Raymond Gary; Governor Integrated Oklahoma Schools
Raymond Dancel Gary, a former Oklahoma governor whose rapport with voters helped ease the integration of state schools, died Saturday of heart failure. He was 85.
Gary, a Democrat, became Oklahoma’s first native-born governor when he was inaugurated as the state’s 15th governor on Jan. 10, 1955.
One of his first actions was to order the “whites only” and “colored only” signs removed from the state Capitol’s restrooms.
Correctly figuring that the U.S. Supreme Court was about to declare school segregation unconstitutional, Gary ordered Oklahoma’s public schools integrated before the court released its order.
“He led the state through the initial integration era and successfully integrated our schools without any of the violence and complications that erupted in many of the southern states,” former Gov. Henry Bellmon said.
Bellmon, a two-term Republican, ranked Gary among Oklahoma’s greatest governors. “I was a great admirer of his,” Bellmon said.
State law in the 1950s prevented governors from succeeding themselves, and Gary returned to his oil and cattle business after leaving office. He later ran unsuccessfully for a second term and for the U.S. Senate.
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