Vinnie May Seely James Humes

Vinnie Humes was born in 1903. Despite having not received her GED until she was 70 years old, she will be forever remembered for her contributions to the education of the Chickasaw Nation.

Humes was married to Reverend Jesse Humes, and the two of them authored "A Chickasaw Dictionary." This book proved to be an invaluable resource for many who wanted to learn the Chickasaw language.

"We sat at that kitchen table, working. We had this little old Webster's Dictionary, and I would call out the English word and Jess would hand it back in Chickasaw, pronouncing it in syllables and spelling it phonetically. Our aim wasn't to get the meaning of the words so much as it was to help people who wanted to learn how to speak the language."

Vinnie received her GED through courses offered by the Chickasaw Nation, and she has been recognized as making an invaluable contribution to the Chickasaw people. She passed away in 1996.