Early Life
Perle Mesta (née Pearl Reid Skirvin) was born on October 12, 1889 in Sturgis, Michigan, then spent her adolescent years in Galveston, Texas, before moving in 1906 with her family to a home in what is now Oklahoma City's historic Mesta Park Neighborhood. Her father, William Skirvin, made his fortune as a real estate and oil magnate. In 1910 he built the monumental Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City.
Photograph looking east from the 200 block of Main Street, Oklahoma City. C. 1908. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.
Photograph of Broadway Avenue, looking north, in Oklahoma City. C. 1909-1910. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.
Perle cited her mother as the source of her passion for hosting. After successfully hosting her first party at age 11, she recognized that planning parties was far more enjoyable for her than attending them, and her remarkable knack for hospitality would play a pivotal role in her future successes. As a young adult, she aspired to become an opera singer, and for several years she studied at Chicago's Sherwood School of Music. However, she eventually abandoned this ambition, admitting that she, as a dramatic soprano, was "more dramatic than soprano". During her trips to Europe in the 1920s, she was inspired by the French spelling of her name and adopted the spelling of "Perle".
The childhood home of Perle Mesta at 700 N.W. 16th Street, located in the present day Mesta Park Neighborhood in Oklahoma City. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.
The Skirvin Hotel located on North Broadway in Oklahoma City. Photograph created c. 1915. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.
Photograph looking east northeast from above the 300 block of North Broadway Avenue to the junction of Harrison Avenue and N.E. 4th Street. C. 1909. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.