Martha Jane Phillips Starr, right, and John Wilbur Starr
The Bartlesville Area History Museum has received a $25,000 grant from the Martha Jane Phillips Starr Field of Interest Fund, directed by the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation.
The grant will allow the museum to purchase important archival supplies and pay the salaries of two museum clerks who will devote their time to digitizing important documents and photographs into the museum database and greatly enhance the amount of information available to assist researching visitors.
“This grant is invaluable in allowing the museum to continue preserving the history of Bartlesville and the surrounding communities,” said Museum Director Shellie McGill.
Martha Jane Phillips Starr was the daughter of L.E. Phillips, co-founder of Phillips Petroleum Company. She spent her life dedicated to volunteerism and philanthropy. She volunteered as the Chairman of Nurse’s Aides during WWII, and in 1963, she became the first woman elected trustee at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, allowing her to establish the Family Study Center Endowment.
In 1965, she was appointed by Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation W.W. Keeler as the “Ambassador of Good Will” and given the Cherokee name Nah-Tsah-NeeKah-Lah-Gah, which means “Rising Star.” She founded the UMKC Women’s Council and the Starr Symposium, served as the President of Planned Parenthood, offered scholarships for women in women’s studies, and was the president of the UMKC Women’s Council from 1967-1968. She was also the first woman to be awarded the UMKC Chancellor’s Medal for Career Contributions.
In 2000, she was heavily involved in the establishment of the Bartlesville Area History Museum.
“Her legacy continues to support the museum through grants that aid the preservation of the community’s history,” McGill said.
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