Evan Dhu Cameron

Evan Dhu Cameron was born on February 26, 1862, to Caroline Crawford and John Worth Cameron in Richmond County, North Carolina as the youngest of seven children. His family was descended from Scottish immigrants. His father was a lawyer, editor, and former military officer.[1] He attended school in Richmond, North Carolina, later attended Trinity College, and graduated from the Dick and Dillard School of Law in 1881. He practiced law for seven years in North Carolina. In 1888 he was licensed by the Methodist Episcopal Church. He worked as a pastor in Texas before moving to Oklahoma Territory in 1891. He married Clara Williams in 1890. In 1901 he switched denominations and joined the Southern Baptist Convention.[2] He was the president of the Baptist General Convention of Indian Territory from 1904 to 1905.[1]

From 1894 to 1896 Cameron served as the Superintendent of Public Instruction, president of the Board of Education, territorial auditor, and president of the board of health for Oklahoma Territory. In 1907, he was elected for one term as Oklahoma's first Superintendent of Public Instruction as a member of the Democratic Party, serving until 1911. During his tenure he is credited for organizing schools from the former Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory into one unified education system and implementing the first uniform textbook law in the state. Between 1907 and 1908, over 2,200 new public schools were opened in rural Oklahoma.[2]

In 1908, Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma was named after him. Cameron helped found Oklahoma Baptist University in 1911 and received an honorary degree from there in 1915. He unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma in 1922. He was also a Freemason. Cameron died on July 29, 1923, of a stroke in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.[2] He is buried in Okmulgee, Oklahoma[1]