Kate Barnard

Catherine Ann "Kate" Barnard (May 23, 1875 – February 23, 1930) was the first woman to be elected as a state official in Oklahoma, and the eleventh woman to be elected to a statewide public office in the United States, in 1907. All ten prior elected women were elected to Superintendent of Public Instruction in four states (ND: Emma Bates and Laura Eisenhuth; ID: Mae Scott, Permeal French and Belle Chamberlain; CO; Katherine Craig, Helen Grenfell, Grace Patton, Angenette Peavey; WY: Estelle Reel). She served as the first Oklahoma Commissioner of Charities and Corrections for two four-year terms, the only position that the 1907 Oklahoma Constitution permitted a woman to hold.

Before being elected to office, Barnard had worked as a teacher and in clerical patronage positions in the territorial government. She was also heavily involved in charity work. Provided by Wikipedia