Shelly Crow (January 27, 1948 – May 23, 2011) was an American nurse and nursing administrator, who worked for the Indian Health Service and was the first Muscogee woman elected to serve in the Muscogee Nation's executive branch. She was fourth elected Second Chief (vice president) of the nation, serving from 1992 to 1996 in the administration of Chief Bill Fife.
Crow was born and grew up in Henryetta, Oklahoma, before moving to Tulsa, where she graduated from Webster High School. She earned a nursing degree from Tulsa Junior College, a bachelor's degree from Northeastern State University and a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma. She worked as a nurse in private hospitals and for the Indian Health Service until 1989, when she began teaching as a nursing instructor at started Langston University. She later taught at the University of Tulsa.
Crow had a lengthy volunteer service record in health policy. In 1987, she was appointed to President Ronald Reagan's Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic and from 1989 served on the Muscogee Nation Hospital and Clinics Board, which she chaired from 1990 to 1992. After her election as second chief, Crow was appointed to a three-year term on the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. She was instrumental in developing an HIV/AIDS educational program for the tribe, and served as the only Oklahoma member of the Clinton Health Care Task Force in 1993. When her term ended in 1996, Crow served as a policy analyst for the Muscogee Nation Division of Health Administration for four years. Between 1998 and 2002, she also was a board member on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health. Her service to the tribe and community were recognized by several awards.
Early life and education
Shelly Lynn Stubbs was born on January 27, 1948, in Henryetta, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma to Dorthea (née Beaver) and Everett W. Stubbs. Her mother was biracial and, along with her three daughters, were "members of the Raccoon Clan and Tuckabatcheee Tribal Town" of the Muscogee Nation. Her maternal grandfather, Joe M. Beaver was a full-blood member of the tribe and active in Native American affairs, and her great-grandmother, Rose Beaver-Starr was one of the founders of the Hickory Ground Baptist Church #1 in McIntosh County. Her father's heritage was Welsh and Native descent. He served in World War II and worked in the oil industry. Stubbs grew up in Henryetta, but her family later moved to Tulsa, where she graduated from Webster High School in 1966.
Stubbs married John Leslie Crow, III in 1969. John would later work as a financial advisor in the oil and gas industry. The couple had two children, Leslie (b. 1975) and John IV (1979–1995). Crow earned her nursing degree from Tulsa Junior College (now Tulsa Community College) in 1975, and began her career at Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa. In addition to nursing, she participated in many voluntary organizations, focused on Native education. She was chair of the Indian Parent Committee in Jenks and worked with educators from Oklahoma and Kansas to develop a curricula for gifted Indigenous students. The goal was to help students to participate in computer science, fine arts, and mathematics workshops. She also served on the board of the Tulsa chapters of the American Diabetes Association and the AIDS Coalition and was on the Tulsa Perinatal Task Force. Her volunteer work was recognized by the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education in 1986, when she was selected as the state Parent of the Year.
Career
Nursing
Crow worked for the Indian Health Service, as a public health nurse for the Cherokee Nation at Hastings Indian Hospital in Tahlequah and returned to school in 1985. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Northeastern State University in 1987, and was appointed to President Ronald Reagan's first Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic. Continuing her education, she earned a Master of Science in public health with a specialty in clinical nursing from the University of Oklahoma in 1989. That year, she was honored by the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center with the American Indian Academic Achievement Award, began serving on the Muscogee Nation Hospital and Clinics Board, and started teaching nursing at Langston University.