Oklahoma Governors (1963, 1979-1987): George Nigh (1927—) - This McAlester native and high school history teacher became Oklahoma’s youngest state legislator at age 23, is the only person to serve as governor four times,… Read the entire Oklahoma story in John J. Dwyer's Media The Oklahomans: The Story of Oklahoma and Its People volume 1 of a 2-part series on the 46th state and the people who make this state very special. |
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One of the great untold stories of Oklahoma—and American—history. The courageous Christian missionaries who came west before, after, and on the Trail of Tears, serving, teaching, loving, and sacrificing and sometimes dying for the Natives who themselves would serve as the cornerstone for a great American state. Join John and KTOK/iHeartRadio star Gwin Faulconer-Lippert and learn the awe-inspiring saga of the early Indian Territory missionaries. It’s the 72nd episode of our original l OKLAHOMA GOLD! radio program and podcast. Thank you Atwoods Stores for making it possible! Go HERE to listen to them all! Future episodes explore more great heroes, events, and movements of Oklahoma History. https://youtu.be/C7NQ_JsgimEAnn Eliza Worcester Robertson, perhaps the greatest of the legendary Oklahoma family dynasty of Worcester women. She translated the entire New Testament into the Muskogee Creek language.Indian Territory missionary Cyrus Kingsbury, “The Prince of Indian Territory Missionaries,” who personally began the first Christian missionary efforts to both the Cherokees and the Choctaws, and the Southern Presbyterian Church’s first mission effort of any kind.Indian Territory missionary Jerusalem Swain who labored for years 2,000 miles from her home as a single white female missionary to the Cherokees.A map covering roughly the eastern half of modern day Oklahoma and charting early day Indian Territory missions.Wheelock Church, built in the mid-1840s by Choctaw Presbyterian missionary, preacher, physician, educator, and translator Rev. Alfred Wright, his wife Harriett, and their congregation. The sturdy stone structure houses Oklahoma’s oldest still-functioning church building. Courtesy Rhys Martin. (https://rhysfunk.wordpress.com)Many thanks to Atwoods Stores, a farm and ranch supply company based in Enid, Oklahoma, for their support of the Red River Institute of History and OKLAHOMA GOLD! Please support them as you are able! Wherever you are, you can order online from thousands of quality products on their terrific website HERE. Atwoods also has 66 stores in 5 states: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. In addition to farm and ranch supplies, Atwoods stores sell clothing, lawn and garden items, tools, hardware, automotive supplies, sporting goods, pet supplies, firearms, and seasonal items. Read the full story at Indian Territory Missionaries - Podcast, from Oklahoma History, with John Dwyer
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John Dwyer's Oklahoma HistoryAuthor John Dwyer takes us on a voyage through time, to discover Oklahoma is ways we've never fully understood. The hardbound pictorial of volume 1 is available for a limited time at up to 40% off, using this link.
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January 2024
Novelist and Oklahoma native Ralph Ellison said, "You have to leave home to find home", an apt description of the journey of John Dwyer, author and general editor of The Oklahomans. The Dwyer family roots were firmly transplanted from Ireland to Oklahoma by John's great-grandfather and grandfather, the latter who settled in Oklahoma City in 1909, just two years after Oklahoma achieved statehood. Although born in Dallas, TX, John was relocated to Oklahoma when his widowed mother returned to her home when he was two years old.
It would be on Oklahoma soil that his mother instilled in him his love for history, and coupled with his unusually creative imagination, it soon became apparent that John not only liked to hear great stories of legend and history, but to make up his own as well. It would be out of a sense of divine purpose that he would use that creativity in response to a higher calling in the years to come. John began a career in journalism during his high school days when he served in a variety of roles, including news and sports reporter, for the Duncan Banner, a daily newspaper in his small Oklahoma hometown. He was the youngest sports editor in the newspaper's history by the time he attended the University of Oklahoma on a journalism scholarship. He graduated in 1978 with a bachelor of arts and sciences degree in journalism. Dwyer further developed his journalistic skills in radio as a play‐by‐play football and basketball announcer for several radio stations. He won the coveted position of sports director for the University of Oklahoma's 100,000 watt KGOU‐FM radio station. For seven years, he provided live, on‐air reports to America's largest radio networks of University of Oklahoma college football games. Except for a year in England during 6th grade, John lived in the Sooner State for 28 years before returning to Dallas in 1986 to attend Dallas Theological Seminary where he earned his Master of Biblical Studies. While there, Dwyer worked part time on the sports staff of The Dallas Times Herald, which at the time owned one of the five largest circulations of any daily newspaper in Texas. It was in Texas that he also met and married his wife Grace in 1988 and settled down to start his family. In the spring of 1992, Dwyer and his wife founded the Dallas‐Fort Worth Heritage newspaper, which would grow to a circulation of 50,000 per month at the time of its sale, after nearly a decade, to new owners. The Heritage pioneered innovative features such as full color photography and graphics, an expansive web site, a cluster of informative daily radio programs, and an aggressive, uncompromising brand of investigative news reporting unprecedented for contemporary news publications holding an orthodox Christian worldview. In 2006, at the urging of his family and the Oklahoma Historical Society, John returned to Oklahoma to tackle the colossal task of writing "The Oklahomans," which was endorsed as an official project of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission. He has completed volume 1 (Ancient‐Statehood) and a portion of volume 2 (Statehood‐Present), which releases in November 2018. He is now an Adjunct Professor of History and Ethics at Southern Nazarene University. He is former history chair at Coram Deo Academy, near Dallas, Texas. His books include the non‐fiction historical narrative "The War Between the States: America's Uncivil War" (Western Conservatory), the novel "When the Bluebonnets Come" (Bluebonnet Press), the historical novels "Stonewall" and "Robert E. Lee" (Broadman & Holman Publishers), and the upcoming historical novels "Shortgrass" and "Mustang" (Oghma Creative Media). John and Grace have one daughter and one grandson and live in Norman, Oklahoma. They are members of the First Baptist Church of Norman, where they serve in a variety of teaching, mission, and other ministry roles. Categories |