year, Group Hospital Services of Oklahoma was born. The state headquarters was established in Tulsa since it was the first Oklahoma city to come up with $5,000 in seed money. By the end of 1949, Blue Cross of Oklahoma membership stood at 300,000 individuals and Blue Shield membership had reached over 169,000.
For more history of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, you are invited to listen to two former Blue Cross Chief Executive Officers, Ralph Rhoades and Ron King, on Voices of O…
playlist_add
Jun 17, 2019
Judge Joe Morris
Judge Joe Morris was formerly Vice President and General Counsel of Shell Oil Company, General Counsel of Amerada Petroleum Corporation and Dean of the College of Law at the University of Tulsa where he taught arbitration law for more than twenty years as an Adjunct Professor of Law. He is a former United States District Court Chief Judge for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
Joe Morris has been with GableGotwals law firm in Tulsa for over thirty years. The last twenty years, he spent the majority of his time as an arbitrator in significant commercial arbitrations, both domestic and international. He is also a former regent of the State of Oklahoma’s higher education system.
Reared on the family farm, he rode his horse to the same country school his father attended, graduated from high school in Nickerson, Kansas, a junior college in Hutchinson, Kansas, Washburn University with a Bachelor of Administration, and a doctorate of Juris Prudence and a master of laws from Michigan Univer…
playlist_add
Jun 7, 2019
Jim Hewgley - Former Tulsa Mayor
Jim Hewgley Jr. was an independent oilman who served two terms as Tulsa’s mayor from 1966 to 1970. In his first mayoral-election victory, he defeated incumbent Mayor Jim Maxwell, who was seeking a fifth consecutive term. And Jim defeated Maxwell again in 1968. Hewgley had been a registered Democrat until 1956, when he became a Republican and was the first Tulsa Republican mayor to be reelected.
Hewgley was mayor when the city was governed by the Tulsa City Commission. Shortly after Hewgley’s election in 1966, the city doubled in area by annexing 100 square miles of county land. During his time as mayor, the city passed its first 1-cent sales tax and established the Port of Catoosa following the passage of a $20, million bond issue to fund it. He was also instrumental in the start of the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority and Tulsa Housing Authority.
After leaving city office, he ran in 1972 for Oklahoma’s U.S. House District 1 seat but lost to James R. Jones.
His son, Jim He…
playlist_add
May 31, 2019
Tulsa Race Massacre - Otis Clark
The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 is considered to be the worst race riot in U.S. history. The actual number of black citizens killed by local, white, militia men and others as a result of the riot was estimated by the Red Cross to be approximately 300. The circumstances leading up to the riot are in question. But late in the afternoon of May 30, 1921, a black teenager, Dick Rowland, used the elevator in the Drexel building in downtown Tulsa. As Dick Rowland exited the elevator, an employee of Renberg’s clothing store heard what was thought to be a scream. The clerk reached the conclusion that Sarah Page, the white elevator operator had been assaulted. Newspaper headlines supported the account and a race riot broke out on May 31, 1921.
Otis Clark was 19 years old on May 31, 1921. Otis was 106 years old at the time of this interview November 23, 2009. While not an eyewitness to the lynch mob–he and his friend were the target of rifle shots. He chose to leave Tulsa to escape the encam…
playlist_add
May 24, 2019
Bob & Diane Borlase
Bob and Diane Borlase’s service to our nation and to our state came in the form of the US Navy, the US Coast Guard, and the Oklahoma County sheriff’s office.
Bob enlisted in the Navy in 1952 during the Korean War. He was chief radioman using international Morse code as his ship patrolled the coast of Korea. In 1953 Bob and Diane had a one-week honeymoon before he was sent to the island of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands for a year’s worth of isolated duty.
Following the Navy, Bob worked while attending a technical school in downtown Detroit. One night he heard an advertisement on the radio which said if you were an ex-serviceman the Coast Guard could use you. By this time Bob and Diane were raising a family which had grown to three of ultimately five daughters in 1959.
