Nancy (Nannie) K. Fite

Class of
1939
Nancy (Nannie) K. Fite

Nancy (Nannie) K. Fite

“I am a strong believer in predestination. I believe to be a leader one must be ordained before birth and by an unchangeable purpose.”
Nannie K. Fite

Biography

Affectionately known as “Aunt Nannie,” Nancy Katherine Daniel was the only survivor of a twin birth. Her mother and twin sister died after birth that cold night on the floor of a chinked log cabin. A few years later, her father died after returning to the family’s original home site just across the river from Ft. Smith, Arkansas to rebuild the home that had been destroyed in the war of the Choctaw Nation. With her two older sisters, she went to live with an aunt and later, when the Choctaw Nation built a home to care for its orphaned children, Nancy lived there. At the age of 17, she enrolled in the Cherokee National Female Seminary and graduated one year later in 1880 with six other Cherokee girls. After teaching school for three years, she married Dr. Richard L. Fite and they established their home in Tahlequah, Oklahoma where they lived the rest of their lives. In addition to her role as mother of eight children, Mrs. Fite was a tireless worker in every movement beneficial to her community, her church, and her state. She was a leader in asking for full political privilege for women and was in great demand as a speaker. She worked at the local and state level for the Democratic Party and was selected a delegate to the National Convention in 1920 and again in 1940.

Fun fact

Nannie Fite felt that if there was anything good about her or if she had accomplished anything worthwhile in her life, that it was due, in large measure, to her early training at the Cherokee Orphan Asylum.

Oklahoma connections

Fite was born near Skullyville in the Choctaw Nation.

Hometown

Tahlequah

Profession

Public Servant

Presenter

Born

1862

Died

1946
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