Inductees G-I

Cyrus Harris was born August 22, 1817, to Elizabeth Oxberry and James Harris near Pontotoc, Mississippi, on the estate of his grandmother Molly Colbert Gunn. His grandfather was General William Colbert, a renowned leader of the Chickasaws. In 1827, he was sent to Monroe Mission School and later an Indian school in Giles County, Tennessee. In 1830, he returned to Mississippi to live with his grandmother, mother and later his uncle Martin Colbert.

Jess Green was born Sept. 21, 1952, in Ada, Okla., to J.L. and Mary Jo Green. He graduated with honors from East Central University in 1974 and received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma School of Law in 1977.

Geraldine Factor Greenwood has made significant contributions to preserving the Chickasaw Language.

Colbert Franklin Hackler was born in 1918 in Mannsville, Okla. He received his bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Oklahoma City University and obtained his master and doctorate degrees in music education at the University of Oklahoma. Hackler worked as Elk City Schools music educator for 23 years. He began teaching at the University of Oklahoma Laboratory School in 1960 and in 1972 he moved to the main campus to teach. He retired in 1981, but returned to teaching and performing music soon after.

Governor Robert Maxwell Harris, the 21st governor of the Chickasaw Nation, labored unceasingly to promote the educational and overall progress of the Chickasaw people.

First Native American astronaut in the United States space program, Commander Herrington is a great inspiration to youth of all walks of life. He spends a great deal of his free time serving as a motivational speaker to young people, encouraging them to pursue their education.

Linda Henderson Hogan is a poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and essayist. Her novel Mean Spirit was a finalist for a Pulitzer in 1990 and won an Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction in 1991. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas in 1998. Other awards are too numerous to list.

Vinnie May Seely James Humes was born in Coatworth, Indian Territory in 1903 and is an original enrolled member of the Chickasaw tribe.

Reverend Jesse Humes, a fluent speaker of English, Choctaw, and Chickasaw, was very aware of the importance of his cultural heritage and worked with his wife Vinnie May (James) Humes to compile A Chickasaw Dictionary.