So, in 1959 Bob joined the US Coast Guard with duties as a radioman on an ocean station near Honolulu. And then, during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Coast Guard played a vital role where Bob’s service was as a…
playlist_add
May 13, 2019
Dr Tom Coburn
Tom Coburn is a physician, a former congressman and senator from Oklahoma, and is a member of the Republican Party.
Coburn was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 as part of the Republican Revolution. He upheld his campaign pledge to serve no more than three consecutive terms and did not run for re-election in 2000. In 2004, he returned to political life with a successful run for the U.S. Senate. Coburn was re-elected to a second term in 2010 and pledged not to seek a third term in 2016. In January 2014, Coburn announced he would retire before the expiration of his final term.
After leaving Congress, Coburn worked with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research on its efforts to reform the Food and Drug Administration, becoming a senior fellow of the institute in December 2016. Coburn also serves as a senior advisor to Citizens for Self-Governance, where he has been active in calling for a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution.
playlist_add
May 8, 2019
Dr Mouzon Biggs
The Reverend Dr. Mouzon Biggs, Jr. came to Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in 1980 from Beaumont, Texas, where for seven years he was pastor of the Trinity United Methodist Church. He served Boston Ave. Methodist Church for thirty-three years, retiring in 2013 after fifty-four years in ministry.
A native of the Carthage, Texas oilfields, Rev. Biggs earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Centenary College of Louisiana and a Master of Divinity at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He also holds a Doctor of Divinity degree from Texas Wesleyan University and a Doctor of Humane Letters from Oklahoma City University.
Rev. Biggs led the development of an endowment fund to maintain Boston Avenue’s building. The structure was completed in 1929 and is a designated National Historic Landmark. Today, the endowment totals $26 million and has allowed the church to maintain its grounds and building—without requiring special finance campaigns. In 2004 the church completed a 38,000 squ…
playlist_add
Apr 22, 2019
Clara & Marilyn Luper - Oklahoma Lunch Counter Sit-Ins
In 1958, Clara Luper and her students from the Oklahoma City NAACP Youth Council were invited to New York City to perform the play she wrote, Brother President, about Martin Luther King Jr.
It was that trip that became the catalyst for the beginning of the sit-in movement in Oklahoma City and the country.
One of Clara’s students was her daughter Marilyn Luper Hildreth. It was seven-year-old Marilyn who in a meeting suggested the group go down to the Katz Drug store to order a Coke and some burgers. The date was August 19, 1958, and it became the nation’s first nonviolent lunch counter sit-in. On the third day, Katz staff served the group burgers and Cokes. The Katz chain soon ended its segregation policy in all thirty-eight of its stores in four states.
Adults were not used for the sit-in for fear of violence. But it was the thirteen children of the youth council ranging in age from seven to fifteen who endured insults, threats, and even spit from angry white customers.
Clara L…
playlist_add
Apr 6, 2019
Ken Trickey
After the death of basketball coach Ken Trickey in 2012, the Tulsa World called him “one of the most influential and colorful characters in this state’s basketball history”.
He played basketball at Middle Tennessee State College, where he was an Ohio Valley All-Conference player for three years. He is still one of the top ten scorers for Middle Tennessee and was elected to the university’s Sports Hall of Fame. He returned to Middle Tennessee and became the head basketball coach in 1964. Ken recruited the first African American athletes to play basketball at Middle Tennessee during the height of the Civil rights movement in the south.
In 1969, Ken was hired by Oral Roberts to coach the ORU Basketball team. He took ORU to the NCAA Final Eight as an independent in 1974. His ORU teams during that time also led the nation in scoring and made two NIT appearances in New York City. Upon leaving ORU in 1974, Ken coached at Colorado State University, Iowa State University, Claremore Ju…
playlist_add
Apr 5, 2019
Carson Attractions
Carson Attractions in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was the foremost ticket facility for events at the Maxwell Convention Center (now Cox Business Center) for over forty years. The story begins with the manager of famed Irish opera singer John Francis McCormack, who is given credit for the beginning of Carson Attractions in 1916. John McCormack was going out on tour for the first time in the United States and his manager wanted someone on the local scene to handle the promotion. The manager knew of Robert Boice Carson who was the music director at Kendall College (which later became the University of Tulsa). Robert Carson said, “We don’t know anything about presenting or promoting events,” and the manager said, “We will teach you.” Eventually, over the years, Robert and Beatrice Carson became involved in promoting many opera singers and choruses who were on tour. The events were held at Convention Hall, 105 West Brady, which became the Tulsa Municipal Theatre, and when the Mayo family bou…
playlist_add
Mar 7, 2019
Jim Halsey
The original star maker, legendary music impresario Dr. Jim Halsey has set the standard in the music industry for over 60 years. In his honored career, he has guided; and in many cases discovered – world famous household names such as The Oak Ridge Boys, Roy Clark, Hank Thompson, and Reba McEntire, to name but a few.
