Hostess with mostes' left mark on state, D.C.

Famed for her lavish Washington, D.C., parties, Oklahoman Perle Mesta became the original "hostess with the mostes'" and earned a place in Broadway and film history.

But her business acumen, political savvy and support of women's rights also set her apart.

"I think she is a little overlooked (in Oklahoma history)," said Ken Lindquist, board member of the Mesta Park Neighborhood Association. "She was a woman ahead of her time in some ways."

Born Oct. 12, 1889, in Sturgis, Mich., Mesta moved with her parents to Oklahoma City in 1906. Her childhood home in the Mesta Park neighborhood, which is named for her, still stands at 700 NW 16. She gave her first party in the family home, according to The Oklahoman archives.

She was the daughter of affluent oilman William Skirvin, who built the Skirvin Hotel. She learned the art of hospitality playing host to guests at the hotel, which is being renovated and scheduled to reopen next year.

After attending music school in the East, she married in 1917 over her father's objections. Her husband was George Mesta, a prosperous engineer who founded Mesta Machine Co. in Pittsburgh.

She became involved in her first social work in her husband's mills, helping to start nursery care centers for children of employees.

When her husband became a wartime consultant for President Woodrow Wilson, the couple moved to Washington, D.C. There, she was active in children's welfare projects and received her first introduction into Beltway politics and society.

The couple traveled across Europe after World War I, according to