WOMEN OF THE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
Lura Rowland Lowrey (1867-1923) founded the Indian Territory school for blind children in 1898. She ran the school for a decade without governmental assistance until the Oklahoma Legislature in 1908 made appropriations for the maintenance of the school. In 1911, the institution became the Oklahoma School for the Blind with Oscar Stewart as superintendent. After his death in 1925, his wife Janie took over for the next twenty years. A tornado struck the school in 1945, demolishing the gymnasium and killing three girls. Stewart had planned to retire but stayed on for the next eighteen months to rebuild the school.
