Misplaced Pages

Jeanette Bartleson Edmondson (6 June 1925 – 11 June 1990) was an American politician and former First lady of Oklahoma who served as the 22nd Secretary of State of Oklahoma as a member of the Democratic party from 18 January 1979 to 8 October 1987.

Early life

Bartleson was born on 6 June 1925 in Muskogee, Oklahoma to Augustus Chapman Bartleson and Georgia Shutt. She married her childhood sweetheart James Howard Edmondson on 15 May 1946 in Muskogee, Oklahoma and went on to have three children. The couple moved to Tulsa in the 1950s.

Political career

Bartleson became the First lady of Oklahoma upon her husband's election as Governor in 1958 and fulfilled that position until her husbands resignation from the governorship, so he could be appointed to the US Senate in 1963. Bartleson's husband died suddenly in 1971, which left her widowed.

Following the election of her late husbands former Lieutenant Governor George Nigh to the governorship in 1978, Bartleson was appointed as the 22nd Secretary of State of Oklahoma on 18 January 1979. She served in that position for the entirety of Nigh's two terms and the first 10 months of his successor Henry Bellmon's term.

Death

After her retirement from politics, Bartleson lived in Oklahoma City until her death on 11 June 1990, five days after her 65th birthday. She was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Oklahoma City.

References

1. Davis, Billy J. "Edmondson, James Howard (1925-1971)." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society. Accessed 22 January 2024.
2. "OK Secretary of State". ourcampaigns.com. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2024.

• 1925 births
• 1990 deaths
• Edmondson family
• Secretaries of state of Oklahoma
• Politicians from Muskogee, Oklahoma
• Oklahoma Democrats
• Women in Oklahoma politics
• 20th-century Oklahoma politicians
• 20th-century American women politicians