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THE EDUCATIONI S S U E

GARDENMASTERS

G O V E R N O R


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Education was the primary component of Brad Henrys gubernatorial crusade when he hit thetrail in 2002, and though the Governor waselected nearly eight years ago, hes yet to stopcampaigning.

When Henry took ofce in January 2003,Oklahoma was suffering a revenue crisis hailed

by many as the states worst. Such a nancialclimate would test any political mission, letalone a public policy that called for increased teacher pay and benets, and extra spend-ing through new programs proposed for stateschools, colleges and universities.

Henry is leaving ofce amid much of thewild political fanfare present when he joined. Inthe nal stretch to vacating ofce, Henry closed

Brad Henrymade educationa top priorityduring his tenure asOklahomas governor.

By Joe WertzPhotography by Jeremy Charles

42 OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE| AUGUST 2010


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43AUGUST 2010 | WWW.OKMAG.COM


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out his last legislative session in late May, after discussions to produce a $6.7 billion budget for the2011 scal year were nearly derailed.

Throughout his two terms, Henry pestered legislators and challenged both educators and students,increasing expectations and accountability for both.

My whole approach to education is all about children, he says. Our children are our futureleaders, and our goal should be to make sure that every child in Oklahoma has every opportunity tosucceed and every opportunity to go to college.

Cutting EdgeAmong the rst orders of education business when he took ofce, Henry in 2003 appointed theEconomic Development Generating Excellence, or EDGE, task force, a panel of public and privateleaders who later recommended establishing a $1 billion research endowment to fund projects and

private-public partnerships throughout the state.With conservative estimates on the return of monies invested in the endowment, Henry says the

state could give out $40-$50 million in research grants every year, to universities, businesses and entrepreneurs who have a good idea.

Alfred G. Striz was among those with an idea in need of funding. Striz, a professor at the schoolof aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Oklahomas School of Engineer-ing, applied for EDGE funding with a plan that involved the research, testing and production of unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used for commercial applications. Strizs pre-proposal ap-

plication was approved by the EDGE Policy Board, although his project wasnt among those nallyapproved for funding.

Since its formation, the EDGE Endowment Grant is among the most sought funding sources for researchers in Oklahomas aerospace and high-tech industries, says Striz, who expects to apply for the grant again in the future.

Theyre huge. What you have is a real boost to the companies that are involved, Striz says,adding that the EDGE program helps combine the resources available on public campuses and in the

private sector. In our case, its a combination of the university doing the research and some of thedevelopment, but also the companies who already have developed stuff all getting together and working together.

By working together, schools, researchers and companies have the best chance of establishingnew industry in the state, Striz says, especially in elds like his commercial UAV program thatare so cutting edge, they dont exist until built.

Universities and colleges benet from the research component, but also in workforce develop-ment, which Striz says extends beyond where a classroom ends.

Youre training students for a future in research and development in the industry, and thats agood thing, he says, noting that the educational and economic benets of such research funding

dont just apply to the major research universi-ties like OU and Oklahoma State University.High level academic institutions.

It goes further than that. Were also inter-ested in getting vo-tech involved, he says.Somebody needs to train the people that aregoing to be working on these things to servicethem and to maintain them. In aviation, in our case, somebody needs to train the pilots that y

these things remotely. Its larger than just higher education.We have a lot of advantages in Oklahoma

because the labor force is cheap, we have good laws for startup companies, he continues, thestates really supportive. We have a really good climate here in Oklahoma.

The legislature in 2006 invested the rst $150million in the endowment, which is a far cryfrom the amount Henry and the taskforce hoped for, unnished business that Henry laments ashe prepares to leave ofce.

Im disappointed that we havent found a permanent funding mechanism for the EDGE

research endowment, he says. I made sure wehad the initial deposit of $150 million, which Iwas only able to do because we had some yearswith big surpluses, but Ive been pushing thelegislature every year to help dedicate a revenuesource so that we can initially reach that billion-dollar mark.

Bright, Young MindsWhile higher education and increasing thestates number of college graduates has been acornerstone of his education policy, Henry, inhis 2010 State of the State Address, noted theimportance of focusing on the states youngest

students, strides that have led to the adoptionof both full-day kindergarten and a voluntary pre-K program that he said is becoming a modelfor other states throughout the country.

Henry says its easy to lose focus on invest-ing in early childhood education because thedividends arent immediately felt.

Were not going to see the fruits of thoseefforts this year or next year, or two or veyears down the road, he says, adding that thestate might not feel the effects for a decade or even a generation, when it will really begin totransform the state, and its perception around the country.

I predict people will be looking at Okla-homa from every corner of this nation, saying,Whats going on? We want to be like Oklaho-ma, he says, and thats just a big, big thing.

Ace Up His SleeveIn 2005, Henry signed House Bill 1020 and Senate Bill 982, which funded teacher payraises and the Achieving Classroom Experi-ence. The ACE Initiative added course require-ments for high school students and required incoming freshman in 2008-09 to pass four of six end-of-instruction exams in certain core

First Lady Kim Henry and Gov.

Brad Henry photographed at theGovernors Mansion. The couplehave been staunch advocates

for public education.



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subject areas before they were given diplomas.Henry says that creating a higher stakes

environment helps students raise the bar for academic standards. One of the ACE Initia-tives biggest changes was the inclusion of end-of-instruction exams, rather than end-of-semester exams, which Henry says didnt offer much consequence to teachers or studentswhether passed or failed.

The teachers really didnt like it becausethe students didnt put as much effort intoit and didnt score as high, he says, addingthat switching the type of testing requires thatschools offer remediation to help students passthe tests.

Its not enough just to make these examshigh-stakes, so if you fail you dont graduate.It was more than just, You have to pass theseexams to graduate, Henry says. If you havetrouble were going to help you, and weregoing to makesure you knowthis so you have a

basic knowledgeof these coresubjects that arecritical in termsof going to col-lege, or even if you choose not to go to college.

But college preparation is a big componentof what the ACE Initiative was designed for,the governor says. The program required freshman entering in 2006-07 to completea college preparatory curriculum. Parentsmay opt their children out of the program,

but tuition waivers for up to six credit hours

a semester are given to high school seniorswho meet certain eligibility requirements for concurrent enrollment. Henry says the number of high school students concurrently enrolled in college or university courses has increased to roughly 50,000 from 29,000 since the initia-

tive has been active.Its been pretty amazing, he says. For the rst time in 2005, students could take a college

course tuition free, and so it gave them incentive to do that, even some students who didnt think theyd go to college.

The tuition waivers gave many students that were unsure of attending college a free shotat trying out university education, and Henry says many of them did well and were inspired tocontinue their education after high school.

The bottom line for me is education is the number one priority of the state of Oklahoma. And within education, our priority is to create more college graduates, he says.

Taking A ChanceThe states budget shortfall shaped the 2002 gubernatorial race, and Henry was an early and vo-cal proponent of enacting a state lottery to bring more black to Oklahomas balance sheets.

Funding Just getting more dollars in the classrooms, to the students was just one of anumber of challenges facing education when he took ofce, Henry recalls .

I set about very early on to try and provide new revenue sources for education and speci-cally for the classroom through the education lottery.

After taking ofce in 2003, Henry moved quickly on proposing and organizing support for the Oklahoma Education Lottery, which faced strong opposition politically largely along partylines in the state House of Representatives, which rejected the Governors efforts and on moral

grounds, by groups like the Baptist General Convention.Henry managed to put the vote to the people in November 2004,

through State Questions 705 and 706, which amended the state

constitution to authorize the lottery and create a correspondingtrust fund. Voters in all 77 counties overwhelmingly approved themeasure, and the rst lottery tickets went on sale in October 2005.

The act stipulates that 35 percent of lottery revenues bedirected to education, which has since brought in more than $330million.

When I rst came into ofce, we were facing at that time the worst budget shortfall in our states history, and now were leaving on one even worse, Henry says. But weve gotten through

both of those.

Bonds AboundHenry also led the legislature through a $475 million capital improvements bond that added

buildings, classrooms, laboratories and equipment to every college and university throughoutthe state, a pool of projects Henry says is still cur rently active. Along with the capital improve-

ments bond, Henry pushed to fund an endowed chairs program that matches private donationsdollar-for-dollar with public funds.Prior to the endowed chair program, it was difcult for our colleges and universities to com-

pete for the best and brightest professors around the country around the world, really, Henrysays. That really makes a big difference. If you really want to improve the quality of education,youve got to start with the educators.

First, ForemostBoth through inuencing her husband and on her own, First Lady KimHenry has helped make an indelible mark on education in Oklahoma. Inthe classroom for 10 years, Kim Henry spent most of her teaching career inShawnee, where she taught high school history, economics and government,

both regular coursework and advanced placement curriculum.In the classroom, Kim Henry learned that raising expectations yielded

elevated results, a theme mirrored in her husbands education policy and perspective.One thing that I found, especially working with teenagers and this is

a generalization, its not all kids I found a good portion of your kids willonly do whats expected, she says from her ofce at Sarkeys Foundation in

Norman, where she serves as executive director. They wont go the extramile, they just do the bare minimum to get by, and if you raise those expec-tations, the kids perform at what you expect them to do.

