Press Release
May 10, 2018
Contact: Larry O’Dell
Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-6676
lodell@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org
2018 Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame Honorees Announced
OKLAHOMA CITY — Billie Fogarty, chair of the 2018 Oklahoma History Conference Committee, announced at the conference that four individuals were inducted into the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony took place during the Oklahoma Historical Society’s annual Awards Luncheon at the Oklahoma History Conference in Oklahoma City. The conference celebrated the Oklahoma Historical Society’s 125th anniversary. The honorees were Dr. Henrietta Mann, Weatherford, Okla.; Bill Moore, Oklahoma City; Sandra Stratton, Lubbock, Texas; and Dr. Nudie Williams, deceased.
Dr. Henrietta Mann, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes, earned her doctorate at the University of New Mexico after studying at Southwestern Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma State University. She taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, the University of Montana, and served as the first endowed chair in Native American Studies at Montana State University. In 1991 she won the Eugene M. Kayden Award for Best Manuscript in Humanities for “Cheyenne-Arapahoe Education: 1871–1982.” Dr. Mann has been honored with numerous awards, including the National Indian Education Achievement Award in 2008.
Bill Moore earned his master’s degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Oklahoma. He wrote and produced several video documentaries on Arthur Ramsey, General Thomas Stafford and Wiley Post that aired on Oklahoma Public Television. In 1999 the Oklahoma Historical Society hired Moore. He then focused on the audio-video elements for the newly funded Oklahoma History Center. He also produced a weekly television show on KSBI titled “Yesterday with the Oklahoma Historical Society.” Moore has written several books, including “Norick: The Mayors of Oklahoma City,” “The Oklahoma Aviation Story” and “Oklahomans and Space.”
Sandra Stratton attained her master’s degree from Central State College (now the University of Central Oklahoma). She began her Oklahoma Historical Society career in the State Historic Preservation Office before eventually becoming the director of the Guthrie Museum Complex. In 1993 she became the director of the Route 66 transportation project that created the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Okla. As the OHS director of special projects she served as a key contributor to the fundraising and planning for the Oklahoma History Center.
Dr. Nudie Williams earned his doctorate at the Oklahoma State University, where he became the third African American to earn this degree. He joined the staff of the University of Arkansas history department. There he created and chaired the university’s first African American Studies program. He contributed many articles on Oklahoma’s African American history to the region’s scholarly journals. In 1984 he was a Fulbright Fellow to West Africa and in 1988 he was a Ford Foundation Fellow in Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. In 2003 Dr. Williams died in Springdale, Arkansas.
Since 1993 the Oklahoma Historical Society has honored individuals annually in its Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame. Recipients are selected on the basis of their contributions to the preservation, collection, interpretation and dissemination of Oklahoma history. Members are inducted at the Oklahoma Historical Society’s annual Awards Luncheon, which is part of the Oklahoma History Conference. To date, 103 historians have been inducted into the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame.
The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.
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