E. W. Marland

E. W. Marland
10thGovernor of Oklahoma
In office January 15, 1935 – January 9, 1939
Lieutenant	James E. Berry
Preceded by	William H. Murray
Succeeded by	Leon C. Phillips
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOklahoma's8thdistrict
In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935
Preceded by	Milton C. Garber
Succeeded by	Phil Ferguson
Personal details
Born	(1874-05-08)May 8, 1874 Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	October 3, 1941(1941-10-03)(aged 67) Ponca City, Oklahoma,U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	1) Mary Virginia Collins Marland 2)Lydie Roberts Marland
Alma mater	University of Michigan Law School
Profession	Lawyer, Businessperson

Ernest Whitworth Marland(May 8, 1874 – October 3, 1941) was an American lawyer,oil businessmanin Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, and politician who was a U.S. representative and Oklahoma governor. He served in theUnited States House of Representativesfrom northern Oklahoma, 1933 to 1935 and as the tenthgovernor of Oklahomafrom 1935 to 1939. As aDemocrat,he initiated a "Little Deal" in Oklahoma during theGreat Depression,working to relieve the distress of unemployed people in the state, and to build infrastructure as investment for the future.

Marland made fortunes in oil in Pennsylvania in the 1900s and in Oklahoma in the 1920s, and lost each in the volatility of the industry and the times. At the height of his wealth in the 1920s, Marland built a mansion known as thePalace of the PrairiesinPonca City,after introducing fox hunts (and red foxes) and polo games to the local elite society. It has been designated aNational Historic Landmark.The Marland-Paris Mansion, his former home on Grand Avenue, is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.

Marland and his first wife Virginia did not have any children. To share their wealth and help her sister Margaret Roberts and her family, in 1916 they adopted their two children, George and Lydie, who were then 19 and 16 years old. The Marlands sent them to private school and gave them other advantages. Two years after Virginia's death in 1926, Marland had Lydie's adoption annulled. He marriedLydie Robertsthat year, and she later accompanied him to Washington, D.C., and the governor's mansion.

Early life and education

Ernest Whitworth Marland was born inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania on May 8, 1874. His father was a mill owner inPittsburghwho boasted in his later years that he never had a strike in his mill and his workers remembered him as having been "always fair to labor". This gave the son his belief in capitalism and his understanding of the importance of good labor relations.

Marland was educated in private schools, he did collegiate and law studies on an accelerated schedule, earning hisLL.B.from theUniversity of MichiganLaw Schoolat the age of 19 in 1893.

Marriage and family

Unlike many men of the period, Marland waited to marry until he was well-established. He first married Mary Virginia Collins, known as Virginia, on November 5, 1903, inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.By 1907 he had become a millionaire from his oil dealings in Pennsylvania, but lost a fortune in a downturn.They decided to move to Oklahoma, where they found renewed success in itsoil boom.They had no children of their own.

In 1916, to help Virginia's sister Margaret Roberts and husband George Roberts, and to share their wealth,they adopted the Roberts' two children, George andLydie,then ages 19 and 16, respectively. They sent them to private schools and gave them other opportunities. The Marlands were together until Virginia's death frompneumoniaon June 6, 1926, in Ponca City,Kay County, Oklahoma.

E. W. Marland had Lydie Roberts Marland's adoptionannulled.TheNew York Timespublished news of Marland's engagement (a month before) to Lydie Marland, the daughter of his late wife's sister on January 6, 1928. The front-page notice was followed by an adjacent item reporting the reaction by Miss Roberts' mother, "who broke down and wept when she learned of the engagment."On July 14, 1928, Marland married Lydie Roberts in Philadelphia. She was 28 and he was 54. They were together until his death on October 3, 1941.

Career

After law school, Marland returned to Pittsburgh where he started a private practice. Through his experiences as an attorney, he became interested in geology and entered the developingoil industryin Pennsylvania. He invested in new wells and companies and, by the age of 33, Marland had become a self-made millionaire.

That same year, Marland lost millions in thepanic of 1907.By 1908, Marland was broke and without a job. Hoping to start their lives over, Marland and Virginia moved to the new state ofOklahoma.They settled in Ponca City, where he resumed his oil career.

