She lived in Trinidad, Colorado as a young woman, and moved to Sapulpa, Oklahoma in 1902.

[1] Once in office as Commissioner of Charities and Corrections, Bassett was responsible for establishing a women's unit of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and transferring African-American juvenile delinquents from the state penitentiary to a training school in Boley.

[2] In 1923, she issued a report on abusive and negligent conditions at the Pauls Valley Training School, a juvenile detention facility.

"[3] In 1936, she investigated the death of an 11-year-old boy who died attempting to escape a fourth-floor jail cell in Stillwater.

[4] Bassett also campaigned for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1932; however, she lost to fellow Democrat Will Rogers.