The Oklahoma Hall of Fame was founded in 1927 by Anna B. Korn to officially celebrate Statehood Day, recognize Oklahomans dedicated to their communities, and provide educational programming for all ages. The first Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony was held the next year, inducting the first two members into the hall of fame. In the 1970s, the

Hefner Mansion The Robert A. Hefner Mansion is a historic residence in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Built in 1917, from 1927 it was home to lawyer, Oklahoma City mayor, and Oklahoma Supreme Court justice Robert A. Hefner. It is located at 201 Northwest Fourteenth Stre ...

was donated to the association to house the exhibits and busts or portraits of the inductees, and the organization changed its name to the Oklahoma Heritage Association in 1971. It then moved into the former

Mid-Continent Life Insurance building The Mid-Continent Life Building is a historic building at 1400 Classen Drive in Heritage Hills, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was built by Col. R.T. Stuart, who was the founder of the Mid-Continent Life Insurance Co to house his company and was desig ...

in Oklahoma City in 2007 and opened the Gaylord-Pickens Museum with interactive exhibits. In 2015, the organization changed its name for the final time to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, in order to better represent the goals and mission of the organization. To be eligible for induction, an individual must satisfy the following criteria: * Reside in Oklahoma or be a former resident of the state. * Have performed outstanding service to humanity, the State of Oklahoma and the United States. * Be known for their public service throughout the state. In 2000, the rules were changed to allow for posthumous nominations. Portraits of the inductees can be seen at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

. As of 2020, 714 members have been inducted since 1928, with more inducted annually.

Notable inductees

* Jack Abernathy, United States Marshal * Carl Albert, member of U. S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma (1947–1977);

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

(1971–1977) * Bill Anoatubby, Chickasaw Nation governor * C.R. Anthony, businessman *

Hannah Atkins Hannah Diggs Atkins (November 1, 1923 – June 17, 2010) was the member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives for the 97th district from 1968 to 1980, and the first African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. She w ...

, Oklahoma State Representative *

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

, singer and actor inducted as an entrepreneur *

Dewey F. Bartlett Dewey Follett Bartlett Sr. (March 28, 1919 – March 1, 1979) was an American politician who served as the 19th governor of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1971, following his fellow Republican, Henry Bellmon. In 1966, he became the first Roman Cat ...

, Governor of Oklahoma (1967–1971) * Page Belcher, politician *

Henry Bellmon Henry Louis Bellmon (September 3, 1921 – September 29, 2009) was an American Republican politician from the U.S. State of Oklahoma. A member of the Oklahoma Legislature, he went on to become both the 18th and 23rd governor of Oklahoma, ...

, politician *

Johnny Bench John Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from through , with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of t ...

, baseball player * Clay Bennett, businessman *

Henry G. Bennett Henry G. Bennett (December 14, 1886 – December 22, 1951) was a prominent educational figure in Oklahoma. He served as the president of both Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma State University. He was appointed by President Harr ...

, educator *

George S. Benson George Stuart Benson (September 26, 1898—December 15, 1991) was an American missionary, college administrator, and conservative political activist. After fleeing communist uprisings in China as a missionary, Benson became an anticommunist and c ...

, missionary * James E. Berry, politician * William Bizzell, educator * G. T. Blankenship, Oklahoma State Representative *

David L. Boren David Lyle Boren (born April 21, 1941) is a retired American lawyer and politician from the state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as 21st governor of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1979 and three terms in the United States Senate ...

, Oklahoma Governor *

Lyle Boren Lyle Hagler Boren (May 11, 1909 – July 2, 1992) was a U.S. Democratic Party politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma, serving from 1937 to 1947 and was defeated for renomination in the 1946 election. ...

, politician *

David Ross Boyd David Ross Boyd (July 31, 1853 – November 17, 1936) was an American educator and the first president of the University of Oklahoma. Boyd was born in Coshocton, Ohio, and obtained a doctorate degree from the small College of Wooster, where he w ...

, educator *

Bill Bright William R. Bright (October 19, 1921 – July 19, 2003) was an American evangelist. In 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles he founded Campus Crusade for Christ as a ministry for university students. In 1952 he wrote The Four Spir ...

, evangelist *

Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including " Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was t ...

, Miss Oklahoma * Admiral Joseph Clark. World War II admiral * Woodrow Wilson (Woody) Crumbo. Native American artist * F. Hiner Dale, judge * Angie Debo, author *

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball f ...

, NBA player * Rachel Caroline Eaton, believed to be the first Oklahoma Native American woman to get her Ph.D. * Gary England, meteorologist *

General Tommy Franks Tommy Ray Franks (born 17 June 1945) is a retired general in the United States Army. His last army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States military operations in a 25-country region, including the ...

, Iraq War general *

John Hope Franklin John Hope Franklin (January 2, 1915 – March 25, 2009) was an American historian of the United States and former president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Histo ...

, historian *

Gray Frederickson Gray Frederickson (July 21, 1937 – November 20, 2022) was an American film producer. Frequent collaborators and history Frederickson was a long-time producer for Francis Ford Coppola and worked out of a studio alongside Greg Mellott out of Ok ...

, Academy Award- and Emmy-winning producer * Rev. Gregory Gerrer, OSB, artist, museum founder *

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

, singer * Sylvan Goldman, inventor of the

shopping cart A shopping cart (American English), trolley (British English, Australian English), or buggy (Southern American English, Appalachian English), also known by a variety of other names, is a wheeled cart supplied by a shop or store, especi ...

* Thomas Gore, first U.S. senator from Oklahoma (1907–1921) *

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspire ...

, singer, songwriter and musician * Harold Hamm, CEO of the oil company

Continental Resources Continental Resources, Inc. is a petroleum and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Oklahoma City. The company was founded by Harold Hamm in 1967 at the age of 21 as Shelly Dean Oil Company, originally named for Hamm's ...

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

, radio commentator * Lillian Gallup Haskell, inaugural First Lady of the state *

Henry Iba Henry Payne Iba (; August 6, 1904 – January 15, 1993) was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Northwest Missouri St ...

, basketball coach * William S. Key, decorated veteran of both World Wars; Major general in the Oklahoma National Guard and Warden of

Oklahoma State Penitentiary The Oklahoma State Penitentiary, nicknamed "Big Mac", is a prison of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections located in McAlester, Oklahoma, on . Opened in 1908 with 50 inmates in makeshift facilities, today the prison holds more than 750 male of ...

* Patience Latting, first woman to serve as Mayor of Oklahoma City and any U.S. city with more than 350,000 people; inducted in 1980. *

Eugene Lorton Eugene Lorton (1869-1949) was the long-time editor and publisher of the ''Tulsa World'' newspaper. Born in Missouri, he moved to Tulsa in 1911, where he bought a minority interest in the ''Tulsa World''. Within six years, he owned the newspaper ou ...

, longtime editor and publisher of the

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 20 ...

* Tom Love, owner, founder, and chairman of

Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, doing business as Love's (or stylized as Loves), is an American family-owned chain of more than 500 truck stop and convenience stores in 41 states in the United States. The company is privately owned and hea ...

* Wilma Mankiller, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation (1985–1995) *

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

, baseball player *

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

, singer * Clem McSpadden, politician and rodeo announcer * Augusta Metcalfe, artist *

James C. Nance James Clark "Jim" Nance (August 27, 1893 – September 3, 1984) was a leader for 40 years in the Oklahoma Legislature in the U.S. state of Oklahoma and was community newspaper chain publisher 66 years. Nance served as Speaker of the Oklahoma H ...

, Oklahoma community newspaper chain publisher and former

Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives The Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Oklahoma Legislature, the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The speaker exercises administrative and procedural functions, but remains a rep ...

President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate The President ''pro tempore'' of the Oklahoma Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the Oklahoma Senate and the highest-ranking state senator. The Oklahoma Constitution designates the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma as the highest-ran ...

and member

Uniform Law Commission The Uniform Law Commission (ULC), also called the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, is a non-profit, American unincorporated association. Established in 1892, the ULC aims to provide U.S. states (plus the District of C ...

* Jens Rud Nielsen, physicist *

Robert L. Owen Robert Latham Owen Jr. (February 2, 1856July 19, 1947) was one of the first two U.S. senators from Oklahoma. He served in the Senate between 1907 and 1925. Born into affluent circumstances in antebellum Lynchburg, Virginia, the son of a railr ...

, U. S. Senator from Oklahoma *

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female ar ...

, singer * Frank Phillips, oilman and philanthropist * Waite Phillips, businessman and philanthropist * T. Boone Pickens, oilman and entrepreneur *

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahom ...

, humorist *

Charles Schusterman Charles Schusterman (1935–2000) was a Tulsa American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Samson Investment Company, a privately owned oil and gas company with oil field investments in the United States, Canada, Venezuela an ...

, businessman and philanthropist. * Nan Sheets, painter and museum director *

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

, singer * Warren Spahn, baseball player * Barry Switzer, college football coach * Steven W. Taylor, Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice * Joseph B. Thoburn, scholar of Oklahoma history *

Elmer Thomas John William Elmer Thomas (September 8, 1876 – September 19, 1965) was a native of Indiana who moved to Oklahoma Territory in 1901, where he practiced law in Lawton. After statehood, he was elected to the first state senate, representing the L ...

, U. S. Congressman and Senator from Oklahoma *

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...

, athlete * Sharen Jester Turney, American Businesswoman *

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single " Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bil ...

, singer *

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as ...

, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts *

Russell Westbrook Russell Westbrook III (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, he is a nine-time NBA All-Star an ...

, NBA player * Alma Wilson, first woman Oklahoma Supreme Court justice and chief justice *

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King), ...

, actor

References

External links

* {{Coord, 35, 29, 00, N, 97, 31, 34, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-OK Halls of fame in Oklahoma Oklahoma A Awards established in 1927 1927 establishments in Oklahoma