Governor Robert Lee Williams
by Leonard D. McMurry
Robert Lee Williams was Oklahoma's third Governor. He was born December 20, 1868, at Brundidge, Alabama. He earned a number of college degrees including LL.D., was admitted to the Alabama Bar in 1891, and began his practice in Troy, Alabama. In 1896, he went to Atoka, Indian Territory. His long years of public service included: Member of the Constitutional Convention, 1906-1907; Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, 1907-1914; Governor of Oklahoma, January 11, 1915 to January 13, 1919; United States District Judge; Eastern District of Oklahoma, 1919 to 1937; United States Circuit Judge, Tenth Circuit, 1937-1939. He retired in 1939 and died at his home in Durant, Oklahoma, April 10, 1948.
The Artist
Known
as Oklahoma’s own “Michelangelo,” Leonard McMurry was born
to a family of prominent cotton farmers in the Texas panhandle. McMurry moved
to Oklahoma in 1955 and then lived in Stilwell and Oklahoma City. Under the teachings
of sculptors Carl Mose and Ivan Mestrovic, McMurry perfected his craft. His
magnificent sculptures of Oklahoma icons can be seen across the state including
the ‘89er statue on Couch Drive in Oklahoma City and the Praying Hands that grace the
lawns of Oral Roberts University.
In accordance with Oklahoma’s Diamond Jubilee celebration in 1982, McMurry
was commissioned to sculpt busts of 21 past Oklahoma Governors. The
Hall of Governors exudes Oklahoman’s pride in her past legislative guardians.
Regarding his works, McMurry states, “Each piece must have a soul, a
living quality that’s far more important than just physical representation.
A piece has to have guts: the strength, power, and dignity, that makes it a
monument.” McMurry has accomplished that very feat within the grandiose
Hall of Governors in which visitors may come face to face with naturalistic
representation of Oklahoma leaders.
Governor Robert Lee Williams by Leonard D. McMurry is
located in the Hall of Governors on the second floor of the Oklahoma State
Capitol and can be viewed daily from 8:30-5:30.