Both Kim and Gov. Henry agree that teachers are the rst and primarycomponent of education reform, a rst building block in a framework for students to nd high-paying jobs and help fuel the states economy.

We always talk about, We need to bring more jobs in Oklahoma, butreally the number one thing businesses look at before they move, relocateor build in a state is the number of college graduates. Do you have your

This is beyond my control, andthe people will ultimately decide,but I hope that Im remembered as

the education governor

Surrounded by school children, edu-cator and First Lady Kim Henry, Gov.Henry signs the 2005 ACE Initiative,which raised Oklahoma academicstandards. File photo.



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2010 VISION IN EDUCATIONLEADERSHIP AWARD

The Tulsa Community College Founda-tion will honor Gov. Brad Henry for hisconsistent support of education, access and excellence for Oklahomans during his twoterms in ofce at the 2010 Vision in Edu-cation Leadership Award dinner Tuesday,Sept. 7 at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel.Presenting sponsor is Cherokee NationBusinesses. Media sponsor is Oklahoma

Magazine .During his two terms in ofce, Henry

has placed great emphasis on improving public education by raising teacher salariesand benets, putting more resources inthe classroom and setting higher academicstandards for students. He increased stu-dent participation in Oklahomas Promise,a college payment plan for low-incomefamilies resulting in a growth of 12,000 to

19,000 students during his terms. Henryalso successfully fought to let votersdecide whether to establish an educationlottery to benet the states classroomswhich voters overwhelmingly passed in

November 2004.In addition to his many contributions to

our states primary and secondary schools,Oklahomas colleges and universities havealso greatly beneted from Gov. Henrysdedication to excellence in education,says TCC President Tom McKeon.

The Vision Award is presented annuallyto an individual dedicated to education

excellence and community leadership.Past honorees include Montie Box, David Boren, John-Kelly Warren, George Kaiser and Paula Marshall.

Event guests will enjoy live entertain-ment, ne dining and a special tribute toHenry. Stuart Price, chair of the OklahomaState Regents for Higher Education, willserve as honorary event chair. VisionDinner efforts are led by TCC Founda-tion trustee and dinner chairwoman, MaryShaw, along with the support of her com-mittee.

Individual tickets are $150. Sponsorship

levels for the dinner range from $2,500 to$20,000. Funds raised by the event willsupport scholarships and special programsfor students and faculty. Thanks to gener-ous donations the TCC Foundation givesmore than $1 million annually to programsand scholarships to support students,faculty and staff.

For more information on the 2010 Visionin Education Leadership Award Dinner sponsorships or tickets, please contact theTulsa Community College Foundation at918.595.7836 or [email protected].

work force up to par for what Im going to need?, Kim Henry says, adding that the benets to qual-ity of life extend beyond simple economics.

Go out on the street, stop somebody and ask them to name three people that have really changed your life, she says. I bet for the vast majority of people, one of those three will be a teacher.

Henry agrees.Its pretty academic, he says. College graduates earn more money in their careers; they are less

likely to end up in prison; they are less likely to end up on social programs; less likely to end up ondrugs or a life of crime and more likely to contribute to society through taxes, through philanthropicgiving and so forth.

From a scal and economic standpoint, Henry says the challenges facing his successor remain to be seen. He is disappointed by the lack of a permanent funding mechanism for the EDGE endow-ment, but is optimistic whoever is elected to the governors post in November will see the value inmaking it a source for research and entrepreneurial enterprise. Henry was able to raise teacher pay,

but fell short of his goal to match Oklahoma salaries with the regional average.We got within $1,000, he says. Of course it would be nice to get to the national average, but

the goal is to get to the regional average. We were on track, we were $1,000 short, and couldnt quitemake it. Im disappointed in that.

Henry will leave ofce this winter, and while his capitol contributions might be over in a direct,formal sense, he doesnt expect to stop the campaign.

This is beyond my control, and the people will ultimately decide, but I hope that Im remembered as the education governor and the governor who really made strides in education throughfunding and reforms.

48 OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2010
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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SUNDAYA

OCTOBER 1, 2006 NEWSOK.COM$1.50

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College footballComplete coverage in Sports,Page 1B

LENDING A HANDOklahoma StatecornerbackMartel Van Zant is deaf, but excels on thefield thanks tohis interpreter Allie Lee.

