1. Catherine Ann "Kate" Barnard was the first woman to be elected as a state official in Oklahoma, and the eleventh woman to be elected to a statewide public office in the United States, in 1907.
14 Facts About Kate Barnard
1. 2.
Kate Barnard served as the first Oklahoma Commissioner of Charities and Corrections for two four-year terms, the only position that the 1907 Oklahoma Constitution permitted a woman to hold.
3.
Kate Barnard's mother died when she was two and the family was living in Kansas.
4.
Kate Barnard was raised by relatives until 1891, when she moved to Newalla, Oklahoma, where her father, a jack-of-all-trades, had a land claim.
5.
Kate Barnard lived alone on the claim for two years while he lived and worked in Oklahoma City.
6.
Kate Barnard moved to Oklahoma City in 1895, attended St Joseph's Academy, obtained a teaching certificate, and taught until 1902.
7.
Kate Barnard was exposed to big-city slum life, crime and other related social ills.
8.
Kate Barnard participated in the Farm-Labor meetings of 1906 in Shawnee which drafted the "Shawnee Demands" that later formed the basis of the soon-to-be-drafted Oklahoma state constitution.
9.
Kate Barnard was an advocate for working Oklahomans through the work she did in securing legislation aimed at eradicating unsafe working conditions and the blacklist of union members.
10.
Kate Barnard was one of the few public officials who dared to cry out against the abuse of Native American children.
11.
Kate Barnard relied on her stirring speeches to reach the public and convince the political powers of the need for increased federal protection for all Five Tribes' members.
12.
Kate Barnard was featured as an anti-suffragist in Good Housekeeping who discussed her work uncovering the abuses of Oklahoma prisoners.
13.
Kate Barnard was buried in Oklahoma City, but today a bronze statue of her is on display on the first floor of the Oklahoma State Capitol.
14.
Kate Barnard was inducted in the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 1982.