Wauhillau LaHay was born to Joseph and Annie (Russell) LaHay on July 14, 1906, in Claremore, Indian Territory.

LaHay, much younger than her older siblings, John, Margaret and Helen, had the most unique first name in the family. In the Cherokee language, Wauhillau (pronounced wau-HILL-er) was the masculine term for eagle. Her father and grandfather were lawyers and served the Cherokee Nation as judges and treasurers.

The LaHay family was listed on the Dawes Rolls for the Cherokee Nation. Wauhillau was the only one of her immediate family to be left off the rolls, as she was “born too late.” LaHay’s mother was born in Scotland, and her father’s heritage included Cherokee, French and Scottish ancestry. While LaHay’s genetic inheritance was an American blend with only a portion of Cherokee DNA, she was Cherokee in spirit.

The LaHays moved from Claremore to Muskogee in 1908, where her father continued to practice law until he died in 1911, when Wauhillau was only 4. At 15, she began working for the Muskogee Daily Phoenix, graduated from Muskogee Central High School in 1924, and enrolled at Oklahoma A&M College that fall, majoring in journalism.

At that time, OAMC was attracting and recruiting talented news writers from across the state. Classmates included Walker Stone, who would later serve as editor-in-chief of the Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance from 1953 until 1969. Paul Miller, who arrived in 1925, was selected as president and chairman of the Associated Press, as well as CEO of the Gannett Corporation. LaHay would also excel in journalism and communications positions in newspapers, radio and commerce later in her life.

A member of Kappa Alpha Theta, she wrote for the college newspaper and yearbook. She immersed herself in several extracurricular activities while working part time as a student clerk in the chief clerk’s office. LaHay was features editor for the 1926 yearbook and participated in several “queen” contests to raise funds through paid votes to benefit college publications and celebrations. She would be a queen attendant at the 1925 May Day festival — the fall gridiron queen contest that year — and was very active and popular across campus.

After her sophomore year, LaHay returned to Muskogee to help support her mother by working as the advertising manager for the Durnil Dry Goods Company. She soon returned to work at the Muskogee Daily Phoenix, where she was named society editor. In July 1927, she was elected in Pawhuska to serve as queen of the Society of Oklahoma Indians Convention for 1928. LaHay then moved to Oklahoma City to begin working as a reporter and columnist for the Oklahoma Publishing Company.

Within a year, LaHay became popular statewide. The Oklahoma City Times agreed to sponsor her flying lessons. It provided the funds to support this effort in exchange for roughly 35 articles for the paper describing the trials, tribulations and excitement of her pilot training. She would be one of the first three women to make this attempt in Oklahoma.

LaHay chronicled these episodes from March through May in 1929, becoming known as the “Times Flying Girl.” After earning her wings, she would lead a flying tour of Oklahoma that summer, accompanied by several pilots in various aircraft. LaHay also reported on the dramatic aviation expansion in Oklahoma at that time. New airports were added across the state, and existing ones expanded as aviation was promoted for economic growth and traveling convenience. Aircraft construction, flight training and aviation management were all considered significant investments to the future well-being of Oklahoma City and the state.

While working at the Oklahoma Publishing Company from 1928 through 1941, LaHay served as a reporter and social columnist for the Oklahoman and Times. She was introduced to the new medium of radio, developing programming and working as a broadcaster for WKY. It was one of the first radio stations in the country, after Oklahoma Publishing purchased it in 1928. An early assignment was an interview with visiting Prince Wilhelm of Sweden in 1928. When first introduced to the handsome prince, the 22-year-old reporter temporarily lost her composure and stated, “Oooh, hello prince!”

In 1937, she crossed paths with Walter Cronkite while he served as a play-by-play analyst for the University of Oklahoma football games broadcast on WKY.

In December 1941, LaHay was appointed radio editor at the Chicago Sun. She would also work at radio stations in Cincinnati; Kansas City, Missouri; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Denver during and after World War II. In July 1946, she was named radio publicity director and charged with radio, television and press publicity for N.W. Ayer and Company Inc. in New York City.

After moving to the East Coast, there were some who discouraged her from talking about her Native American heritage. She responded in a 1952 Collier’s Weekly article titled, “Smile When You Call Me Pocahontas,” expressing pride in her heritage.

In 1953, LaHay was named a promotional director at Kenyon and Eckhart, an advertising agency in NYC that represented high-profile corporations, including Kellogg, Ford Motor Company, Pepsi and the Ed Sullivan Show. LaHay’s client list included Peggy Lee, Dorothy Lamour, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and the German Shepherd that starred as Rin Tin Tin.

LaHay returned to journalism in 1963, working for Scripps-Howard newspapers in Washington, D.C. She became the first woman appointed to the governing board of Scripps-Howard Broadcasting and stayed with the company until she was named an emeritus member in 1980. During this time, she developed friendships with Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Betty Ford, traveling extensively with the first ladies, while also covering influential women and the spouses of many major political candidates. LaHay was a bridge partner with Lady Bird and was invited to both the White House and LBJ Ranch, while also attending press parties and black-tie dinners.

LaHay led a small group of female reporters who met with President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office on March 11, 1971, for refreshments and conversation. This was only three weeks after a new tape-recording system was installed in the Oval Office, thus preserving this meeting for posterity and future discussions in which the president would participate.

In 1973, LaHay was named president of the Washington Press Club, becoming the first woman and first Oklahoman to serve in this role. With only white male members until 1955, the WPC didn’t allow female members until 1970. Pat Nixon would introduce her at the luncheon when she assumed this role, and LaHay would introduce Betty Ford the following year, when her term was completed. Pat Nixon would visit her in the hospital and later invited her to stay overnight in the White House, but President Nixon resigned before this visit could be arranged. When Betty Ford heard of the situation, she extended an invitation for a night in the White House.

The Queens’ Room of the White House was reserved for LaHay on the night of Sept. 30, 1974, after enjoying dinner with the first family. The Queens’ Room, named for the seven queens who had stayed there, was located on the second floor. During the Ford Presidency, LaHay attended black-tie state dinners for King Hussein of Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Italian President Giovanni Leone. One of the last events LaHay attended at the White House was the Christmas party held in 1975.

LaHay returned to the OSU campus many times and was the featured speaker at the School of Journalism and Broadcasting’s Theta Sigma Phi dinner in 1972. Known for her charm and wit, LaHay described her job covering important women in government and met with journalism classes during the week.

She would be listed in the Who’s Who in America and named to the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. LaHay left Washington, D.C., in the late 1970s for retirement in Colorado, where she died in her sleep on March 24, 1992, at 85. Her body was returned to Oklahoma and buried at Muskogee’s Greenhill Cemetery near her parents and siblings.

Photos by: Facebook, OSU Archives and Presidential Archives

Story by: David C. Peters | STATE Magazine