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Born on August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York, Lucille Ball got her start as a singer, model, and film star, before becoming one of America’s top comedic actresses with the 1950s TV show I Love Lucy, costarring on the show with her husband Desi Arnaz. Making its debut on October 15, 1951, the show was an immediate success and set the stage for a generation of family-related sitcoms to come. Lucy’s groundbreaking work and comedy paved the way for future stars such as Mary Tyler Moore, Penny Marshall, Cybill Shepherd, and even Robin Williams. For four of its seasons the sitcom was the number one show in the country. In 1953, the program captured an unheard of 67.3 audience share, which included a 71.1 rating for the episode that featured Little Ricky’s birth, a turnout that surpassed the television audience for President Eisenhower’s inauguration ceremonies. Our storyteller is Oklahoman Wanda Clark who moved to California from Oklahoma City and eventually became a special assistant to Lucille Ball for twenty-eight years. Another Oklahoma history preserved by VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/clark-wanda/

One of Oklahoma’s most creative native sons is Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie. Born in Okemah, Oklahoma July 14th, 1912, he became an American singer, songwriter and folk musician. He wrote more than 1,000 songs. This Land Is Your Land is his best-known song. He was also a writer of numerous essays, articles, poems and hundreds of letters. He also wrote two autobiographical novels. Many of his songs are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era, earning him the nickname the Dust Bowl Troubadour. He traveled with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California and learned traditional folk and blues songs. Oklahoma’s state folk song is Oklahoma Hills, written by Woody Guthrie. Many books and papers have been written about Woody Guthrie’s life, but now you will be given a view of Woody Guthrie through the eyes of his daughter Nora as she talks about her famous father. We would like to thank our Founding Sponsors for making this oral history story available on VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/guthrie-woody/

For more than 10 years, Walt Helmerich and I would have monthly lunches that would last a couple of hours. During these lunches, Walt would tell me great stories from his life. I would tell him that he should put these stories in a book, which he chose not to do. So I suggested that we should at least record these stories and so we did. I then thought people would enjoy hearing them because he is a good storyteller. I asked him what he would think of putting his voice and other Oklahoma voices on an oral history website that would be targeted toward students and the general public. Of course, he said, “I think that would be a good idea.” I then asked him to encourage his friend Henry Zarrow to record his life story. Henry agreed and thus this Oklahoma oral history website, VoicesofOklahoma.com was born. In addition, Walt became an investor in the idea. Other foundations joined him in becoming our Founding Sponsors, even before the website was built. Our recording sessions took place in December 2008 and spring 2009, when Walt was 85 and 86 years old. Now you and I can listen to the voice of Walter Hugo Helmerich III, a very successful, interesting man who has done so much for Tulsa and our state, on VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/helmerich-walter/

As a champion for public education, Frank C. Robson founded the Claremore Public Schools Foundation and has encouraged the formation and growth of school foundations state-wide. A long-time supporter of Claremore Public Schools, Frank and his wife, Ludmila, gave eight million dollars to help construct a performing arts center for the district, and another three million toward an endowment for staffing and maintenance of the facility. The owner of Robson Properties, Frank is a member and past chairman of the Board of Directors for RCB Bank. He is also involved in cattle ranching for beef production. His many civic duties include serving on the Executive Board of Boy Scouts of America, Indian Nations Council. Robson was presented the OSU Graduate of Distinction Award, and has been inducted into the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame. The Frank Robson interview is made available through the generous donations of foundations, individuals, and the University of Tulsa, who believe in preserving Oklahoma’s legacy one voice at a time. On VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/robson-frank/

Tulsa, Oklahoma was originally part of Indian Territory and was first settled in 1836 by the Loachapoka people of the Creek tribe. They established a home under the Creek Council Oak Tree at the present day intersection of Cheyenne Avenue and 18th Street, and named their new settlement Tallasi, meaning “old town” in the Creek language, which later became “Tulsa”. In 1846, Lewis Perryman built a log cabin trading post near what is now 33rd Street and South Rockford Avenue. In 1879 the first Tulsa post office opened on a ranch belonging to one of Lewis’ sons, Josiah Chouteau Perryman. By this time the area was known as “Tulsey Town” and had grown to be a trading post and cattle town. The Frisco Railroad expanded its line to connect with the cattle market in 1882. George Perryman convinced surveyors that the Frisco line should end within the Creek nation, and so the stake marking the end of the line was placed where the Union Depot stands today. George and Rachel Perryman’s son Mose is the grandfather of Monetta Trepp. In this oral history Monetta and her son Robert Trepp share stories of the Creek Nation and the Perryman family. The interview was conducted September 9, 2010 in the Perryman Ranch home at 115th and South Elwood on the Creek allotment of Mose S. Perryman. Monetta Delores Johnson Trepp was 89 when she died April 26, 2013. Listen to the story of the relationship between the Creek nation and Tulsa on the oral history website VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/perryman-family/

