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PrintThe history behind women of the Tulsa Gridiron
Down with the boys’ club
In the beginning, the only criteria to perform in the Tulsa Gridiron was to be a Tulsa Press Club member and be male. That didn’t sit well with Press Club member Pearl Garrison, especially when her husband admitted that the men of the Gridiron were joking about women not being allowed on stage.
“That set me off,” Garrison says.
Women could support the Gridiron by sewing costumes, playing piano and writing numbers, but performing on stage was a no-no.
David Averill, Tulsa World editorial pages editor, participated in about 20 shows as a performer and writer, and also chaired the Gridiron trust for several years.
He says the men-only tradition started with the Washington Gridiron in the 1920s and that journalism and press clubs were dominated by men.
“It was as much of a boys’ club as it was a show,” he says. “Men dressed in drag to portray women; that was part of the comedy.”
The reluctance to incorporate women on stage boiled down to a resistance to change.
“The older guys liked the show the way it was,” Averill says.
But that wasn’t a good enough reason for Garrison. She hit the Press Club where it hurt: in the finances. She circulated a petition to members stating they would drop their memberships unless women could perform in the Gridiron. Garrison got enough signatures that it got the attention of board members of the Gridiron Trust.
Breaking new ground
In 1986 women finally graced the stage. County Commissioner Karen Keith was among those women. Working her way up in the male-dominated broadcast media, she was comfortable with the guys and unaware that she was breaking new ground.
“I was so naive when I did that. I didn’t realize how upsetting that would be for the guys,” she says. “But once I got in there, they were really nice.
“It was a great experience and gave me relationships outside the broadcast media. They really let their hair down. It was a hoot.”
The Gridiron would bring in 1,500-2,000 patrons a night during the two-night run, but the numbers have steadily dwindled. A factor in that could be that many of the jobs were patronage jobs, which depended on elected officials, Averill says.
“People loved seeing their bosses parodied and they were more politically attuned. Now there’s more social commentary than hard news events,” he says.
But some things never change: The Gridiron still contributes to journalism scholarships and is a great excuse to throw a party.
Gridiron 2010
There is another woman who has been an integral part of Gridiron over the last several years, although she tends to fly more “under the radar” than her on-stage peers. Mimi Gooden has written many of the lyrics for the show and, although she doesn’t appear on stage, her contributions are vital.
“She has a reputation for delivering a virtual fountain of lyrics that are razor-sharp, hilarious — and delivered at seemingly lightning speed,” says Kerry Malone, producer of the 2010 Gridiron production. “She’s the most prolific author on the team. And the most ‘mysterious.’ Some on the Gridiron team have never seen her; her missives and lyrics come from an e-mail account that is aptly named ‘verbal blowtorch.’”
More than 70 years later, the Tulsa Gridiron is still parodying elected officials and just plain making fun of today’s newsmakers. The theme “Dewey Dare?” pretty much sums it up.
“The show will be taking pot shots at everything worth shooting at, from local to national headlines and from both sides of the aisle,” Director Rebecca Ungerman says. “Like the show says, ‘Dewey Dare?’ Yes ... we do.”
Find out more about the Tulsa Gridiron's performers here.
Editor’s note: The Tulsa Gridiron is March 12-13 at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Visit MyTicketOffice.com for tickets.
