Roberta Lawson

Born Roberta E. Campbell, she was the daughter of Emeline Johhnycake, a Lenape and daughter of Charles Johnnycake, the last Lenape chief, and John Edward Campbell, of Scots-Irish descent from Virginia. Her father had migrated to Oklahoma after the American Civil War and became a successful trader. Roberta learned from both sides of her family; she was tutored at home and later attended a seminary and Hardin College in Missouri. She learned Lenape chants and music from her mother and maternal grandfather, Charles, which later inspired her compositions. ==Marriage and family==

In 1901 she married Eugene Lawson (d. 1931), an attorney who had settled in Nowata, Indian Territory. He also worked in banking and the oil industry. They had one son together, Edward Campbell Lawson, born in 1905. Later they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he founded an oil company. After his father's death, the younger Lawson became president of their Tulsa-based Lawson Petroleum Company. ==Civic career==

When Lawson returned from college, she wanted to form new clubs that were all about friendship and culture. Lawson became active in women's clubs organized to address social and community needs. In 1903 she became president of the Nowata Women's Club, and by 1917 was elected to a term to the Oklahoma State Federation of Women's Clubs. The following year, she became active in the General Federation of Women's Clubs, where she held several offices, including music chairman. During that time, she wrote compositions for Indian Music Programs for clubs and Special Music Days (1926). While she served as president from 1935 to 1938, she led the General Federation's two million members in goals of "uniform marriage and divorce laws, birth control, and civic service." as a member of the Board of Regents for Oklahoma College for Women (now the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma) in Chickasha, and as a member of the board of trustees of the University of Tulsa. ==Legacy and honors==

• 1935, inducted into Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame. • Lawson was one of the four women inducted into the American Indian Hall of Fame, and her bronze bust is included among the 41 displayed at Anadarko, Oklahoma. ==Notes==