Our History

For 78 years Tulsa Town Hall has presented our community with the gift of knowledge, wisdom and experience as shared by the world's most acclaimed leaders in business, politics, media, literature and academia. Reviewing the topics covered is like reading a cultural history of our world since Tulsa Town Hall was founded in 1935. Originally lectures were held at the Ritz Theater with luncheon following in the Crystal Ballroom at the Mayo Hotel. Subscribers numbering 400 were entertained by authors such as...

Thornton Wilder

Sinclair Lewis

Edna St. Vincent Millay

And speakers addressing issues of the da...

"Developments of China" by Robert Berkov in 1937

"The Coming Victory for Democracy" by Thomas Mann in 1938

" The Ten Greatest Thinkers" by Will Durant in 1939

Over the decades, Tulsa Town Hall speakers documented our changing world, our culture and our interests.

40s & 50s
Thomas Haart Benton
Norman Vincent Peale
Norman Cousins

60s
Maria Von Trapp
Pearl Buck
Helen Hayes
Ralph Nader

70s
David Niven
Vincent Price
Art Buchwald
Charles Kuralt
Donald Rumsfeld

80s
Phil Donohue
William F. Buckley
Gerald Ford
Madam Jehan Sadat
Maya Angelou
David Brinkley
Henry Kissinger

90s
Robert Kennedy, Jr.
Charlton Heston
Judith Viorst
William Raspberry
Lesley Stahl
James Lovell
Dr. Robert Ballard

2000s'
Senator George Mitchell
Arun Gandhi
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Juan Williams
Ken Burns
Bob Schieffer