University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma

Chickasaw descendant and the land had been part of her allotment. The Nellie Sparks Dormitory, which was among the first buildings constructed at the new institution, was named in her honor. In 1912, the institution's authorities renamed the school Oklahoma College for Women. This came about because a probate judge, under the mistaken impression that the "Industrial Institute" was a reform school, sentenced an "incorrigible young woman" to serve time there. This name change was made official by the State Legislature in 1916. Between 1910 and 1927, the school was the southwest terminus of the Chickasha Street Railway, the trolleys of which could take the ladies into town or all the way to the Rock Island railroad depot.
The institution initially offered four years of high school work and four years of college; those who completed the college course were awarded bachelor's degrees. It gradually shifted its focus to college only; by the 1925–1926 school year, only college classes were offered. Though the institution's …