1923–2011
Clara Luper received her bachelor's degree from Langston University in 1944 and her master's degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1951, becoming the first Black graduate student in the OU History program. Luper went on to become the adviser for the Oklahoma City NAACP Youth Council. The Youth Council staged a "sit-in" at Oklahoma City's Katz drugstore in 1958, launching a national sit-in movement to demonstrate against segregation. She continued her non-violent activism, participating in marches, demonstrations and was jailed numerous times for her Civil Rights work.
Former Gov. Mary Fallin
1957–
Mary Fallin became Oklahoma's first female governor when she took office on January 10, 2011. Fallin also made history as the first woman to be elected lieutenant governor of Oklahoma, a position she served in from 1995-2007. She was then elected to the 110th Congress, which was only the second time a woman had represented Oklahoma in Congress. When Fallin took office, it had been 84 years since Alice Mary Robertson served as Oklahoma's first congresswoman. Fallin served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011.