S&H Green Stamps were trading stamps popular in the United States from the 1930s until the late 1980s. They were distributed as part of a rewards program operated by the Sperry & Hutchinson Company, founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelley Byron Hutchinson. During the 1960s, the rewards catalog printed by the company was the largest publication in the United States and the company issued three times as many stamps as the U.S. Postal Service. Customers would receive stamps at the checkout counter of supermarkets, department stores and gasoline stations among other retailers, which could be redeemed for products in the catalog. But did you know the stamps were printed in Sand Springs, Oklahoma? Oklahoma businessman Carl Willis, an executive with the Allied Stamp Corporation is our storyteller. Another story brought to you by foundations and individuals who believe in preserving Oklahoma’s legacy one voice at a time on VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/willis-carl/

While Charles Faudree was known worldwide, he was a Tulsa-based interior designer and philanthropist. He was best known as an expert in French country décor and kept a shopping studio in Tulsa’s Cherry Street district. Over his 35 year career, he worked with clients worldwide and saw his work featured in various books and magazines. A native of Muskogee, Faudree graduated from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah with an art degree. And from there, attended Kansas City Art Institute. He would go on to teach art and sell home furnishings living in Dallas for several years. In late 1977, he moved back to Muskogee and opened a design studio and antique shop. Within a few years, Faudree was building an impressive list of clients from across the U.S. and Europe and his designs were appearing in such magazines as House Beautiful, Southern Living, Traditional Homes, and House & Garden as well as a number of decorating books. Faudree wrote five books on design. His first in 2003, “Charles Faudree’s Country French Signature.” In 2008, Faudree created his own fabric line, a first for him, collaborating with Tulsa-based textile brand Vervain, a noted philanthropist as well. Faudree was the guest of honor in March 2013 at Tulsa CARES’ 15th annual Red Ribbon Gala which supports people affected by HIV and AIDS. Faudree was a founding member of the organization. The Charles Faudree Story is made available through the generous funding of foundations and individuals who believe in preserving Oklahoma’s legacy. “One Voice At A Time” on VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/faudree-charles/

Businessman Roger Wheeler, the former Chairman of Telex Corporation and former owner of World Jai Alai, was murdered May 27, 1981, at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, while sitting in his car. At age 55, he was leaving the golf course after his weekly game of golf and was murdered for uncovering an embezzlement scheme that was going on at his business, World Jai Alai. Linked to the murder were H. Paul Rico, John Callahan, Whitey Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and Johnny Martorano. The first Tulsa police detective to arrive at the scene of the crime was Homicide Detective Mike Huff. Immediate suspicions led to speculation that the murder was a mob hit, but when at Huff’s request, the Tulsa FBI asked the Boston FBI office for help, they received a terse reply that Boston had ruled out a Boston mafia connection. Thus began years of a relentless pursuit by Mike Huff, with resources provided by the Tulsa Police Department and other organizations in Boston and federal agencies to identify those connected to the murder of Roger Wheeler. Listen to Mike Huff talk about the murder from the day it happened to the conviction of Whitey Bulger on the Oklahoma oral history website, VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/wheeler-roger/

Chester Cadieux was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After graduating from Tulsa Central High School Chester earned a degree in Business Administration from The University of Oklahoma and then joined the Air Force. Three years later, Cadieux followed his business dream and co-founded QuikTrip, with fellow Tulsan Burt B. Holmes. And for the next 44 years Chester guided QuikTrip as President and CEO as the company successfully expanded into many states. In this interview recorded in QuikTrip’s executive offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma, you will learn what Chester did with $5,000. How by trial and error he found his way in the convenience store business. And while today QuikTrip is a major convenience store chain, it had its very humble beginnings. Listen now as Chester Cadieux takes you back to the early days on VoicesofOklahoma.com Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/cadieux-chester/

Stephen Jones is an attorney from Enid, Oklahoma whose practice is limited to trials and appeals. He attended the University of Texas, graduated from the University of Oklahoma law school in 1966 and was admitted to the bar that same year. In 1964 he served as research assistant for Richard M. Nixon and in 1967 with legal counsel to the governor of Oklahoma. Of his many accomplishments he was appointed by the United States District Court on May 8, 1995, to serve as the principal defense counsel for Timothy McVeigh charged in the Oklahoma City Bombing Case. In the interview you are about to hear, Stephen Jones discredits Timothy McVeigh’s confession. And you will hear Mr. Jones say that Mr. McVeigh takes too much credit for the bombing and believes that there are others unknown. His book on this matter is titled, Others Unknown: The Oklahoma City Bombing Case and Conspiracy. This interview was recorded in Mr. Jones' office in downtown Oklahoma City, January 27, 2010, and made available on VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/jones-stephen/