SPORTS1B

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Boise State 36Utah 3

Texas Tech 31 Texas A&M 27

Toxic relationship comes to tragic endSideschosenin Grady

County By Tony Thornton, Staff Writer CHICKASHA This years race for Grady County assessor goes far beyond Phyllis Ray versus Bari Firestone.

It also pits the oil and gas industry against local school administrators.

Oil and gas company owners from asfar away as Fort Worth, Texas, have invested money to keep Ray, the Demo-cratic incumbent, in office.

The reason: Her refusal to contract with a company called Visual LeaseServices, which inspects oil fields for untaxed and undertaxed property.

The company receives a cut from theextra money it generates, the vast majority of which goes to public schools.

Ray had raised $19,798 as of Aug. 7,according to her most recent campaigncontribution report filed with the stateEthics Commission.

Thats unheard of for this county,longtime Grady County Clerk SharonShoemaker said.

See ASSESSOR, Page 4A

BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN

Jayme Daniel talks about the morning she was shot by her estranged husband, Oklahoma City attorney Bill Daniel. Bill Daniel shot her three times be-fore turning the gun on himself.

By Joe Wertz, Staff Writer

HEN Jayme Daniel awoke from the coma, she smelled gun-smoke.

The odor was the last thing she remembered before losingconsciousness after being shot three times. She smelled it when she awoke from her coma 35 days later. The image of

her estranged husband, Bill Daniel, coming through the door with a gun still was in her mind.

That was me and Bills showdown, she said.

Jayme Daniel spent six weeks in the hospital.One bullet barely had missed her heart, and an-

other lodged in her liver. She lost her spleen and al-most died twice while hospitalized.

She is scarred and walks with a limp but said shehas a renewed spirit and faith.

God told me, Lay down on the bed and bequiet, said Daniel, 50, who told her story to TheOklahoman for the first time Wednesday. He saidJayme, you are not going to die. Her boyfriend, James Stephens, and her daughter didnt know that.

See DANIEL, Page 2A

Obtaining a protective order+ A victim fills out threepages of paperwork at acourthouse or shelter.+ A judge decides whether anemergency protective ordershould be granted. If so, the judge signs the temporary or-der and sets a court date,which must be within 20 days

of the petition.+ Sheriffs deputies serve thedefendant with the temporaryorder.+ At the hearing, the involvedparties tell the judge why aprotective order should orshould not be issued.+ If the judge finds a protec-tive order is not needed, thetemporary order ends, andthe case is done. If the

judge grants the order, a pa-per version of the protectiveorder is given to the victim.A copy goes to the defen-dant, and a copy is mailedto the police.+ A valid protective orderbans defendants from abus-ing, harrassing or stalking vic-tims. A judge can add provi-sions to help ensure thevictims safety. This year, textmessaging was added to the

prohibited contact list.+ Violators can face up to a$1,000 fine and a year in jailfor a first offense, a $5,000fine and a year in jail for asecond offense and a$10,000 fine and three yearsin prison for subsequent of-fenses.

Sources: Oklahoma County Court Clerks office,Oklahoma City Police Department

W Read a letter from Stop TaxingOklahomas Property about itsmission concerning this yearscounty assessor elections

BRYAN PAINTER

Bill DanielShot his estrangedwife and then killedhimself.

Memories comeflooding back

Gently down the streamThe eight-woman rowing team from Kansas, fore-ground, finishes first in one heat of the Head of theOklahoma Centennial Regatta on Saturday night.

The caller said, I think I was the kidin the hospital bed next to you.

He had my attention.My July 9 column titled Soft at

heart was about surgery to repair a hole in my heart in 1973 at The Chil-drens Hospital at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City. The column was spe-cial to me because I had the chance totalk with Dr. Jerry Razook, OU Chil-drens Physicians pediatric cardiologist, who was a trainee during my catheter procedure and heart surgery.

But even more of the past was about to return.

The caller asked, Did they postpone your surgery?

They did. I was scheduled to have

See PAINTER, Page 3A

Inside+ More on the Head of the Oklahoma CentennialRegatta. Page 15BBY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN

Ten sections Volume 115, No. 236

Copyright 2006 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.,

Oklahoma City, OK All rights reserved

q QUICK INDEX

Advice........................ 9EBusiness....................1DClassified...................1GDeaths..................... 20A

Opinion....................14ACrossword.................. 4F Sports........................1B

q TODAYS PRAYER

Create a clean heart in us,dear Lord, and renew a steadfast spirit within us. Amen.

A WEATHER

Partly sunny High: 92 Low: 66

Page 19A

+ ZOO YOU:The Oklahoma City Zoo began with a singledeer in Wheeler Park, a new his-tory book says.

Page 5F

Watch live streamingvideo from the Ches-apeake Boat-house RiverCam. Plus, moreinformation aboutthe 2006 OCU Headof the Oklahoma event.

.


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Oklahoma Gazettefree every wednesday Metro oKCs Independent weeKly vol. XXX no. 7 feBrUary 13, 2008

news: daMMed-Up fUndIng slows IndIan MUseUMs ConstrUCtIon p. 12

red-hot speCIal IssUe de lamour arrIves jUst In tIMe for valentInes day

s t r e e t


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OklahOma Gazette february 13, 2008 19

If she wasnt the first to run a whore-house in Oklahoma City, Big Anne wascertainly one of the most successful.

She was a shrewd businesswoman

who controlled and colluded with thecitys thieves, gamblers, drunkards, pros-titutes and shady deal makers.

Audacious and charming, Big Anne was also popular with importantbusinessmen and civic leaders, andher fat pocketbook easily earned herfavors with both clerks and politicians,ensuring that bond money and courttestimony were hastily available whenshe ran into the law.

Her two brothels were both in down-

town OKC one in an area dubbedHells Half Acre by a civic leaderand former city manager. The arrogantunderworld, as he called it, once filled

with gamblers, prostitutes and hordesof toughs, is gone replaced by swanky hotels, convention centers andBricktown bars offering double-digitparking that matches drink prices.

That civic leader, Albert L. McRill, was also a law professor, politician,church leader, Sunday-school teach-er, prohibitionist and an author. Although you wont find this colorfulhistory printed in tourism brochures,McRill catalogued it all in his 1955

book, And Satan Came Also. Hehoped his effort would save the city from vice and crime, and prove thatneither politics nor people change.

Welcome to hell.Big beginnings

Anne was one of more than a dozenchildren born to an Illinois family in1863. At 17, she and another girl lefthome on a stagecoach and set off forLeadville, a rough and lawless min-ing town in Colorado. She married asaloon keeper, and set to work, honingher craft by running a brothel. >>>

In u n-of- h - c n u Oklahoma Ci , conomic d v lopm n volv d a ound d inking, scuffling and who ing.

On fo m ci official p nn d a s o of ha sid of a ci s lif civic ball hoo s n v adv is ... and s ill don .

By JOe Wertz

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20 february 13, 2008 OklahOma Gazette

About seven years later, her firsthusband gave her theboot and a considerablesum of money. Shesoon married again,this time to a skinny man named Wynn,

and on the day of theLand Run in 1889,she came to OklahomaCity and pitchedher tent near whatis now E.K. GaylordBoulevard.

Big Anne, as shelater became known, was an attractive, militant (blonde)of commanding size and presence, who paired a fashionable, well-dressedelegance on the street with much lessrefined and more brazen behavior inher role as a brothel owner, McRillnoted.

The first brothel she ran stood atthe corner of N. Walker Avenue and W.Second Street, or what is now Robert S.Kerr Avenue, several blocks northwest of what McRill called Hells Half Acre.

Largely located near where theCox Convention Center now resides,Hells Half Acre was filled with saloons,brothels and gambling parlors. Some like the Red Onion, operated by madam Daisy Clayton, and LizzieLongs nearby Vendome, situated closeto where the Sheraton and Renaissancehotels are today were notorious,disreputable dives.

This red-light district was Big Annes empire. Robert S. Kerr Avenue was known as Harlots Lane, and theland that is now largely occupied by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, aBank of America and office suite oncehosted harems and dens of sin.

The Arlington was a low-key and quiet brothel for those seekingseclusion and privacy. It was associated with Big Anne, but presided over by madam McDonald, who told policethe brothel was especially conductedto accommodate married ladies, who want to meet their gentlemen friends when their husbands are away fromhome, according to McRills book.

On the north side of Harlots Lane,

McRill also wrote about Noahs Ark,a rambling, weather-beaten shackthat maintained a reputation as the wildest venue on the strip.

Next to The Arlington and acrossfrom Noahs Ark was Big AnnesPlace, which completed the triangle of the most infamous bawdy houses. Big Annes was part brothel, dance-hall andsaloon. By 1903, however, the citys winds shifted under constant pressurefrom ambitious politicians and news-paper editorials, bolstered by a seriesof crimes that gave foothold to thosevying for virtue.

Rape at Big Annes

A crime wave gripped the city in 1901and 1902, erupting a feud between city officials and county law enforcement.

Citizen complaints about thecounty cops reached a boiling pointin the summer of 1901. The outrage was routed to the City Council, whichannounced slot machines would bebarred unless the deputies started pro-ducing more fines.