He founded The Jim Halsey Music Business Institute with educational programs at universities in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma. He continued to develop the program in Nashville and beyond, collecting and curating interviews and information from leaders throughout the entertainment and music business.
Halsey has represented and guided the careers as a manager or booking agent – for nearly thirty members of the Country Music Hall of Fame, of whom countless ACM, CMA, GRAMMYs and number one singles and platinum albums have been awarded.
In 1990, he sold his agency and founded the Jim Halsey Music Business Institute, wanting to focus on helping others pursue their dre…
playlist_add
Mar 4, 2019
Mike Samara
The son of Lebanese immigrants, Michael Samara was born in 1924 in Oklahoma City. He started working in restaurants for his brother, Jake, at the age of twelve. He managed the Jamboree Supper Club in Oklahoma City and moved to Joplin, Missouri, to open and manage Mickey Mantle’s Holiday Inn for six years.
Mike opened the Celebrity Club in Tulsa at a location which was then “way out east” at 31st and Yale Avenue in 1963.
Beyond the Celebrity Club, Mike owned or had an interest in the Hilton Habana Inn, Big Mike’s Hamburgers, Utica 21 Club, and Sleepy Hollow among others. He was also part of the team that brought the first Burger King fast-food restaurants to Tulsa.
In 1984, Mike successfully campaigned for Oklahoma to pass liquor-by-the-drink. The Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission issued Samara the state’s first permit for liquor by the drink on June 19, 1985.
Even though his eyesight was failing, he would continue to put on a suit and tie every evening and go…
playlist_add
Feb 26, 2019
Kenneth (Ken) Renberg
Born Günter Renberg on November 30, 1920 to Anna and Herman Renberg in Delmenhorst, a city in Northwest Germany, he immigrated to the United States in June 1937, leaving behind his parents and brother, because Jewish males were unsafe under the Nazi regime. Invited by his father’s sister, Ina Herzberg and her husband, Abraham and son, Leroy, he came to Enid, where he finished high school in 1939.
Ken’s departure from Nazi Germany came four years after Chancellor Adolf Hitler had taken power and ordered the boycott of stores owned by Jews in 1933, during which Renberg witnessed his father being forced to close his bicycle and sewing machine store.
He enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Division to “get back at Hitler”.
He settled in Tulsa, attended the University of Tulsa for a degree in petroleum engineering and eventually formed Lee Keeling and Associates in 1957.
He was nearly 98 when he died November 3, 2018.
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2018
Robert (Bob) Jones
Born in McAlester, Oklahoma, Robert (Bob) Lawton Jones received one of the more elaborate educations in modernist design. It started when he decided to head out to Chicago, reasoning that an aspiring architect should make his way to the “most exciting city in architecture.” In 1949, he studied at the University of Notre Dame in nearby South Bend, Indiana, while working for Chicago firms such as Perkins + Will.
In 1951, he began graduate school at the Illinois Institute of Technology, learning from the dean of “less is more,” Mies van der Rohe. And if that weren’t enough, he then earned a Fulbright scholarship and studied in Germany under Egon Eiermann, one of Germany’s most prominent postwar architects.
