Oklahoma College for Women
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| Motto | "College for the Curious Mind" |
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| Type | Public |
| Established | 1908 |
| Endowment | $4,177,000 |
| President | John Feaver |
| Students | 904 |
| Location | Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Campus | Small Town |
| Colors | Green and Gold |
| Nickname | Drovers |
| Affiliations | Sooner Athletic Conference |
| Mascot | Dusty |
| Website | www |
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Oklahoma College for Women Historic District
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| Location | Roughly bounded by Grand Ave., 19th St., Alabama Ave., and alley west of 15th St., Chickasha, Oklahoma |
| Area | 50 acres (20 ha) |
| Built | 1911 |
| Architect | Smith & Parr; Donathan & Moore |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival, Mission/Spanish Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 01000950 |
| Added to NRHP | September 9, 2001 |
The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, or USAO, is a public liberal arts college located in Chickasha, Oklahoma. It is the only public college in Oklahoma with a strictly liberal arts-focused curriculum and is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. USAO is an undergraduate-only institution and grants Bachelor's Degrees in a variety of subject areas. The school was founded in 1908 as a school for women and from 1912 to 1965 was known as Oklahoma College for Women. It became coeducational in 1965 and today educates approximately 1,000 students. In 2001, the entire Oklahoma College for Women campus was listed as a National Historic District.
After Oklahoma was admitted to statehood in 1907, the new state legislature was tasked with establishing institutions of higher education in the former Indian Territory. Statistics gathered by the State Superintendent of Education showed that many young women from Oklahoma chose to attend women's colleges in Kansas, Texas, and Missouri. Colonel J.T. O'Neil, the state senator from Grady County, and his daughter, Anne Wade O'Neil, who had graduated from a women's college in Mississippi, appealed to the legislature to authorize the creation of a women's college. The University was founded on May 16, 1908, with the signing of Senate Bill 249 by Governor Charles Haskell. The bill, authored by Senator N.P. Stewart of Hugo, Oklahoma, authorized the foundation of the Oklahoma Industrial Institute and College for Girls. The legislature subsequently appropriated $100,000 for the establishment of the initial buildings for the school.
A local rancher named J. B. Sparks donated land for the school in memory of his daughter, Nellie. Nellie was a Chickasaw descendent, and the land had been part of her allotment. The Nellie Sparks Dormitory, which was among the first buildings constructed at the new institution, was named in her honor. In 1912, the school's authorities renamed the school Oklahoma College for Women. This came about because a probate judge, under the mistaken impression that the "Industrial Institute" was a reform school, sentenced an "incorrigible young woman" to serve time there. This name change was made official by the State Legislature in 1916. The school initially offered four years of high school work and four years of college; those who completed the college course were awarded bachelor's degrees. It gradually shifted its focus to college only; by the 1925-1926 school year, only college classes were offered. Though the school's original name implied strictly industrial training, over the next couple decades, the school gained a focus on a broad liberal arts education. By 1930, it was awarding degrees in many different fields of study, including art, English, history, music, several languages, natural and physical sciences, philosophy, home economics, and physical education. The deaf education program increased in size and statewide recognition; today, it continues to be one of the University's important programs. On June 6, 1955, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education adopted the policy that all state-supported institutions would be racially integrated. That summer, Clydia Troullier became the first black student to enroll at OCW.
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