He first founded the101 Ranch Oil Company.Marland was successful in reestablishing his fortune and, by 1920, it was estimated at $85,000,000 (roughly $910,000,000 in modern dollars). That year he founded theMarland Oil Companyin Ponca City (it was incorporated in Delaware on October 8, 1920) and served as its president. In 1928, the Marland Oil Company was taken over in a hostile bid process byJ. P. Morgan, Jr.and was merged withContinental Oil and Transportation Company (CONOCO).Marland's oil empire was destroyed and he was pushed out of the company and replaced as President of Marland Oil byDan Moran.He lost all of his wealth for the second time.He andWilliam Skellywere instrumental in the founding of the Kansas-Oklahoma division of theUnited States Oil and Gas Association,then known as "Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association".

Congressman

Despite hisbig businessbackground, Marland was not aRepublican.His treatment at the hands of Morgan and other eastern monopoly giants gave him a distrust of them, leading him to register as aDemocrat.Marland supportedFranklin D. Roosevelt'sNew Dealprograms from the beginning of hispresidency.Through association with FDR, Marland was elected in 1932 to theUnited States House of Representativesto representOklahoma's 8th congressional district,since disbanded. Marland was the first Democrat to hold that seat in 15 years.

Marland served in Congress for a single term, from 1933 to 1935. He declined reelection after entering the Democratic primaries to succeed GovernorWilliam H. Murray.Marland won both the Democratic nomination and the election in November 1934 to serve as the tenth governor of the state.

Governor of Oklahoma

E. W. Marland byJo Davidson,1928,Ponca City,Oklahoma

On January 15, 1935, Marland was inaugurated as governor. Several years before, the widower had marriedLydie Roberts Marland,his former adopted daughter. She was then 28 and he was 54. She became First Lady of the state.

Marland quickly instituted a program that would become known as the "Little New Deal".From the start, theOklahoma HouseandOklahoma Senatewere not in favor of his plans. The legislature was more concerned with reducing the state's massive deficit (roughly a quarter of billion dollars in modern currency). Marland, an avid supporter of FDR, stressed the need for the state government to work with the federal government in creating jobs and support for families.

Despite Marland's efforts, most Oklahoman politicians never fully embraced the New Deal. What the Legislature would accept was ahomestead exemptionprovision to the state'sad valorem taxes,increased school funds, and raising the statesales taxto two percent. Marland introduced legislation to appropriate funds raised by the sales tax for aid to the handicapped, the elderly, and dependent children.

At this time, Oklahoma had an estimated 150,000 Oklahomans that were unemployed and 700,000 on relief.Marland asked the Fifteenth Legislature for a board to craft policy to develop the physical infrastructure of the state with investments to create a more diverse economy. The Legislature responded with the 15-member State Planning and Resources Board. The Board worked with FDR'sWorks Progress Administrationto create jobs through public works projects such as construction of dams and tree planting. The State Highway Department expanded its road work and created thousands of jobs. Historic properties and renovated, archeological excavations were undertaken to identify and preserve resources, and other resources were enhanced.

Though he did not balance the state's budget, Marland created theOklahoma Highway Patroland theInterstate Oil Compact.Through the Compact, six oil-producing states agreed to practice oil conservation and establish a fair price for petroleum. The governing body of the Compact was a commission, of which Marland was elected to serve as the first president.

Marland's term as governor ended on January 9, 1939. Through more than 1,300 WPA projects, he had created jobs for more than 90,000 Oklahomans. After his term, he returned to Ponca City and tried to recreate the Marland Oil Company.

In 1940, Marland ran for theUnited States House of Representativesagain but was unsuccessful against a Republican candidate.

Pioneer Womanstatue

Protectiveby John Gregory: one of the twelvePioneer Womanmodels. The models are now on display at the Marland Mansion.

ThePioneer Womanstatue was created by sculptor Bryant Baker and was unveiled in a public ceremony on April 22, 1930. Forty thousand guests came to hear Will Rogers pay tribute to Oklahoma's pioneers. The statue is 27 feet (8.2 m) high and weighs 12,000 pounds.

In the early 1920s while enjoying his great oil wealth, Marland decided to commission a statue, thePioneer Woman,for installation in Ponca City.Marland was asked, "E. W., why don't you have sculptorJo Davidsonmake a statue to the vanishing American, aPonca,Otoe,or anOsage– a monument of great size? "Marland answered, "The Indian is not the vanishing American – it's the pioneer woman."

