Maxine Horner
{{Short description|American politician (1933–2021)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Maxine Horner
| image = Maxine Horner.jpg
| image name=
| state_senate=Oklahoma
| district=11th
| term_start=1986
| term_end= 2004
| predecessor = Bernard McIntyre
| successor = Judy Eason McIntyre
| party=Democrat
| birth_name=Maxine Edwyna Cissel{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QcHPtdFdsgQC&q=%22Maxine+Edwyna%22|title = Who's Who in the South and Southwest, 2001-2002|isbn = 9780837908328|last1 = Who|first1 = Marquis Who's|date = November 2001| publisher=Marquis Who's Who, LLC }}
| birth_date= {{birth date|1933|1|17}}
| birth_place=Tulsa, Oklahoma
| death_date={{death date and age|2021|02|07|1933|1|17}}
| death_place=
| alma_mater=Wiley College, Langston University
| residence=Tulsa, Oklahoma
| spouse={{marriage|Donald Montell Horner|1954|2000|end=d.}}{{cite news|title=Deaths|newspaper=The Daily Oklahoman|date=September 22, 2000|page=18A}}
| children=2}}
Maxine Edwyna Cissel Horner (January 17, 1933 – February 7, 2021) was one of the first African American women to serve in the Oklahoma Senate, serving from 1986 to 2004, along with Vicki Miles-LaGrange.[http://almanac.okstate.edu/ Darcy, R and Jennifer Paustenbaugh. Oklahoma Women's Almanac, OPSA Press, 2005.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195232/http://almanac.okstate.edu/ |date=2016-03-03 }} Horner held the position of Democratic Caucus Chair, as well as Chair of Business and Labor and Government Operations, and Vice-Chair of Adult Literacy.[http://www.odl.state.ok.us/almanac/2005/14-histry.pdf 2005-2006 Oklahoma Almanac Online--Oklahoma History]
Biography
Horner was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 17, 1933.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eb8qAQAAMAAJ&q=maxine+horner+1933|title=Oklahoma Almanac|year=2003|publisher=Oklahoma Department of Libraries |isbn=9781880438091}} She graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, attended Wiley College in Marshall, Texas and received her BA from Langston University. She was married to the late Donald M. Horner and they have two children, Shari Tisdale, and Donald M Horner Jr. She has several grandchildren; her first grandchild, Corey Tisdale, was a political staffer for Congressman Dan Boren.
Horner was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate in 1986 and served for over 18 years until 2005, when she retired due to term limits. During her time in office, she played a major role in passing legislation that created OHLAP, the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program, which funds scholarships to Oklahoma colleges for students from families that earn $50,000 or less in income.
Some committees Horner served on include Business and Labor (Chair), Government Operations (Chair), Adult Literacy (Vice Chair), Appropriations, Education, Tourism, Congressional Redistricting, Rules and Tourism.
Credited with legislation founding the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, she is best known for her commitment to education and the arts. Horner was inducted in the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2007, the Oklahoma Afro-American Hall of Fame in 1999, and received the Pinnacle Award from the Tulsa Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women in 1993.[http://dc.library.okstate.edu/digital/collection/legislature/id/235/rec/23 -- Women of the Oklahoma Legislature Oral History Project] She died on February 7, 2021, twenty one days after her 88th birthday.{{Cite web|url=https://article.wn.com/view/2021/02/08/Maxine_Horner_trailblazing_former_state_legislator_from_Tuls_o/|title=Maxine Horner_ trailblazing former state legislator from Tulsa_ dies at 88}}
References
External links
- [https://library.okstate.edu/oralhistory/digital/wotol/ Women of the Oklahoma Legislature Oral History Project -- OSU Library]
- [https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/horner-maxine/ Voices of Oklahoma interview.] First person interview conducted on November 14, 2019, with Maxine Horner.
{{Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horner, Maxine}}
Category:African-American state legislators in Oklahoma
Category:21st-century African-American women politicians
Category:20th-century African-American women politicians
Category:20th-century American women politicians
Category:Democratic Party Oklahoma state senators
Category:21st-century members of the Oklahoma Legislature
Category:Women state legislators in Oklahoma
Category:Wiley University alumni
Category:Langston University alumni
Category:Politicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma
Category:20th-century African-American politicians
Category:21st-century African-American politicians
Category:Booker T. Washington High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma) alumni
{{Oklahoma-politician-stub}}