Career librarian with a passion for educating others about Chickasaw history

Betty Kemp, born in 1930, is the great-granddaughter of fellow Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame inductee Levi "Itawamba Miko" Colbert. Her life has been dedicated to the preservation of ancient archives, and she has also served as a mediator for the Chickasaw Nation between the southeastern homelands and Oklahoma.

Betty received a bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma and a master's degree from Florida State University, both in library sciences. She was then appointed as the director of the three-county regional library, Cherokee Regional Library. She spent most of her career as a librarian, with the intent of educating others about Chickasaw history.

Living in Norman since 1993, Betty has helped carve a path for current relations and cultural exchanges between the Chickasaw people and those who currently reside on their ancestral homelands.

Accomplishments

  • Inducted into Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame in 2013
  • First minority woman to hold office of the president through the North Mississippi Conference-United Methodist Women
  • Board of Directors of the Chickasaw Historical Society