The police judge insisted fines were being levied at record levels, but

hells half acre

bo s

Authored by Albert L. McRill and pub-lished in 1955, And Satan Came Also isno longer in print

and is increasingly hard to come by. TheMetropolitan Library System has well,had two: Onecopy was discovered lost or stolen dur-ing research for thisstory. A few copies

are also housed in a vault controlled by the Oklahoma Historical Society.

McRill served as Oklahoma City manager from 1931 to 1933,and, in 1936, became a special

justice of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. Prior to his stint in city

service, McRill was a newspaperpublisher in both his native Kansasand Oklahoma Territory. He grad-uated from Epworth University,

which became Oklahoma City University, and started practicing law in 1911.

McRill spoke out against saloons and was active in the causefor constitutional prohibition of alcohol. He was also an activeMethodist who taught both Bibleclasses and Sunday school.

His book is the best col-lection of information about a period many in the city dont know about, or dont want to talk about, according to Brian Basore,a researcher with the Oklahoma Historical Society.

If you want information onthe early history of the city, thatsreally the best resource there is,he said. We are lucky there arestill a few (copies) around. Its oneof the best tools to research all thescandal, politics and drama during those days. Joe Wertz

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while the debate with the council raged,county attorney Dick Taylor orderedthe county sheriff to shut down the slotmachines and crack down on saloonregulations.

An editorial by The Daily Oklahoman questioned the sudden

spasm of virtue from the county attor-ney, who countered in his reply it willcontinue as long as conditions whichhave come to pass in the city continue.

The city and county officials squab-bled over who was to blame for the crimesurge, and Taylor lost the 1902 electionto Ralph Ramer, a Republican whosefirst official act was to file charges againstBig Anne and shut down her empire.

A temporary injunction was filed toclose her brothel, and court testimony alleged that two servant girls weredrugged and dragged to Big Annes, where they were raped.

Anne and two of the citys mostnotorious gamblers including BigGeorge Garrison were charged withthe rape.

Garrison was convicted, while Big Anne was released. Chief Justice J.H.Burford gave Garrison 10 years in thestate penitentiary, and Anne was freedafter testifying that the city all butendorsed her brothel.

stOry cOntinued On paGe 24The Cox Convention Center and parts of Bricktown now occupy land near where brothels, bawdy houses and saloonsonce stood in early Oklahoma City.

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hells half acre

d v o-goo

The following characters described by Albert L. McRill helped shape

the colorful landscape that was early downtown Oklahoma City:

Big Anne Wynn

One of the most notorious and well-liked madams in Oklahoma City, Big

Anne Wynn was a brash sensationin her bawdy housealong Harlots Laneand a fashionable,

wealthy and connected businesswoman whohad many friends and patrons among thecitys civic and politicalleaders.

She was bigboth in personality and appearance, and,likewise, her wallet,

which made up for hersins and ensured favor in city storesand among politicians.

Big George Garrison

A big-shot gambler, Big GeorgeGarrison was charged with raping oneof two drugged girlsat Big Annes Place.Garrison had a fat, red face, according to The

Daily Oklahoman,and sat impassively through his trial in

April 1903, wiping away sweat and fan-ning himself with hishat. In May, Garrison

was convicted of therape and sentenced to10 years in prison.

The Flying Squadron

Shortly after becoming mayor in thespring of 1907, Henry M. Scales,along with Police Chief Charles Post,

decided to get tough on city vice, and a police task force dubbed the Flying Squadron was formed.

The team raided clubs, saloonsand brothels, kicking down doors tolook for signs of gambling or lurking to discover sounds of chip clickingand other evidence of illegal activity.

The squadron was relentless, and raids went on day and night, forcing many saloons and bawdy houses to

close down.

The madams

Even before Oklahoma was a state, brothelsand bawdy houses

were at the centerof city life. Madam

Daisy Claytons Red Onion and LizzieLongs Vendome werethe stars of the show in and around HellsHalf Acre, an area

of the city now occupied by the Cox Convention Center, and Sheraton and Renaissance hotels.

North of where the Oklahoma City Museum of Art stands was

W. Second Street, which is now knownas Robert S. Kerr

Avenue. Around theturn of the century,this was HarlotsLane, where Big

Anne Wynn ruled theroost alongside other

women like madamMcDonald, who ranThe Arlington.

The Arlington,McDonald bragged to the police, was an

establishment where young men and women could find a secluded place where they will not be recognized,according to McRills book And Satan Came Also. Joe Wertz

biG anne Wynn

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How was Big Anne able to runa house of prostitution and a bar without a permit? By paying off thecops, of course. In her testimony, sherevealed that each month she paid apolice officer $26 for her brothel, andeach prostitute paid the officer $10.

