Maggie Culver Fry
Maggie Culver Fry (1900–1998) was the tenth poet laureate of Oklahoma, appointed in 1977 by Governor David L. Boren.[1] Fry wrote her first poem at the age of 10 and now has more than 800 stories, poems, and articles published.[2]
Life and career[edit]
Fry, née Culver, was born in 1900 at Vian, Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.[3] Fry's maternal grandfather, George Deerskin Waters, traveled to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears and was a member of the Cherokee Senate.[4] Fry lacked a high school education but nevertheless published three books of poetry, along with fiction and magazine articles.[5] She also an instructor at Claremore Junior College and traveled the state conducting workshop in high schools and colleges.[2]
From 1955 to 1965, Fry served as personal secretary to Senator Clem McSpadden.[4] Her book, The Umbilical Cord, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.[3][1] In 1995 Fry was named poet laureate emeritus when her health forced her to stop writing and in 2015 she was inducted into the Claremore Hall of Fame.[2]
Fry died in 1998 and is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Claremore.[2]
Bibliography[edit]
- The Witch Deer: Poems of the Oklahoma Indians. Claremore: Claremore Junior College, 1955.
- The Umbilical Cord. Muskogee: Oklahoma Printing Company, 1971.
- Bucksin Hollow Reflections. Muskogee: The Five Civilized Tribes Museum, 1978.
- A Boy Named Will: The Story of Young Will Rogers. Bluestem, 1979
- Sunrise Over Red Man's Land. Claremore: Rogers State College Press, 1981
- Cherokee Female Seminary Years: A Cherokee National Anthology. Claremore: Rogers State College Press, 1988
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Maggie Culver Fry, Obituary". Tulsa World.
- ^ a b c d "Claremore Hall of Fame 2015 inductees announced". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
- ^ a b Native American women : a biographical dictionary (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. 2001. p. 112. ISBN 9781135955878.
- ^ a b Holliday, Shawn (2015). The Oklahoma Poets Laureate: A Sourcebook, History, and Anthology. Norman, OK: Mongrel Empire Press. pp. 147–150. ISBN 9780990320432.
- ^ Palmer, Barbara. "Poet, 86, Pens Verse at her own Pace". The Daily Oklahoman.
External links[edit]
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