PAVING the WAY
A LOOK BACK ON THE WOMEN WHO HELPED GET US WHERE WE ARE TODAY
STORY BY TAMARA GREGOR AND CHARLENE BELEW | PHOTOS FROM TAMARA GREGOR AND STEPHENS COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM
When the idea for a women ’ s magazine came up in our newsroom , we knew immediately we had to focus on the history behind the women in Stephens County . There ’ s no way we could ever tell her story without telling “ HERstory .”
There ’ s no wondering why Stephens County has so much talent . A simple look back into Duncan and Stephens County history tells the entire story and shows exactly where the quality of our women comes from : our foundation . The ones who pioneered long , long before we ( or at least our news staff ) were ever born .
Stephens County Historical Museum Director Cova Willams named just a few of the many women of historical significance whose presence in Stephens County has made a difference in lives today .
PEARL CARTER SCOTT
Aviation has been huge in Oklahoma for a while now . Stephens County has a foot in that race thanks to Eula “ Pearl ” Carter Scott , who was born in Marlow to George and Lucy , who was “ an original enrollee of the Chickasaw Nation .”
Pearl is widely known for learning to drive at age 12 and then learning to fly the next year . She studied under Wiley Post , a legendary aviator , and became one of the youngest pilots in the nation . Her first solo flight took off on Sept . 12 , 1929 , and she soon became a stunt pilot .
Pearl did more than flying though . She went back to her roots and found a second career with the Chickasaw Nation in 1972 , according to the Chickasaw Hall of Fame , when she became “ one of the tribe ’ s first community health representatives after studying at the Desert Willow Indian Training Center in Tucson ,
See SCOTT Page 7
VIDA TABOR HALLIBURTON
One of the first names from Williams was , of course , Vida Tabor Halliburton , a very instrumental woman in the county married to Erle P . Halliburton , the founder of Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company .
Vida was Erle ’ s partner in every way . Williams said Vida helped her husband start up the company as the bookkeeper .
According to Williams , while her husband was at work , she would work the phone and take orders for the company .
“ She is listed on those incorporation papers in 1924 ,” Williams said . “ That was very rare for a woman to be listed on the business sheets of a company .”
Although Vida wasn ’ t originally from Stephens County , she lived in the county for a number of years while the company was built .
Williams said Erle then moved his family — his wife and children — to California .
Williams said displayed at the museum is a quote by J . Evetts Haley from “ Erle P . Halliburton : Genius with Cement ” about Vida .
“ Behind it all for him there was that inestimable asset never reflected on the balance sheets of business — the stabilizing influence of a courageous woman , brought lovingly to bear upon the nervous nature of irrepressible genius , guiding , counseling and slaving-while her well-scrubbed children prattled happily in a clap-board oil-field shack , upon a barren floor ,” reads the quote .
The Halliburtons can be viewed in the Hall of Fame room at the museum , along with the ledger with Vida ’ s bookkeeping , accounts payable , accounts receivable , cars and trucks patents .
Williams said a future goal she and other historians are working on involves a book about the lives of Erle and Vida Halliburton .
6 DUNCAN MAGAZINE | SPRING 2023