Even more embarrassing was therevelation that in 14 years as the pro-prietor of a whorehouse, Big Anne hadonly paid one small fine in the policecourt, McRill noted.

Hell bent

Big Annes testimony spurred harshreactions from the public, as well asfrom city and county officials eager toplace blame and find ways to clean upHells Half Acre, Big Annes empireand any establishment that harboreddrinkers, gamblers or tawdry behavior.

Oklahoma City Mayor Lee Van Winkle ordered the arrest of prostitutes,madams and anyone leasing property forsuch use. Saloons were to stop serving atmidnight, and anyone engaging in gam-

bling would be arrested. Business ownersignored the efforts to the outrage of city police, and nothing really changed.

It was an election year in 1904, andVan Winkle and other city Democratshad a good reputation. Despite thecitys efforts and public commitmentsto cleaning up the town, Democratsreceived backing from the powerfulBig Anne and most of the citys saloonkeepers, gamblers and madams.

During a speech, a member of the Womens Christian Temperance Unioninterrupted to ask R.M. Campbell, theDemocratic nominee for county attor-ney, what he was going to do to stop

gambling and vice.Ill prosecute to the limit

anybody else who violates the law, hereplied.

The following day, four of the citysbiggest gamblers paid Campbell a visit,ascertained the quotes validity, andsevered their support of the Democraticticket.

Van Winkle stepped down in thespring of 1905, and the days becamenumbered for both Big Anne andHells Half Acre.

Flying SquadronTwo years later, Henry M. Scales took over as mayor of Oklahoma City, bringing with him Police Chief Charles Post, a mandetermined to crack down on gamblingand to impose morality on the city.

Post organized the FlyingSquadron, a police force tasked withraiding clubs and saloons to check forsigns of gambling.

At first the squadron didnt findmuch on its raids gamblers scur-ried down back stairways, and bettingdevices were taken up secret stairwellsand hidden on the roof. But the police

hells half acre

(This spasm of virtue) will continueas long as conditions

which have cometo pass in the city continue.

Oklahoma County Attorney Dick Taylor,

The Daily Oklahoman,

Nov. 8, 1901

The Hells Half Acre area was largely located near where the Cox Convention Center now resides.

cOntinued frOm paGe 21

m a r k

h a n c O c k


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onslaught was tenacious, wearing onday and night.

When the first injunction was lev-ied on her brothel along Harlots Lane,Big Anne opened up a new venture in what is now present-day Bricktown,near the parking lot north of Chelinos

Mexican Restaurant. Around 2 a.m. on Aug. 27,1907, a fire erupted at Big Annesnew two-story brothel. Three women and a man died in the blaze. A coroners jury argued murder hadpreceded the fire, and the brothel was set ablaze after the killings. Big Anne was arrested.

After pleading not guilty tomurder and arson charges, Big Anne was imprisoned for the first signifi-cant time in her more than 18 yearsof above-the-law activity in the city.

This time, no community lead-ers rushed to pay her $18,500 bond,and none of her connections cameto her aid.

Big Anne had her pet parrotdelivered from its home at The Arlington to the jail to keep hercompany. The jail windows were nearthose of the courtroom, and the birdsquawked so much that it disturbednearby jurors and had to be removed.

The parrot crooned damn it,as the bailiff carried it down the alley back to its home at the brothel.

When Big Annes trial started onMay 19, 1908, the portly (blond)defendant was dressed in a black skirtand white shirtwaist, McRill wrote.One hundred and fifty witnesses weresubpoenaed to testify to the chargesagainst her, but the state failed tomake its case and charges against her were dropped.

Although she was victorious,Big Annes spirit was broken andher wealth squandered on legalfees and court costs. She sold herfurniture at The Arlington, theprivate, subdued brothel that stoodin the middle of what was once herempire. She moved to Los Angeles where she lived for a few yearsbefore dying in her mid-40s.

Big Anne, Hells Half Acre andall the drinking, scuffling and whor-

ing that went on in early OklahomaCity are, as McRill pointed out, sto-ries of that side of a citys life civicballyhooers never advertise. They are, he argues, parts of a Western lifethat when combined with clowningpoliticians fill an exciting drama with plenty of comedy and not alittle tragedy.

Editors note: Facts in this story,unless otherwise noted, are culled fromAnd Satan Came Also, a book writtenby Albert L. McRill in 1955. For more information on McRill, the book and its significance, see the sidebar on Page 20.

