History Maker: Hannah Diggs Atkins, first African American woman elected to the Oklahoma state legislature

Kate Rauhauser-Smith Born: Nov 1, 1923, Winston-Salem Died: June 17, 2010, Oklahoma City, Okla. Known for: Being the first African American woman elected to the Oklahoma state legislature, a UN UNESCO delegate, founder of the Oklahoma Black Political Caucus, co-founder of the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus, and officer in the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP, National Association of Black Women Legislators, and member of the Oklahoma Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Hannah Diggs Atkins had never held public office when she overcame eight opponents in the primary and outperformed her Republican opponent by nearly 3-to-1 in the general election to become the first Black woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1968. She remained an active public servant for the next four decades. People are also reading… For six terms in the Oklahoma House, she focused on child welfare, improved public education, better health care, tax and mental health reform, civil rights, and fighting chronic unemployment especially among those in disadvantaged communities. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and tapped her to be a delegate to the U.N. in 1980....