by John Barton, Associate Professor of Speech Emeritus and Dean Emeritus, NWOSU
This is the fourth of a series of articles designed to recognize the work of many individuals who were responsible for getting Northwestern Territorial Normal School located in Alva, Oklahoma Territory in 1897 and for providing leadership to ensure quality education for the critical years that followed.
Getting the territorial legislature to enact a law establishing a normal school in Alva was a very difficult job. In addition, getting Territorial Governor W. C. Renfrow to sign the bill was also hard. Alva was ably represented in the lower house of the territorial legislature by George Vickers of Alva and in the upper house by D. P. Marum of Woodward.
A conflict arose when it was discovered that both the Alva and Woodward communities wanted a normal school. The two men realized that if both Alva and Woodward attempted to get the school both communities would lose. Newspapers of that time referred to a card game that was played between Vickers and Marum with the rule that the winner would take all and with the loser doing everything possible to assist the winner in getting the normal school in his community.
We do not know who won the card game, but we do know that only Alva went for the normal school and that Mr. Marum worked very hard to get approval of the legislature for the Alva bill. We also do not know what card game was played or what the winning hand was. In the play entitled “Northwestern – The Early Years” presented by the Historical Preservation Taskforce on July 17, 2014, I reported that the game was stud poker and the winning hand was an ace high and the ace was the ace of spades. I chose the ace of spades since it is the highest card in the deck and Northwestern has always been a winner. This was the only part of the play that was fiction.
The bill establishing Northwestern Normal was introduced in the 1896 legislative session. It met with a great deal of opposition even though the need for such an institution in the northwest part of Oklahoma Territory was obvious. The other normal school in Oklahoma Territory was in opposition to the Alva bill. The struggle continued throughout the 1896 session finally ending with failure of the Alva bill.
The Alva delegation renewed their efforts working toward the 1897 session. These dedicated Alva businessmen and representatives worked doubly hard during this session, and their efforts paid off as the territorial legislature approved the bill establishing the Northwestern Territorial Normal School in Alva.
Only one problem remained. Territorial Governor Renfrow needed to sign the bill to make it legal and binding. The many opponents of the bill encouraged the governor to veto the bill by not signing it. It was at this point that George Vickers reminded the governor that he was head of the appropriations committee and he would not sign any payroll checks, including the governor’s, if the governor did not sign the Alva bill. Miracle upon miracle, the governor had a change of heart and signed the Alva bill that created Northwestern Territorial Normal in Alva, Oklahoma Territory in March of 1897. When word reached Alva, citizens participated in a large celebration that continued for several days.
I am certain D. P. Marum would have approved of Northwestern’s beautiful campus that is now in Woodward, and it seems appropriate to pay tribute to his outstanding work in getting the establishment of Northwestern approved. Sometimes it takes a while to honor good work.
George Vickers also needs to be honored for his work and leadership in getting Northwestern Territorial Normal School at Alva approved.