THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 24 | SEPTEMBER 2024 It soon became evident that Ms. Arnold, Drumright’s only female attorney, was to be one of Oklahoma’s most colorful women leaders. According to Mr. Newsom, “She carried a gun and kept it under her pillow at night.”2 Disregarding that “proper women” did not smoke in those days, Ms. Arnold did. When preparing for a case, she would lean her forehead on her hands, and the smoke from her cigarettes rose into her snow-white hair, eventually turning it yellow in front.3 She always wore trousers and could be seen sitting in the movies with her legs draped over the seat in front of her. Although she normally used proper language, if people in the oil field wanted to communicate with her on a “less sophisticated level,” it was said that Ms. Arnold could hold her own.4 Underdogs were her favorite clients, and she championed many unpopular causes by representing them in court. In 1917, she joined the International Workers of the World, a group that protested World War I, and over the years, she represented many of its members in court. Ms. Arnold’s court presentations were often very graphic. During a rape case, she once went to the extreme of demonstrating to the court how a woman could resist being attacked.5 From 1919 to 1956, Ms. Arnold was the attorney of record in 19 reported decisions in Oklahoma. From the day she opened her office in Drumright, she was both respected and accepted in the legal community.6 Aside from her legal practice, she was actively involved in politics, taking the stump for Democrats in every election. She was an organizer of the League of Women Voters and the Business and Professional Women’s Club in Drumright. Grace Arnold is buried in the Drumright cemetery. ENDNOTES Individual Sources: Earl Newsom D. Scott Pappas 1. Earl Newsom, Drumright! The Glory Days of a Boom Town, p.61. 2. Id. 3. Id. 4. Id. 5. Newsom. 6. Newsom, telephone conversation with author. Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. Women in Law Grace Arnold GRACE ARNOLD WAS BORN IN 1888 IN CREEK COUNTY. After passing the bar examination, Ms. Arnold was admitted to the bar in 1915 and began traveling the state of Oklahoma looking for a place to begin her law practice. According to Earl Newsom in Drumright! The Glory Days of a Boom Town, “Fascinated by the oil fields, she came back to Creek County and Drumright on one of the first passenger trains in 1915.”1 She opened her office on the second floor of the J.W. Fulkerson Building, where she practiced until her retirement.
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