Catherine Ann (Kate) Barnard

Kate Barnard was born in Geneva, Nebraska, on May 23, 1875, and lost her mother at two. In 1891 she came to her father's land claim at Newalla in Oklahoma Territory and lived on it alone for two years, then moved to Oklahoma City, studied at St. Joseph's Academy and taught school until 1902. The turn came in 1904, when she was picked from about 500 applicants to be a territorial hostess at the St. Louis World's Fair and met Jane Addams. A bronze statue of her now stands in the State Capitol.

What the plaque says

Catherine Ann (Kate) Barnard (1875-1930) On this site social reformer Kate Barnard was the only woman invited to address the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention (1906-1907). "Kate's planks" prohibited child labor, enacted a compulsory education law, and created the office of Commissioner of Charities and Corrections, to which she was elected in November 1907. She was the first woman in Oklahoma elected to state office, eleven years before women won the right to vote in the state. Thus began her celebrated career as a fiery political activist and elected official of great moral courage. Serving two terms (1907-1915), she was responsible for inspecting more than 300 hospitals, orphanages, and correctional institutions. Known nationally as "The Good Angel of Oklahoma," Barnard created legislation for compulsory education and a juvenile justice system. The press, populace, and politicians turned against Barnard when she used the weight of her office to defend the estates of wealthy Indian orphans from graft. The legislature cut funding and staff for her office, destroying her political career and driving her into seclusion. Barnard died alone on February 23, 1930, in an Oklahoma City hotel. She famously said, "A child is the state's greatest resource," and left a legacy of heroic help for Oklahoma's poor, hospitalized, incarcerated, and helpless. Oklahoma Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Oklahoma Territorial Museum and Carnegie Library — 0.4 mi
  The 1902 Carnegie Library in Guthrie where Oklahoma's statehood was proclaimed in 1907, saved from demolition in 1972 by adding a museum of the seventeen territorial years beside it.

More markers nearby

• Birthplace of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in Oklahoma — 0.3 mi
• Mulhall — 13 mi
• Central State College — 16 mi
• Washington Irving's Camp — 16 mi