Raymond D. Gary | |
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15th Governor of Oklahoma | |
In office January 10, 1955 – January 12, 1959 | |
Lieutenant | Cowboy Pink Williams |
Preceded by | Johnston Murray |
Succeeded by | J. Howard Edmondson |
Member of the Oklahoma State Senate | |
In office 1941–1955 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Between Madill and Kingston, Oklahoma | January 21, 1908
Died | December 11, 1993 | (aged 85)
Political party | Democratic |
Raymond Dancel Gary (January 21, 1908 – December 11, 1993) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 15th governor of Oklahoma from 1955 to 1959 and the first governor to be born in Oklahoma since statehood.
Born in southern Oklahoma, he became a state senator in 1941, until he assumed the office of governor in 1955. One of his accomplishments was to order the desegregation of the Oklahoma State Capitol restrooms.
One of his first actions was to order the "whites only" and "colored only" signs removed from the Capitol's restrooms. He also declared his intent to make the state comply with the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared segregation in the public schools unconstitutional.
Gary died December 11, 1993, and is interred at Woodbury Forest Cemetery, Madill, Oklahoma.