Thompson B (T.B.) Ferguson, as the sixth governor of the Territory of Oklahoma from 1901-1906, was an ardent supporter of education. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History, “An experienced educator, he proposed and promoted legislation and appropriations to improve the quality of education at all levels from elementary through college.”
“Early education in country schools led him to Emporia State Normal College, from which he graduated in 1884. He financed his academic career by teaching in small schools, and after graduating he took additional training in Kansas and in Iowa. After two years of teaching, he changed occupations and became a Methodist minister.” (1) Ferguson work closely with the Territorial Legislature that met in Guthrie to support education from elementary through college. Sources of income for schools started with school land. Since the time of Thomas Jefferson and the Land Ordinance of 1783, lands were divided into onemile sections with 36 sections in a township. Section 16 was designated for school land. In Oklahoma, the Organic Act of 1890, which established Oklahoma Territory, originally prohibited the leasing of these school lands, but Governor Steele, the first Oklahoma Territorial Governor, petitioned Congress and this change was approved in 1891. During Steele’s one year as Territorial Governor, the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma A&M at Stillwater, and Territorial Normal School (now University of Central Oklahoma) in Edmond were established. (2) “By proclamation signed by President Grover Cleveland for the land opening of the Cherokee Outlet in 1893, Section thirteen was allotted for the support of higher education and section thirty-three for the construction of public buildings. … Oklahoma had state educational institutions indemnity lands and public building indemnity lands in addition to common school indemnity lands.” (3) However, Ferguson furthered the cause of education. During the pre-statehood days, the groundwork for various primary, secondary and professional statesupported schools. An organized teachers’ association (1892) eventually merged with a similar organization in Indian Territory Early education. A publicly supported pharmacy school opened in 1893 at OU, the OU medical school in 1900, nursing registration began in 1912, and OU law school in 1912 Professional Schools.
We are grateful for the interest in education at all levels by Territorial Governor TB Ferguson.
(1) Ok Hist Soc TB Ferguson (2) Ok Hist Society George Steele (3) Oklahoma History Society