Inaugural Impressions
Donna Skinner Nigh (1933–)
Donna Faye Skinner was born on March 8, 1933, in Morris, Oklahoma, to Raphael and Gertha Skinner. She spent her childhood in south Oklahoma City. Her father operated several small businesses, including a restaurant and grocery store. She attended Capitol Hill High School, where she was a twirler in the marching band and played saxophone, graduating in 1951.
Donna was working as a ticket agent in the Skirvin Hotel for Trans World Airlines when she met George Patterson Nigh. George had served multiple terms in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and one term as lieutenant governor. The couple married in 1963. Donna recalled that George did not have a full-time job and was in debt from his last campaign at the time of their wedding. She had one son, Berry, from a previous marriage. Donna and George went on to have a daughter, Georgeann.
George was elected governor of Oklahoma in 1978 and was reelected in 1982. Donna often traveled on behalf of her husband during campaigns. She was also instrumental in her support of improving services for Oklahomans with developmental disabilities. Working with legislators and staff from the Department of Human Services, she championed legislation to fund the creation of group homes for developmentally disabled persons in Oklahoma. By 1985, the Donna Nigh Foundation was formed. The foundation continues to award grants to help developmentally disabled persons be as self-sufficient as possible. Donna’s support for the arts was also well-known, having created an Inaugural Arts Gala during her husband’s first inauguration.
Donna continued to lead a life of service after leaving the Governor’s Mansion. She has served on the boards of numerous organizations. President William J. Clinton appointed her to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities in 1997. She served as First Lady of the University of Central Oklahoma from 1992 to 1997. The university is home to an art gallery named in her honor. The university’s Department of Special Education is also named in her honor. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2008.
Donna Skinner Nigh, 1983
(2012.201.B0935.0793, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS)
