Literacy volunteer honored

By Cathy Spaulding
Phoenix Staff Writer

March 27, 2009 01:16 am

— State officials honored 12 years of volunteer and philanthropic service to incarcerated women on Thursday by inducting Muskogee native Suzanne Edmondson to the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame.
The honoree says her work isn’t done yet.
Edmondson was one of seven women inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame during a Thursday ceremony at the Oklahoma Capitol rotunda. The induction was conducted by the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women.
“I’m very humbled and very proud to be inducted with these women,” Edmondson said before the ceremony.
Edmondson was honored for her work to improve the lives of incarcerated women, including working as a literacy tutor at Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in Taft.
Her involvement with Eddie Warrior began soon after her own 18-year-old daughter, Sarah, was arrested in a crime spree that left a Mississippi man dead and a Louisiana convenience store clerk paralyzed in 1995. One year later, Edmondson, the wife of then-District Judge Jim Edmondson, walked into the Taft prison as a literacy tutor. She used her maiden name for fear that her husband had sentenced some of the inmates she had worked with.
“I was first viewed with suspicion, but I proved, in fact, that I was a friend of Eddie Warrior Correctional Center,” she said.
Suzanne Edmondson now lives in Oklahoma City, because her husband is now chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
In Oklahoma City, Suzanne Edmondson and another woman lead a writing class for women at the Oklahoma County Jail.
“Unlike the prison system, a jail is highly transient,” she said. “Some prisoners are released into the community, others go into the prison system. So, I can tell you that because it is a jail, the course is very hard to do. These women are very worried about their families.”
She said that while the program is not designed as therapeutic, the women do find an outlet for their concerns.
Edmondson also continues supporting women at Eddie Warrior by helping to fund classes conducted there through Connors State College.
“We’re funding 54 women,” she said. “The tribes also contribute. There are multiple funding sources.”
She said she’s pleased that Gov. Brad Henry would be at the ceremony, as well as her “favorite warden,” Eric Franklin, how now is at Lexington Assessment and Reception Center.
“He cared about the value of the college program,” she said.
Edmondson said she is grateful for the people of Muskogee.
“Muskogee gave me my start, first as friends, then through financial support,” she said.

2009 Women’s Hall of Fame inductees

• Suzanne Edmondson, volunteer helping incarcerated women.
• Maj. Gen. LaRita A. Aragon, first woman to hold rank of brigadier general in the Oklahoma Air National Guard.
• Edna Hennessee, who helped grow Cosmetic Specialty Labs.
• First Lady Kim Henry.
• Oklahoma Secretary of State Susan Savage, former Tulsa mayor.
• Carolyn Whitener, who filed suit in the 1970s to challenge sexual discrimination in Oklahoma.
• Marabeau Looney, posthumous award, first woman elected to Oklahoma Senate in 1920.
Source: Daily Oklahoman, www.newsok.com

Reach Cathy Spaulding at 918-684-2928 or Click Here to Send Email

Photos

Edmondson