He came back to Tulsa in 1954 to design a civic center master plan. In 1957 he joined two local partners to open the architectural firm known as Murray Jones Murray. Their work includes the Cox Business Center, First National Bank Tower, Center Plaza Apartments, Bishop Kel…
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2018
LaDonna Harris
“What is it like to live in a tent?” asked Robert F. Kennedy’s five-year-old daughter, Kerry, when she met Ladonna Harris for the first time in 1965. This exchange between Harris and the Kennedy family resembled many of LaDonna’s experiences with the media, the public, and government leaders as she rose to national prominence as a leading advocate of Native American rights. LaDonna Harris is a Comanche Native American from Oklahoma. She founded the Americans for Indian Opportunity and was a vice presidential candidate for the Citizens Party in the United States presidential election in 1980 alongside Barry Commoner for president. LaDonna was given access to power in Washington, DC, because of her marriage to Oklahoma US Senator Fred Harris. To understand what took Harris from the poor farm community where she grew up to the national spotlight, it is necessary to listen to LaDonna talk about the formative years of her childhood.
In 2000, Harris published her autobiography, LaDo…
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2018
Bill Anoatubby
Governor Bill Anoatubby’s childhood was spent in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, where he graduated from Tishomingo High School in 1964. He attended Murray State College and graduated from East Central State College before serving in the Oklahoma National Guard. He began working for the Chickasaw Nation as director of tribal health services becoming lieutenant governor in 1979 and governor in 1987.
Governor Anoatubby has been instrumental in the development of numerous businesses owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation. Under his leadership, the tribe was the first to compact successfully for its own health system. Anoatubby has been a member leader of the inter-tribal council of the Five Civilized Tribes since 1978, remaining active in a wide range of organizations, including the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail Advisory Committee within the U.S. Department of the Interior. He is also the longtime chairman of the Native American Cultural a…
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2018
David Boren
David L. Boren has served Oklahoma as governor and U.S. Senator and became the thirteenth president of the University of Oklahoma. He is the first person in state history to have served in all three positions.
To begin his political career Boren served four terms in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His campaign for governor became known for the “Boren Broom Brigade” to demonstrate his pledge to “Sweep out the Old Guard.” At age 33, he was the youngest governor in the nation.
In 1979 he was elected to the U.S. Senate where he was the longest serving chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Boren led the way in organizing the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence which recognizes students and teachers and helps establish private local foundations.
Since his inauguration as president of the University of Oklahoma in 1994, he has initiated twenty major new programs while increasing the donor base from 18,000 to over 100,000 friends and alumni.
The Boren fami…
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2018
Oral Roberts
Granville Oral Roberts was an American Pentecostal televangelist. He was the founder of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Oral Roberts University. His ministries reached millions of followers worldwide for more than six decades.
Roberts was born in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, the fifth and youngest of Rev. Ellis Melvin Roberts and Claudia Priscilla Irwin.
Roberts began a life in poverty and nearly died of tuberculosis at age 17. After finishing high school, Roberts studied for two years each at Oklahoma Baptist University and Phillips University. In 1938 he married a preacher’s daughter, Evelyn Lutman Fahnestock.
Oral Roberts had a vast impact on the Protestant community. According to one authority, in conservative Protestant culture, his ministry had a worldwide impact second only to Billy Graham.
Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009)
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2018
L. Francis Rooney III
L. Francis Rooney III is the fourth generation of his family to own Manhattan Construction Company. Manhattan was founded by Laurence H. Rooney in Chandler, Oklahoma Territory, in 1896. As the first company to incorporate in 1907 in the new state of Oklahoma, Manhattan played an important role in building the Southwest. Manhattan Construction, headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has built Cowboy Stadium in Texas, the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center at the United States Capitol, the Oklahoma State Capitol, the George Bush Presidential Library, and the George W. Bush Presidential Library. Manhattan is the only construction company to work on two presidential libraries.
Francis Rooney is a former United States Ambassador to the Holy See having served from 2005-2008.
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2018
Johnny Bench
Johnny Lee Bench was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on December 7, 1947 and grew up in the small town of Binger, Oklahoma. His childhood dream was to become a major league baseball player and, under the guidance of his father, decided that the position of catcher was the most direct route to the majors. Taking that advice, he was selected and signed in the 1965 amateur draft by the Cincinnati Reds. After two seasons in the minors, Bench made Cincinnati’s Major League roster for the 1968 season. This marked the beginning of one of the most successful careers in baseball history.
