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

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.[6]

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.[6]

Fry died in 1998 and is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Claremore.[6]

Bibliography

  • 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

References

  1. 1 2 "Maggie Culver Fry, Obituary". Tulsa World.
  2. ↑ "Claremore Hall of Fame 2015 inductees announced". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  3. 1 2 Native American women : a biographical dictionary (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. 2001. p. 112. ISBN 9781135955878.
  4. 1 2 Holliday, Shawn (2015). The Oklahoma Poets Laureate: A Sourcebook, History, and Anthology. Norman, OK: Mongrel Empire Press. pp. 147–150. ISBN 9780990320432.
  5. ↑ Palmer, Barbara. "Poet, 86, Pens Verse at her own Pace". The Daily Oklahoman.
  6. 1 2 3 "Claremore Hall of Fame 2015 inductees announced". Claremore Daily Progress. Retrieved 10 August 2022.

Maggie Culver Fry at Find a Grave


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