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1953 TULSA OK INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM EXPOSITION NAME BADGE MRS JOHNSTON MURRAYWhat a fascinating piece of Oklahoma political history!
This appears to have belonged to Willie Roberta Emerson Murray, the second wife of Johnston Murray who, in 1953, was Governor of Oklahoma. The following year, she announced she would be running for Governor of Oklahoma and he filed for a divorce--the dissolution of their marriage was very public and well documented.
D969
From Wikipedia:
Johnston Murray(July 21, 1902 – April 16, 1974)was an American lawyer, politician, and the 14thgovernor of Oklahomafrom 1951 to 1955. He was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1956, Murray switched parties and joined the Republican Party.
Murray was the first Native American to be elected as governor in the United States but he was not an enrolled member of any nation.Murray's mother,Mary Alice Hearrell Murray, was a citizen of theChickasaw Nation.His father,William H. Murray, by virtue of his marriage to Hearrell in 1899, also became a citizen of the nation under Chickasaw law. The elder Murray was an advisor to GovernorDouglas H. Johnstonof theChickasaw Nation, and later served in numerous political offices after Oklahoma was admitted as a state.He served as the ninth governor of Oklahoma (1931–1935).
As governor 20 years later, Johnston Murray attempted to reduce state spending but was blocked by state legislators, although they were part of the Democratic majority.The state constitution prohibited a second succeeding term. His second wife Willie Murray ran for governor in 1954. She failed to win. They broke up in a bitter public divorce proceeding, which began a few months later.The divorce was final in 1956.
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