About Jim Argo

Jim Argo began his career in photojournalism while a student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. He worked for two Texas newspapers before moving to Oklahoma City. He began working for The Daily Oklahoman and its sister publication, the Oklahoma City Times, in 1963. He developed a passion for photographing Oklahoma's landscape and people, winning several local, national, and international awards for his photography and writing.

His freelance assignments have included major newsmagazines such as Business Week, Newsweek, Time, and National Geographic as well as several smaller publications. His corporate clients included AT&T, Lucent, and Southwestern Bell.

Argo was the photographer for Oklahoma Impressions, published in 2006, and Oklahoma City Impressions, published in 2007, and was a contributing photographer to the book Oklahoma Simply Beautiful. He has co-authored three books published by the Oklahoma Historical Society and was a major photographic contributor to 14 other books on Oklahoma. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 1997. Argo retired as The Oklahoman photo editor in 2003.

—biographical data drawn from Oklahoma Impressions biographical note

About the Collection

The Jim Argo Collection spans the years 1950 to 2008. Most of the 52,195 images in the collection come from color mounted slides, while some are born digital or scans of original prints that arrived on disk. The collection covers communities from all over Oklahoma, along with their events, scenery, buildings, art, businesses, industries, and people.



At a Glance



Cite This Collection

Here is our suggested citation. Consult an appropriate style guide for conformance to specific guidelines.

Jim Argo Collection in The Gateway to Oklahoma History. Oklahoma Historical Society. https://gateway.okhistory.org/explore/collections/JAPC/ accessed March 19, 2024.


Explore Holdings

Start browsing through the holdings of this collection in one of the following ways:

Counties (expand list)

Oklahoma County, OK
13,572
Kay County, OK
1,838
Comanche County, OK
1,487
Murray County, OK
1,469
Osage County, OK
1,412
Cleveland County, OK
1,379
Rogers County, OK
1,316
Logan County, OK
1,279
Cherokee County, OK
1,193
Tulsa County, OK
1,083
Pawnee County, OK
908
Le Flore County, OK
744
Canadian County, OK
706
Okmulgee County, OK
653
Muskogee County, OK
648
Love County, OK
647
Washington County, OK
629
Caddo County, OK
606
Latimer County, OK
586
Major County, OK
586
Kiowa County, OK
582
Bryan County, OK
570
Custer County, OK
491
Cimarron County, OK
485
Woodward County, OK
389
Pottawatomie County, OK
388
Choctaw County, OK
372
Garfield County, OK
363
Pushmataha County, OK
342
Blaine County, OK
313
Lincoln County, OK
309
Grady County, OK
295
Sequoyah County, OK
291
Delaware County, OK
266
Ellis County, OK
257
Seminole County, OK
257
Payne County, OK
243
Alfalfa County, OK
240
Jackson County, OK
235
Roger Mills County, OK
234
Beckham County, OK
227
McCurtain County, OK
217
Kingfisher County, OK
213
Noble County, OK
204
Atoka County, OK
202
Marshall County, OK
178
Adair County, OK
174
Cherokee County, KS
173
McIntosh County, OK
169
Texas County, OK
154
Wagoner County, OK
110
Creek County, OK
103
Pontotoc County, OK
103
Okfuskee County, OK
102
Beaver County, OK
97
Potter County, TX
93
Washita County, OK
92
Carter County, OK
82
Johnston County, OK
79
Tillman County, OK
71
Bernalillo County, NM
67
Woods County, OK
65
Coal County, OK
61
Pittsburg County, OK
55
Ottawa County, OK
51
Mayes County, OK
49
Stephens County, OK
46
Dewey County, OK
39
Greer County, OK
38
Baca County, CO
37
Jasper County, MO
35
Grant County, OK
34
Cowley County, KS
20
Nowata County, OK
18
Garvin County, OK
14
Quay County, NM
13
Grayson County, TX
10
Los Angeles County, CA
8
Wheeler County, TX
7
Jefferson County, OK
5
Benton County, AR
2
Craig County, OK
2
Jackson County, MO
2

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