Po-Hi Hall of Fame

Bob Westmoreland - Class of 1944

Bob was born in Ponca City, OK on September 7, 1926 to Benjamin and Velma Westmoreland. Bob attended Lincoln Elementary School, East Junior High School, and Ponca City High School, graduating in 1944. He then attended Oklahoma State University. His wife is Wanda Westmoreland, and his two sons are Donald Westmoreland and Jeffrey Stevenson.

Westmoreland’s career experiences include professional musician, professional photographer, television producer, audio/visual producer, author, teacher, and consultant. He attended Oklahoma State University prior to entering the US Navy during WWII. At the age of 18, he was the youngest member of the “Meet Your Navy” orchestra broadcasting from Great Lakes Naval Training Station to a worldwide audience.

Following WWII, he entered the professional music field and appeared in entertainment centers from New York to Hollywood. He returned to Ponca City and started a new career as a music teacher and professional photographer. He was hired by Conoco as an industrial photographer. He was later hired as the Audio/Visual director for Ponca City Public Schools. Westmoreland was responsible for the design and installation of “Studio See,” the educational television facility located at the Board of Education in Ponca City. He produced more than 2000 instructional videos covering subjects as varied as science, art, music, math, nutrition, language arts, physical education, psychology, and teacher education. His book, Television Production Shortcuts was published by OU press and was used as a textbook across the United States and in Europe.

Bob was awarded the Master of Photography Degree by the Professional Photographers of America, an internationally recognized achievement in the field, and a degree that provided the credentials to start work under his company name “PhotoGRAPHICS by Bob Westmoreland.” Bob was awarded an honorary lifetime membership by the Professional Photographers of Oklahoma, and was one of the first of 15 photographers in Oklahoma to be certified as a Professional Photographer.
Through a grant from the Oklahoma Bi-Centennial Commission, he produced and directed Bride of the Morning Star, an award-winning film based on Skedee Pawnee Indian history. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities gave Westmoreland the opportunity to assemble an audio/visual history of his home town of Ponca City, OK.

Bob was a charter member of the E. W. Marland Commission. He edited and illustrated The Marland Mansion-A Photographic Study, a book which is included in the Bicentennial Time Capsule at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

Westmoreland served as President of the Ponca City Art Association for seven terms, and his photography classes for adults were featured for twelve years. For more than 20 years, Bob served as a woodwind specialist, tutoring students for the Ponca City and Blackwell schools. He has presented at conventions on the state, regional, and national levels for organizations such as the Professional Photographers of America, the Photographic Society of America, the American School Food Service Association, the Mid-America Cable Antenna Association, and the Oklahoma School of Public Relations. He served as a consultant for companies such as Conoco Inc., Smith International Inc., Farm Fresh Inc., and Mertz, Inc. Governmental clients included Oklahoma State Department of Education, the Marland Mansion and Estate, Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Ok, and the Humble, TX Public School District.