Mattie O. Watts Kimes
Mattie O. Watts Kimes
“During the depression years [she] traded many of her paintings for musical instruments and lessons so that several students could receive a musical education.”
Biography
Mattie O. Watts Kimes was born in Cowley County, Kansas, and was an accomplished landscape artist when she married Charles Kimes in 1906. The couple moved to Enid, Oklahoma, in 1912 and established a grocery store near Phillips University (now Northern Oklahoma College). With her easel and brushes, Mattie put on canvas the scenes of north central Oklahoma which reflected her love of the area and her great desire to help young people succeed. She was later sponsored in her art endeavors by the Enid Fine Arts Club, of which she was an honorary member.
Fun fact
Mattie Kimes’ son, Charles, was a pilot for Pan American Airways when he received the 1965 award for a civilian pilot when he successfully saved 153 passengers when he landed his 707 after an outboard engine exploded on a flight to Hawaii.
Oklahoma connections
Kimes came to Enid, Oklahoma, in 1912.