Names of Historic Homes Changed to Honor Women

OKLAHOMA CITY — To recognize the significant contributions of women to the history and culture of Oklahoma’s communities, the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) Board of Directors has voted to change the names of two historic homes. The Fred Drummond Home in Hominy will now be known as the Fred and Addie Drummond Home, and the Henry Overholser Mansion in Oklahoma City will now be known as the Henry and Anna Overholser Mansion. The names now reflect the couples who, in partnership, helped Hominy and Oklahoma City flourish in their early days.

“The OHS is proud to celebrate the centennial year of women’s suffrage by taking these women out of the shadows of history,” said Kathy Dickson, director of Museums and Historic Sites for the Oklahoma Historical Society. “Although the changes are long overdue, adding Addie and Anna’s names to the official name of these sites reminds visitors that both women and men built communities and were central figures in the creating what we now know as Oklahoma.”

Fred Drummond moved to Pawhuska in 1886 as a licensed government trader. He married Addie Gentner in 1890, and by 1895 the couple had saved enough money to buy a partnership in the trading company for which he worked. In 1904, the Drummonds formed the Hominy Trading Company, and soon expanded into ranching, banking and real estate. The three-story, Victorian-style Fred and Addie Drummond Home in Hominy was completed in 1905. The home was deeded to the OHS in 1980, and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Henry Overholser arrived in Oklahoma City shortly after the Land Run of 1889, where he soon built six business buildings and was elected president of the board of trade. By 1894 he was elected to the Oklahoma County Commission, and he continued to boost civic causes and the expansion of the city. He married Anna Ione Murphy within six months of his arrival in Oklahoma City, and the two were active in Oklahoma City social circles. They built a 20-room Victorian mansion in Anton Classen’s Highland Park Addition (now Heritage Hills), completing it in 1904. Anna made their home a center of society in early Oklahoma City. The Henry and Anna Overholser Mansion was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and was acquired by the OHS in 1972. It is operated by Preservation Oklahoma, a private non-profit dedicated to preserving Oklahoma’s historic places.

The Fred and Addie Drummond Home is located at 305 N. Price Ave. in Hominy. The Henry and Anna Overholser Mansion is located at 405 NW 15th St. in Oklahoma City.

The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.