Dr. John Burton Wolf was the senior minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK, for thirty-five years, becoming the Minister Emeritus in 1995. He served churches in Racine, WI, and Meadville, PA, before coming to Tulsa in 1960. Dr. Wolf was a navy veteran of WWII, serving as a signalman in the Armed Guard and in the Pacific and was commissioned into the navy Chaplaincy Reserves during the Korean War. His sermons at All Souls included civil rights, reforming the funeral home industry, and the importance of public education. In the community Dr. Wolf was a leader against racial prejudice and promoted the rights of racial minorities, gays and lesbians, and women, including women’s reproductive rights. Many of his sermons were the subject of stories in local newspapers. After retiring from the ministry in 1995 he remained active locally and nationally in causes for education and interfaith understanding. Our Voices of Oklahoma oral history interview was recorded December 16, 2011. Dr. Wolf was ninety-two when he died September 19, 2017. Listen to him tell his story on VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/wolf-rev-dr-john-b/

It was during J. Blake Wade’s military service which included the Vietnam war that he demonstrated his gift of leadership. When he returned to Oklahoma he dedicated himself to agencies and programs that were for the betterment of Oklahoma. Blake has served as the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Director of the Oklahoma Capitol Complex and Centennial Commemoration Commission. He was responsible for overseeing preparations for Oklahoma’s centennial commemoration of statehood in 2007. The first three years as Director of the Centennial, the focus was the State Capitol Dome and the Centennial Plaza of the Oklahomans. In 2011 he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Native American Cultural & Educational Authority developing The American Indian Cultural Center and Museum and the American Indian Cultural Foundation. Now listen to Blake Wade in his oral history interview talk about Vietnam, Remington Park, the Oklahoma history center and the capitol dome on Voices of Oklahoma, preserving Oklahoma’s history, one voice at a time. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/wade-j-blake/

NORDAM is a Tulsa-based aerospace company that employs 2,500 “stakeholders” worldwide. But, before there was a NORDAM, there was a sixteen-year-old boy who left Pennsylvania in 1911 because his parents could not afford to take care of him. Ray H. Siegfried was on his way to Texas by train but only got as far as Sapulpa, Oklahoma, because he was running out of money. He found work as an office boy for The Texas Company, which eventually became Texaco. After various exploits, his gregarious personality led him to the insurance business and he formed R.H. Siegfried & Co. Ray married Ruth McBride and they had one child, Robert before Ruth’s untimely death in 1936. Bobby Siegfried worked alongside his father for thirty-eight years at R.H. Siegfried & Co. Bobby married Betty Helfrich in 1938 and they began the third generation of Siegfrieds: Diane, Ray II, Robin, Celest, and Rick. Over the years the family-owned insurance company would often take control of failing companies they had insured. Through this rehabilitation Ray Sr. would preserve the companies and the jobs they provided, and in so doing they would meet their insurance obligation. Just such a situation arose regarding a little company named NORDAM. The grandson of that sixteen-year-old boy, Robin Siegfried, tells the story of the family and the company known as Northeastern Oklahoma Research, Development and Manufacturing: NORDAM, heard here on VoicesofOklahoma.com, supported by the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities at The University of Tulsa. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/siegfried-robin/

Muskogee, Oklahoma was a major stop on the Negro League baseball barnstorming circuit. As a child, Porter Reed saw the Kansas City Monarchs, Chicago American Giants, Memphis Red Sox and other Negro League teams play in Muskogee during the 1930s. When he became a teenager, Reed played on the local team battling the Negro Leaguers when they came to town. And when the Kansas City Monarchs came to town, he would play with the Monarchs and against them. During his career, Porter played with the Birmingham Black Barons, the Muskogee Cardinals, the Detroit Wolves, the Houston Eagles, the Minneapolis White Elephants and the Los Angeles Stars. And Porter played with such famous names as Jackie Robinson and batted against Satchel Paige. Listen to Porter talk about his baseball career, including the prejudice that followed him during those days. Porter Reed was 94, June 29, 2016, when he recorded this oral history interview for VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/reed-porter/

Guy Logsdon grew up in Ada, Oklahoma. He graduated from Ada High School and East Central State University and earned his master’s degree and Ed.D. in education and administration at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Logsdon became Director of Libraries and Professor of Education at the University of Tulsa. Logsdon became a leading authority on Woody Guthrie’s life and music and western swing music, including its principal performers Bob and Johnnie Lee Wills. He became an avid collector of cowboy songs from working cowboys, and also became a fellow at the Smithsonian Institution. His long list of publications includes Woody’s Road, written with Woody Guthrie’s sister, Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon. His many honors include induction into the Hall of Fame of the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City. So now, listen to Guy Logsdon talk and sing his way through his oral history interview on VoicesofOklahoma.com. Read the full transcript: https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/logsdon-guy/