Seven Oklahoma women to be honored by hall of fame
Ceremony set for Capitol rotunda

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Published: March 13, 2009

Seven Oklahoma women have been chosen for induction into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame, according to the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women.

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Inductees are Maj. Gen. LaRita A. Aragon, Suzanne Edmondson, Edna Hennessee, first lady Kim Henry, Secretary of State Susan Savage and Carolyn Whitener. Marabeau Looney will be inducted posthumously.

The ceremony is scheduled for 3 p.m. March 26 in the state Capitol fourth-floor rotunda.

A reception will follow.

More details on the inductees

• Aragon became the first woman to hold the rank of brigadier general in the Oklahoma Air National Guard and the first female commander of the Air National Guard.

After a distinguished career, Gen. Aragon retired and returned to her first career, in education where she serves as Director of Advanced Programs at the University of Oklahoma College of Continuing Education.

• In 1996, Edmondson began a new career as a corrections volunteer focusing her attention on the myriad issues affecting incarcerated women. She became a literacy tutor and began working weekly at Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in Taft.

• Hennessee graduated from Union Valley High School in 1936 as valedictorian and went on to help grow Cosmetic Specialty Labs, a family-owned and operated company serving more than 10,000 customers in all 50 states and 23 foreign countries.

• Henry has devoted herself to education, spending 10 years as a classroom teacher and advocating for troubled youths through the Thunderbird Youth Academy.

• Savage served as the mayor of Tulsa from 1992 to 2002, making her the most tenured and first female mayor in the history of Tulsa.

• Whitener filed suit in the 1970s to challenge sexual discrimination in Oklahoma, leading to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling unconstitutional all laws giving advantage to one sex.

• Looney was elected registrar of deeds for Harmon County in 1912 and went on to serve as county treasurer, county clerk and in 1920 became the first woman elected to the Oklahoma Senate.