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10 JUlY 23, 2008 OklahOma Gazette

The man who reported downed bird neststo city officials in early June denies any responsibility for the deaths of 187 feder-ally protected nestlings at Lake Hefner.

Gregory Owen, of Oklahoma City,said he notified marina officials June 8about the mess of downed nests near themarinas slip area, east of where Owen saidhe docked his boat.

In an e-mail exchange betweenDepartment of Utilities Director Marsha

W. Slaughter and Trust Specialist Marla K. Adams regarding the suspect that killedall the birds, Adams wrote, His nameis Gregory Owen. Documentation wasobtained through an open-records request.

Owen, who hasnt been arrested orcharged in the bird deaths, denied any involvement in a telephone interviewlast week.

I called to report the fact that there was a big mess down at the end of themarina, Owen said. And they miscon-strued that I killed any baby birds.

I didnt have a problem with thebirds. They are not affecting me. They

were just affecting the slip area thats why I called to report it.

Oklahoma City Police Departmentofficers patrolling the boat stalls on June 8discovered about 30 downed nests and 185dead baby birds near a concrete walkway atthe end of the Gate 4 pier of the city-ownedmarina, according to a police report.

Two birds were alive when officersarrived. One died a short time later,officers reported. The other was takento the WildCare Foundation in Noble

where it later died.The harbor master told officers a

man who rents a boat stall had admittedto knocking down the nests with a polebecause he was angry that the birds leftmesses on his boat, according to the report.

Police did not arrest or identify theman and his name was redacted on thepolice report. Master Sgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Departmentsaid the case was turned over to U.S. Fishand Wildlife services, which has jurisdic-tion over the federally protected birds.

Wildlife Service Special Agent MattBryant declined to identify the man sus-pected of knocking down the nests, but saidanyone charged and found guilty of killingcliff swallows which are protected by theMigratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 face a$500 fine for each bird killed.

In Oklahoma City, Slaughter sentOwen a certified letter on June 11, revok-

ing his stall rental permit, giving him 10days to remove his boat. The letter doesntprovide a reason for the revocation, notingthat the stall rental contract allows the city to revoke stall permits at its discretion.

Owen confirmed the permit revocation.

Bird song

Cliff swallows are small songbirds com-mon throughout the state, said Timothy OConnell, an ornithologist and assistantprofessor at Oklahoma State UniversitysDepartment of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. Cliff swallows are similar

to barn swallows and areoften referred to as mudswallows because of theunique, fully enclosednests the birds fashionfrom mud and grass.

OConnell describeda period from late April toearly June during whichcliff swallows are busy lay-ing eggs and protecting

nestlings. About 23 days after hatching, thebaby birds learn to fly, but still return to thenest for several weeks, he said.

Cliff swallows are loaded withpanache and among the most well-knownbirds in the state, even if most peopledont realize it, OConnell said. We seethem all the time in huge numbers underbridges and overpasses.

Unlike the more solitary barn swal-lows, OConnell said the social, gregari-ous and active cliff swallows typically nest in large colonies. Collectively, theseswallow colonies are considered friends of farmers and have a voracious appetitefor flying insects, including ones that pes-ter humans, he said.

Swallows and other small songbirds were once prized by early 20th century milliners who sought feathers and even

whole birds as adornments for womenshats, OConnell said, adding that TheMigratory Bird Treaty Act was established,in part, to curb this practice.

Jane Cunningham is president of the Audubon Society of Central Oklahoma,a group that has led several wildlifeconservation projects at Lake Hefner.Cunningham said there are easy, non-harmful ways to discourage cliff swallowsfrom nesting in areas that might be a nui-sance to humans, and several local compa-nies and groups are capable of removing

nests without harming birds.Cunningham said many birds likecliff swallows have been forced to adaptnew nesting habits, which often time putsthem closer to people and danger.

They just dont have as many nestingareas as they once did, she said. Its ahuman thing. Weve built shopping mallsand parking lots and they have to adapt.

But cliff swallows nesting closerto people does bring one benefit,Cunningham said.

We get to enjoy them, she said.They are really great birds, very usefulto humans and so full of personality. They are just beautiful.

Hard to swallow After a boater reported the downing of bird nests atLake Hefner, officials revoked his marina permit.

The metro man denies any wrongdoing.

bY JOe wertz

news inVestiGatiOn

Cliff swallows nest top photoat Lake Hefners city-operated marina, where theformer stall of Gregory Owen is located bottom photo.

s h a n n O n

c O r n m a n

s h a n n O n

c O r n m a n

I called to report thefact that there was a big mess down at theend of the marina. And they misconstrued that I killed any baby birds.

Gregory Owen,of Oklahoma City


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