Oral History Interview with Hannah Atkins

Oral History Interview with Hannah Atkins Interview Conducted by Tanya Finchum June 22, 2007 Women of the Oklahoma Legislature Oral History Project Special Collections & University Archives Edmon Low Library ● Oklahoma State University © 2007 Oklahoma State University Library Women of the Oklahoma Legislature Oral History Project Interview History Interviewer: Tanya Finchum Transcriber: Jill Minahan Editors: Tanya Finchum, Juliana Nykolaiszyn The recording and transcript of this interview were processed at the Oklahoma State University Library in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Project Detail The purpose of the Women of the Oklahoma Legislature Oral History Project is to gather and preserve memories and historical documents of women who have served or are currently serving in the Oklahoma Legislature. This project was approved by the Oklahoma State University Institutional Review Board on November 10, 2006. Legal Status Scholarly use of the recordings and transcripts of the interview with Hannah Atkins is unrestricted. The interview agreement was signed on June 22, 2007. 2 Oklahoma State University Library Women of the Oklahoma Legislature Oral History Project Hannah Atkins – Brief Biography Hannah Atkins was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on November 1, 1923. Valedictorian of her high school class, she then earned her undergraduate degree in 1943 from St. Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and went on to complete a degree in library science at the University of Chicago in 1949. Married to Charles Atkins in 1943, she taught French in the Chicago public school system while he attended medical school. She took courses at the School of Law at Oklahoma City University and in 1989 she earned a Master’s of Public Administration at the University of Oklahoma. She was chosen to attend the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University in 1987. Mrs. Atkins also holds a certificate from the Executive Leadership Development Program at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas, Austin. Mrs. Atkins was the first African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma State House of Representatives, where she served six two-year terms, from 1968 to 1980. She was the first female to serve as Chair of a committee when she was chosen to lead the Public and Mental Health Committee. She was appointed as a U.S. Delegate to the 35th General Assembly of the United Nations by President Jimmy Carter after her term in the House was complete. Mrs. Atkins was a national committee member to the Democratic National Committee for eight years and served as commissioner to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. As Assistant Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services she headed the Aging Services Division. Appointed Cabinet Secretary of Social Sciences the same year, Atkins was appointed dual positions as Secretary of State and Secretary of Human Resources by Republican Governor Henry Bellmon in 1987, making her the highest ranked woman in Oklahoma state government until her retirement in 1991. Inducted into both the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame and the Afro-American Hall of Fame in 1983, Atkins has received many prestigious honors. She received the National Governor’s Association Award for Distinguished Service to State Government in 1990 and is listed in Who’s Who in America as well as Who’s Who in Politics. In 1992, after holding various teaching positions at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City University, and Oklahoma State University, the Political Science Department at OSU honored Mrs. Atkins with the Hannah Atkins Professorship for Political Science and Government, sponsored by many supporters. She has been active in numerous community organizations serving often as an officer or on the board of directors. Some groups she has been involved with include the National Women’s Education Fund, Women Executives in State Government, the Joint Center for Political Studies, the National Board of American Civil Liberties Union, National Black Child Development Institute, National Board of Trans-Africa, NAACP, and the Urban League, among many others. She served as president of the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration and was chairwoman of the Oklahoma Advisory Committee of the United States Commission on Civil Rights for ten years. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and is a licensed lay reader in the Episcopal Church. Charles and Hannah Atkins have three children, Edmund, Charles Jr., and Valerie. 3 Oklahoma State University Library Women of the Oklahoma Legislature: Past and Present Oral History Project Hannah Atkins Oral History Interview Interviewed by Tanya Finchum June 22, 2007 Silver Spring, Maryland Finchum My name is Tanya Finchum. I’m here in Silver Spring, Maryland to speak with Hannah Atkins who was in the House of Representatives from 1968 until 1980, in Oklahoma. This is part of the Oklahoma State University Library’s project called “Women of the Oklahoma Legislature,” and this is June 22, 2007. Thank you so much for talking with us today. Atkins I’m happy to be a part of your, I started to say campaign. (Laughter) I’m honored to include my memoirs and history. Finchum We’re glad to have you. Give us a little bit of background, where you were born and how you came to be in Oklahoma. Atkins I was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, number five in a family of six children. I was brought up with a very loving and caring mother and father. They both were well educated, and my father always said— there were the four sisters—he would sit us down and say, “Now you all are attractive young ladies, and you could get married, but I’m going to insist that you get at least your bachelor’s degree and I hope you’ll go on and at least get a master’s.” And, fortunately, each one of us did. Somehow I was the first of the girls to get married (Laughs) and others did get married later. I was the only one to have children, and I was a very proud parent of two sons and a daughter, and now grandma. I have two grandsons. I keep saying, “I want a great-grandchild. I want a great- grandchild.” (Laughter) But I don’t see that in the near future. Finchum And how did you come to be in Oklahoma? Atkins My husband knew someone. He had a friend there, and they said, “They need doctors here badly.” And my husband went out there in January and visited with his friend there, and said, “They really need doctors 4 badly. There’s only one doctor here in the African American community,” and he brought back snapshots of himself and his friend in shirt sleeves in January. I said, “In January, outside in their shirt sleeves—that’s the place to be.” (Laughs) I said, “That looks like Florida.” (Laughs) We got there [Oklahoma] lock, stock and barrel without my ever having been there. We packed up and had everything hauled there, and the people welcomed us with open arms. It was like being in a southern town. Everybody was friendly from day one. Finchum Did you have your children there? Atkins Yes. We were there for “umpteen” years. (Laughs) Yes, indeedy. Finchum And what got you interested in politics? Atkins Well, I’ve always been concerned about things in the community. We built a house on a hillside and it had a very large patio, and every Fourth of July I would invite friends out there. We would just sit out there and have snacks and discuss. One year, an African American who was in the House of Representatives decided not to run and they were going around saying who would run, and everybody had a real excuse. So they finally got to me, and said, “Hannah, you can run. You can run.” I said, “Oh, no. I wouldn’t want to do that.” But they twisted my arm and so I finally ended up running and won without any problems. Finchum Was your opponent male or female? Atkins There were several. They were all male. I was the only female running. Finchum And you beat them. Atkins Yes. Finchum Do you remember the day you were sworn in? Atkins I remember the occasion, yes. It was very moving. There were several who were running at the same time, but when it boiled down to the last two, my opponent said, “She’s a tea-sipping lady.” (Laughs) Like that was terrible, you know. In Oklahoma, you drank beer twenty-four hours a day…“She’s a tea-sipping lady,” like that was something negative, but I won each time. I ran six times and won each time. Finchum And the day you were sworn in… 5 Atkins My husband, of course, was there, yes. It was a very moving experience. Finchum And the first time you debated a bill on the floor? Atkins I don’t remember it, but I got more bills passed that time than any other person in the House because I was an early bird. I would go out to the Capitol early and have breakfast with the “good ‘ole boys.” At breakfast, we would sit around while they were sipping on their coffee and decide who was gonna speak for this bill and who was gonna speak for that one, and who would vote, and then we would trade off, you know. You vote for me and I’ll vote for you—and so I got in with the “good ‘ole boys,” and they didn’t run me away.

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