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in January 1989, Bench is considered “Baseball’s Greatest Catcher” and was named the starter behind the plate of the All-Century Team. His successes include National League Rookie of the Year (1968), National League Most Valuable Players (1970, 72), back-to-back World Series Championships with the Big Red Machine (1975, 76), World Series MVP (1976), 14-time All-Star…
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2018
Lynn Schusterman
Lynn Schusterman was born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in Oklahoma City. She first learned about philanthropy from her father. As she listened and watched him she was impressed with the importance of helping others help themselves. Lynn is the widow of Charles Schusterman, founder of Samson Investment Company, a Tulsa gas exploration and production company. Charles died in 2000, at the age of 65, from complications of leukemia.
Lynn Schusterman is chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation headquartered in Tulsa with offices in Washington, D.C. Through the Foundation as well as personal endeavors she has become a world-renowned advocate for the Jewish community.
Founded by the Schusterman couple in 1987, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation is dedicated to advancing causes important to the Jewish people by supporting programs throughout the world that spread the joy of their culture, heritage, and values. With…
playlist_add
Nov 30, 2018
Roy Clark
The son of two amateur musicians, Roy Clark began playing banjo, guitar, and mandolin at an early age. By the time he was 14, he was playing guitar behind his father at local dances. Within a few years, he won two National Banjo Championships–with his second win earning him an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry.
In the 1970s, Roy symbolized country music in the U.S. and abroad. Between guest hosting for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show and performing to packed houses throughout the United States, he sold out 18 concerts in the Soviet Union. Roy used his talent to bring country music into homes around the world. As one of the hosts of TV’s Hee Haw for more than 20 years, he picked, sang, and offered “country corn” to 30 million people weekly.
Among his many vocal hits are “Yesterday, When I Was Young, “Thank God and Greyhound” and “Wichita Lineman.” Instrumentally, he won awards for both guitar and banjo. He became an Oklahoman in 1974 and four years later an elementa…
playlist_add
Sep 27, 2018
James L. Gallogly - University of Oklahoma President
Jim Gallogly is the fourteenth president of the University of Oklahoma. He is a 1977 alumnus of the OU College of Law, and is the first CEO from a Fortune 500 company to lead the University.
Jim was former chairman and chief executive officer of LyondellBasell, a company he joined while it was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He and his team guided the company out of bankruptcy in record time and successfully repositioned it as one of the world’s largest petrochemical, polymers, and refining companies. He also served for twenty-nine years in executive roles with ConocoPhillips, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, and Phillips Petroleum Company, beginning his career in the energy business in Northeast Oklahoma with Phillips in 1980. Prior to that, Gallogly practiced law with a private firm in Denver, Colorado.
The Gallogly Family Foundation has been a major benefactor for which the OU Gallogly College of Engineering and Gallogly Hall are named. The Foundation chose the OU College of Law as…
playlist_add
Aug 9, 2018
Steve Ripley - The Tractors
Steve Ripley grew up in Oklahoma graduating from Glencoe High School and Oklahoma State University. He went on to become a recording artist, record producer, songwriter, studio engineer, guitarist, and inventor. Steve worked with Bob Dylan, playing guitar on the Shot of Love album and on the Shot of Love tour. Dylan listed Ripley as one of his favorite guitarists.
The term Red Dirt was first used by Ripley’s band Moses when the group chose the label name Red Dirt Records. Steve founded Ripley Guitars in Burbank, California, creating guitars for musicians like Ry Cooder, J.J. Cale, and Eddie Van Halen. In 1987, Steve moved to Tulsa to buy Leon Russell’s recording studio called The Church Studio. He formed the country band The Tractors and was the co-writer of the country hit “Baby Likes to Rock It.” The first Tractors album sold over two million copies.
Steve Ripley was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Awards Red Dirt Hall of Fame along with Bob Childers and Tom Skinner.
Ripl…
playlist_add