Marland commissioned twelve miniature 3-foot (0.91 m) sculptures by US and international sculptors as models for thePioneer Womanstatue.Marland paid each sculptor a commission for these models, which has been variously cited as $10,000and as $2,000for each submission. The miniatures were shipped for exhibit in twelve cities, where they were viewed by a total of 750,000 people. Marland invited them to cast votes for their favorite but said he would make the final selection.

The twelve submissions includedConfidentbyBryant Baker;Self-ReliantbyAlexander Stirling Calder;TrustingbyJo Davidson;AffectionatebyJames E. Fraser;ProtectivebyJohn Gregory;AdventurousbyF. Lynn Jenkins;HeroicbyMario Korbel;FaithfulbyArthur Lee;ChallengingbyHermon Atkins MacNeil;DeterminedbyMaurice Sterne;FearlessbyWheeler Williams;andSturdybyMahonri Young.The New York Timesreported on March 27, 1927, that the exhibition had arrived in New York City and that it had attracted "more interest than any exhibition of sculpture New York has known in a long while."After being exhibited for three weeks in the Reinhardt Galleries, Bryant Baker's model won first place in the New York balloting.TheTimesreported that "Baker not only won first honors, but was the last man to enter the contest having no more than a month to prepare his model and obtain a casting."

I believe all of the sculptors have done well. We could select any one of the twelve figures and get an excellent interpretation of the frontier woman. The decision will be a hard one to make. I expect to be guided largely by public taste, but the final decision will be my own. This national vote is going to show exactly what the American people think about one of the greatest of their women.

The exhibition touched a popular chord in American culture of the time.The New York Timesreported on March 27, 1927, that among the visitors was 91‑year‑old Betty Wollman, who as a young bride had journeyed fromSt. Louis, Missouri,toLeavenworth, Kansas,in 1855. She had once entertainedAbraham Lincolnas a dinner guest in the Wollman household, long before he was a candidate for president.Wollman spoke about women's role during pioneer days in the Old West and congratulated Marland for his proposal to erect a statue in her honor.

The winning statue nationwide wasConfident,which featured a woman and her son, by the British-born American sculptorBryant Baker.Marland's personal favorite was said to beTrustingby Jo Davidson, who had already sculpted statues of Marland and his adopted children: George andLydie.

On April 22, 1930, at a reception for 40,000 guests, Baker's sculpture was unveiled inPonca Cityin a public ceremony. Guest speakerWill Rogerspaid tribute to Oklahoma's pioneers.PresidentHerbert Hooveraddressed the nation in a radio broadcast to commemorate the statue.He said, "It was those women who carried the refinement, the moral character and spiritual force into the West.

The finishedPioneer Womanis 27 feet (8.2 m) high and weighs 12,000 pounds.

Death

Marland died of a heart condition on October 3, 1941, at the age of 67. He is buried in Ponca City.

Movie about Marland

• Filmmaker Scott Swearingen made a documentary about the oilman,High Stakes: The Life and Times of E.W. Marland(2016), which he co-produced with Steve Herrin. Supported with funding by the Marland Foundation, the film was featured with a panel discussion at theOklahoma Historical Societyon September 13, 2016.
• In August 2012, theWeinstein Company,announced that it was to produce the romantic drama filmEnds of the Earth,written by Academy Award-winning screenwriterChris Terrio,and based on the lives of EW and Lydie Marland. The screenplay was said to explore the controversial love affair between the oil baron and former Oklahoma governor, and his adopted daughter, who built a mansion and other extravagances inPonca City, Oklahoma.ActressJennifer Lawrencewas cast in the role of Lydie Marland.The screenplay went through several rewrites and the film may still be in development.

Commemoration

TheMarland Grand Homeis listed on the National Register of Historic Places

• His Italianate mansion in Ponca City, the 55-roomE. W. Marland Mansiondesigned byJohn Duncan Forsyth,was declared aNational Historic Landmarkin 1977.
• His previous home, known as theMarland Grand Home,located on Grand Avenue with eight acres of formal gardens, is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.

State of the State speeches

• First State of the State Speech
• Second State of the State Speech
• Third State of the State Speech
• Fourth State of the State Speech

External links

• History of E.W. Marland,Marland Mansion Website
• Ernest Marland,Oklahoma State
• "Pioneer Woman Models",Hugh Pickens website