MuskogeeNow.com
Barbara Staggs, 74, a longtime educator in Muskogee and state representative as well as a philanthropist throughout the region, died today.
She was born in her grandmother’s home in Hulbert in 1940. Her parents moved her to Muskogee three weeks later, where she would spend the rest of her life, except for three years living in Tahlequah.
After graduating Muskogee High School in 1958, Staggs received a B.A. in education from Northeastern University, an M.A. and Ed.D. at the University of Tulsa.
Staggs, whose passion for education informed every detail of her life, was a teacher in Muskogee for 15 years, where she taught English, drama, speech and broadcasting. Following that, she was an assistant principal for six years and then a principal for three years. Staggs was the first woman secondary principal in Muskogee. She served as superintendent for Tahlequah public schools from 1990-1993, being the first woman to hold the position.
After her retirement from education, Staggs ran for – and won – the District 14 seat in the state House in 1996, defeating a longtime incumbent in the Democratic primary. Staggs was the first female elected to the legislature from District 14 and beat a male incumbent with more than 20 years of service. In the House, she served on the Common Education Committee, among many others. During her tenure, she helped establish the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
She was also instrumental in passing a bill that gave funding to the Oklahoma Department of Libraries to award library construction grants to rural communities for local library construction. Since that time more than 30 libraries have been refurbished or built.
Staggs served in the legislature for 12 years, until term limits forced her retirement, which she spent working tirelessly to help civic and charitable institutions in Muskogee.
Staggs was a longtime member of First Baptist Church in Muskogee.
Staggs slipped and hit her head last night, and she did not recover from the injury.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been made.
In a 2007 interview, the interviewer asked “When history is written about you, what would you like for it to say?”
Staggs answered: “I would like them to say that I listened to my constituents and I tried as often as I could to support those things that they wanted me to support and to not support those things that they wanted me to vote against, and I hope that I was always truthful with them.”
