Here are 10 notable Oklahoma women you should know about during Women's History Month

The nation is celebrating Women's History Month this March, and a countless number of women have left their mark on Oklahoma.

Here's a look at some of Oklahoma's most notable women.

Clara Luper

Clara Luper, born in 1923 Okfuskee County, was a Civil Rights leader who was the first African American admitted to the graduate history program at the University of Oklahoma in the 1950s.

In 1957, Luper became the adviser for the Oklahoma City National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Control.

A year later, Luper and 13 of her students staged their first sit-in protest against segregation at Katz Drug Store on Aug. 19, 1958, where they asked for cokes. They returned to Katz day after day, until the restaurant declared it would no longer hold to segregation. This launched a six-year movement in Oklahoma City that successfully desegregated many restaurants and businesses.

According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, Luper recieved 154 awards, including the Oklahoma Confederated Women's Club Award, and the National Voter Registration Award.

She died on June 8, 2011, in Oklahoma City.

Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher

Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, born in 1924 in Chickasha, was a Civil Rights activist who became the first African American admitted to the OU College of Law after a three-year legal battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fisher briefly practiced law in Chickasha after graduating from the law school, then joined Langston University's faculty in 1957, serving as the chair of the Department of Social Sciences, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.

In 1991, OU awarded Fisher an honorary doctorate of humane letters.

Fisher died on Oct. 18, 1995.

Vicki Miles-LaGrange

Vicki Miles-LaGrange, born in 1953 in Oklahoma City, was the first woman U.S. Attorney in Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.

After she graduated from the Howard University School of Law in 1977, she worked at the U.S. Department of Justice before returning to Oklahoma City in 1986.

That same year, Miles-LaGrange became the first African American woman elected to the Oklahoma Senate.

In 1994, former U.S. President Bill Clinton nominated Miles-LaGrange to the post of federal judge for the Tenth Circuit, making her the first African American federal judge in the six-state district.

Kate Barnard

Kate Barnard was born in Nebraska in 1875, but spent most of her like in Oklahoma after moving to the state in 1891.

After a 1906 Constitutional Convention, the Democratic Party endorsed Barnard for the office of commissioner of charities and corrections where she won the seat and became the first woman elected to a major Oklahoma office, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.

In office, Barnard persuaded the state legislature to adopt laws requiring compulsory education, regulating child labor and launching a juvenile justice system. She also led an investigation into the treatment of Oklahoma prisoners held in a Kansas prison, which resulted in the repatriation of the convicts and the creation of a three-tier state prison system consisting of a penitentiary, a reformatory and a boys' training school, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.

After being reelected in 1910, she campaigned for Indian property rights.

Barnard died on Feb. 23, 1930.

Moscelyne Larkin

Born in 1925 in Miami, Larkin was a instructor and ballerina of Shawnee-Peoria descent who joined the Original Ballet Russe and was often featured as the prima ballerina at Radio City Music Hall in New York, according to the Oklahoman Historical Society.

She moved to Tulsa in the 1950s where she and her family formed the Tulsa Civic Ballet and School, now called the Tulsa Ballet Theatre.

Larkin was honored at the Oklahoma Indian Ballerina Festivals in 1957 and 1967, and was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1978. She also received the Dance Magazine Award in 1988, and was named Outstanding Indian by the Council of American Indians.

Larkin died on April 25, 2012.

Wanda Jackson

Born in Maud in 1937, Wanda Jackson is a Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.

Jackson charted 30 country hits from 1954 to 1974 and was twice nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Female.

Some of her biggest hits include “Right or Wrong” and “In the Middle of a Heartache”.

Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Mankiller, born in Tahlequah in 1945, was the first woman elected as chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1987.

She also served as the first woman deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation, and became principal chief in December 1985.

As the Cherokee Nation chief, Mankiller increased tribal memberships and revenues, opened rural health centers and started a center for prevention of drug abuse, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.

Mankiller also helped establish an Office of Tribal Justice in the U.S. Department of Justice and helped found the Women Empowering Women for Indian Nations.

Mankiller died on April 6, 2010.

Joy Harjo

Born in Tulsa in 1951, Joy Harjo is a member of the Muscogee Nation and acclaimed poet.

Harjo published several collections, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society, including "The Last Song", "What Moon Drove Me to This" and "The Woman Who Fell from the Sky".

Her poems have won several awards, including the American Book Award, the William Carlos Williams Award, the American Indian Distinguished Achievement Award and the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts.

In 2019, Harjo became the first Native American woman to be named Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, also known as the Poet Laureate of the United States.

Reba McEntire

Reba McEntire, born in McAlester in 1955, is an award-winning country music artist.

As a country music legend, McEntire has scored 35 career No.1 singles, sold in excess of 58 million albums worldwide and earned more than 50 awards, including Grammys, Academy of Country Music Awards, Country Music Association Awards and more. In 2018, she became the second Oklahoman lauded at the Kennedy Center Honors.

She will receive a the Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's 63rd annual Western Heritage Awards in April.

McEntire recently performed the national anthem at Super Bowl LVIII.

Kristin Chenoweth

Born in Broken Arrow in 1968, Kristin Chenoweth is an award-winning actor and singer known for her television roles in "Glee" and "The Good Wife".

Throughout her career, Chenoweth has received many awards, including a Tony Award for bet featured actress, an Emmy nomination and was inducted in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Women's History Month: Notable Oklahoma women