Helen TeAta Gale Cole (July 13, 1922 – April 7, 2004) was an American politician who served in the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's ...

from 1979 to 1984. She first served in the

Tom Cole Thomas Jeffery Cole (born April 28, 1949) is the U.S. representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party and serves as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Before serving in the House of Representati ...

, is the longest-serving Native American in the history of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

Early life and education

Helen TeAta Gale was born in

Tishomingo, Oklahoma Tishomingo is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,101 as of the 2020 census, an increase of 2.2% over the population of 3,034 reported at the 2010 census. It was the fir ...

, on July 13, 1922, to William Oakley Gale and Avis Minnette Fifield (Thompson). She was raised in a single-parent household and graduated from Ardmore High School in 1939.

Career

Cole was active in several local civic and political organizations, and contributed to the successful gubernatorial campaigns of

Henry Bellmon Henry Louis Bellmon (September 3, 1921 – September 29, 2009) was an American Republican politician from the U.S. State of Oklahoma. A member of the Oklahoma Legislature, he went on to become both the 18th and 23rd governor of Oklahoma, mai ...

and Dewey Bartlett. Cole was named a delegate to the

1968 Republican National Convention The 1968 Republican National Convention was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida, USA, from August 5 to August 8, 1968, to select the party's nominee in the general election. It nominated former Vice P ...

, and Bartlett appointed her to the Oklahoma Personnel Board. Cole ran for a seat on the

and was first elected in 1978. From 1979 to 1984, she represented district 54. Cole contested the 45th district

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Moore, Oklahoma Moore is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The population was 62,793 at the 2020 census, making Moore the seventh-largest city in the state of Oklahoma. Located between Okl ...

, in 1990. The next year, she succeeded her son

as state senator from the 45th district. Cole was named a National Convention delegate for a second time for the

1992 Republican National Convention The 1992 Republican National Convention was held in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, from August 17 to August 20, 1992. The convention nominated President George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle for reelection. It was Bush's fourth co ...

. Cole stepped down from the state senate in 1997, and was succeeded by Kathleen Wilcoxson. Cole was appointed a National Convention delegate for a third time for the

2000 Republican National Convention The 2000 Republican National Convention convened at the First Union Center (now the Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 31 to August 3, 2000. The 2,066 delegates assembled at the convention nominated Texas Governor Geo ...

. In retirement, she became a benefactor of the

University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) is a public liberal arts college in Chickasha, Oklahoma. It is the only public college in Oklahoma with a strictly liberal arts–focused curriculum and is a member of the Council of Publ ...

Death

She died on April 7, 2004, at the age of 81.

Personal life

Cole was of

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

and

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

descent. She was a member of the

Chickasaw Nation The Chickasaw Nation () is a federally recognized Indigenous nation with headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, in the United States. The Chickasaw Nation descends from an Indigenous population historically located in the southeastern United States, in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Helen 1922 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century Native American people 20th-century Native American politicians 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women Chickasaw people of Choctaw descent 20th-century members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Chickasaw Nation state legislators in Oklahoma Native American women in politics Republican Party Oklahoma state senators People from Moore, Oklahoma People from Tishomingo, Oklahoma Women mayors of places in Oklahoma Women state legislators in Oklahoma Republican Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives