Bess Truitt was born in Madison, Iowa, in 1883. Her family lived briefly in Kansas, and moved to
Enid, Oklahoma due to the
land run in 1893. She graduated
Enid High School in 1901 and obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees from
Phillips University. She also attended
Valparaiso University and the
University of Utah. Prior to becoming the Poet Laureate of Oklahoma, she was employed as a teacher, Garfield County Clerk, travel agent, and for the Department of American Citizenship in Oklahoma. She released one poetry collection
Thistle Down and Prairie Rose (Burton Publishing) in December 1940. Her work was anthologized in the
Anthology of Poetry by Oklahoma Writers, ''Anthology of the General Federation of Women's Clubs
, and the Anthology of Newspaper Verse''. She edited a newspaper column entitled, "Port o' Poets,"
Range Rhymes and Recollections,
Journal of the Sons and Daughters of the Cherokee Strip, and
Red Earth Poetry Magazine. Her work also appeared in
Chronicles of Oklahoma,
Oklahoma State Senate Journal,
Oklahoma Today, and the
Enid Morning News. She served as president of the Enid Writer's Club, the National League of American Pen Women, and the Oklahoma Poetry Society. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1959, and in 1966, received the Pride of the Plainsmen Award by
Enid High School. She died in 1972. == See also ==