Inaugural Impressions
Lyde (Lydie) Roberts Marland (1900–87)
Lyde Miller Roberts was born in April 1900 in Flourtown, Pennsylvania, to George and Margaret Roberts. She had one older brother, George, and a younger brother and sister, Marland and Virginia. Her parents were poor, but her aunt, Mary Virginia Collins, married Ernest Whitworth (E. W.) Marland, who became wealthy after striking oil near Ponca City, Oklahoma. Mary and E. W. did not have any children. They adopted Lyde (who also went by Lydie) and George. The children moved to Ponca City, where Marland based his oil business.
Mary died of pneumonia in 1926. Two years later, E. W. had Lyde’s adoption annulled, and they married. Lyde was 28 at the time, while E. W. was almost twice her age. E. W. lost much of his fortune in a merger that same year. He was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1932. In 1934, he was elected governor of Oklahoma.
Lyde was reported to be the youngest first lady in state history when her husband assumed office in January 1935. His inauguration included a grand party at the Governor’s Mansion and Capitol. Otherwise, Lyde largely refrained from participating in social events and rarely visited E. W. at his office. The couple returned to Ponca City after E. W. left office in 1939.
E. W. sold his mansion in Ponca City after failing to rebuild his oil business. He died on October 3, 1941. Lyde resided in a cottage on the property until 1953 when she loaded a Studebaker with valuables and left Ponca City without contacting friends or family. Journalists ran articles asking if anyone had seen her, and sightings were reported in cities ranging from San Francisco, California, to Washington, DC. She returned to Ponca City in 1975 and died twelve years later, on July 5, 1987. She is buried in Ponca City.
Lyde Roberts Marland
(2012.201.B0382.0687, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS)
