Inaugural Impressions
Janna Little Boren Robbins (1944–98)
Janna Lou Little was born on November 30, 1944, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She was raised in Madill, Oklahoma, by Reuel and Oteka Little. Her parents established a summer camp and foundation for children who were born deaf or with cleft palates to support her younger brother, Charles “Jack” Little. Janna attended Hockaday School, a private all-girls boarding school in Dallas, Texas, before graduating from Boston University in 1967 with a degree in communications. She moved to Oklahoma City to work in television.
Janna married David Lyle Boren shortly after he had graduated from law school at the University of Oklahoma. The couple lived in Seminole, where David had a private law practice and taught at Oklahoma Baptist University. Janna worked as a French and English teacher. The couple had two children, Dan and Carrie. David served four terms in the Oklahoma House of Representatives before being elected governor in 1974.
Janna played a key role in her husband’s campaign by leading “Boren’s Broom Brigade.” The group traveled to campaign events across the state, selling brooms to supporters as a symbol of David’s pledge to clean up state government and implement reforms. As First Lady, Janna advocated for youth and helped raise funds for organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the March of Dimes.
Janna filed for divorce nine months after David’s inauguration in 1975, citing irreconcilable differences. She married John Clinton Robbins in 1976 and moved to Longview, Texas. In 1996, at age 51, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She died two years later, on May 25, 1998. She is buried in Memory Park Cemetery in Longview.
Janna Little Boren Robbins, 1975
(2012.201.B1092.0255, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS)
