Oklahoma Civil Rights Trail Grant Program

The Oklahoma Civil Rights Trail Grant Program was a one-time competitive funding opportunity supported by a legislative appropriation and administered by the Oklahoma Historical Society.

In 2025, $1,093,411 was awarded to 28 organizations for projects preserving and sharing Oklahoma’s civil rights history, including the histories of All-Black towns, Freedmen communities, Native Americans, and other significant people and places. Funded projects included exhibits, historic markers, oral histories, public programs, digital resources, and preservation efforts. Although “trail” is part of the program name, the projects represent a statewide network of historically significant communities and sites rather than a single physical route.

Grant Awardees

African American HOPE Plaza Foundation
Oklahoma City | $39,725 | African American HOPE Commemorative Plaza Curatorial Oversight Project
Awarded funds to collect oral histories and historical materials documenting Oklahoma City’s African American and civil rights history and develop interpretive and digital content for the future African American HOPE Commemorative Plaza.

Town of Boley
Boley | $48,468 | Preserving History: Museum Restoration and Civil Rights Initiative
Awarded funds to restore the Boley Historical Museum and bed-and-breakfast building, preserving the site and supporting its continued use to interpret Boley’s history, welcome visitors, and prepare for the bed and breakfast’s reopening.

Town of Clearview
Clearview | $50,000 | Recognizing and Designating Heritage Sites
Awarded funds to research and interpret Clearview’s history through historic site signage, oral histories, photographs, and other materials, with QR codes and an interactive website providing additional information about the town’s people, businesses, and historic places.

Committed to Build and Beautify Taft, Inc.
Taft | $11,569 | Taft History Project
Awarded funds to preserve and share Taft’s history through a Welcome Center display case and interactive kiosk for artifacts, photographs, oral histories, and videos, along with historical signs designed to guide visitors through important people, places, and events in the town’s history.

Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, Inc./Fairfax in Action
Fairfax | $48,155 | TallChief Theatre Visitor Amenities
Awarded funds to construct modern, ADA-accessible restrooms at the TallChief Theatre, allowing the site to accommodate larger tour groups, and expand access to exhibits interpreting Fairfax and Osage history.

Creek Freedman Initiative the Cornerstone of Black Wall Street Foundation
Oklahoma City | $18,645 | Creek Freedmen Ride
Awarded funds for a bus tour, oral-history documentary, audiobook, and interpretive quilt, all exploring Creek Freedmen land ownership and settlement, civil rights struggles, displacement, historical erasure, resilience, and lasting legacy in Oklahoma.

Eastern Oklahoma Economic Development District, Inc.
Taft | $50,000 | Town of Taft Welcome Center
Awarded funds to renovate the historic Starlight Masonic Lodge into the Town of Taft Welcome Center, creating a space for visitors to learn about Taft’s history, access local tours and information, and participate in community programming.

Freedom Center, Inc.
Oklahoma City | $50,000 | Clara Luper Civil Rights Center Website
Awarded funds to develop an expanded website featuring video stories, programs and exhibitions, the Freedom Center Community Archive, and opportunities for visitors to share their own stories and help identify people and subjects in historic photographs. The site also provides information about the forthcoming Clara Luper Civil Rights Center.

Friends of Rentiesville Blues, Inc.
Rentiesville | $39,776 | Rentiesville and the Civil Rights Trail into the Future
Awarded funds to expand access to Rentiesville and Oklahoma blues history through an updated website, a documentary featuring a virtual tour of the museum and historic site, 750 records added to the Gateway to Oklahoma History, and the establishment of the D. C. Minner Museum Music Academy.

Town of Gans
Gans | $9,567 | Cherokee Trail of Tears Legacy of the Fox-Clemmons Family in Gans, Oklahoma
Awarded funds to create an exhibit in Gans Town Hall exploring the Fox-Clemmons family’s Cherokee history and connections to Gans through documentary interviews, family heirlooms, land records and surveys, historic photographs, burial-site research, a 3-D terrain map, and multimedia displays.

Town of Grayson
Grayson | $11,298 | Historical Marker and Kiosk
Awarded funds to install a historical marker honoring civil rights leader and Grayson High School graduate Clara Luper, along with a digital kiosk in the town museum interpreting Grayson’s history as one of Oklahoma’s historic All-Black towns and its connections to the broader Civil Rights Movement.

Lawton Fort Sill Chapter Ninth and Tenth (Horse) Cavalry Association
Lawton | $49,996 | Lawton Buffalo Soldier Interactive Education
Awarded funds to create a traveling museum featuring artifacts, educational exhibits, and historical interpretation of the Buffalo Soldiers, bringing their history directly to schools, community organizations, and events throughout the region.

Town of Lima
Lima | $50,000 | Town Hall and Event Center
Awarded funds to support completion of Lima’s Town Hall and Event Center, providing space for town operations and community events while sharing the history of Lima as one of Oklahoma’s historic All-Black towns.

Love Works Foundation, Inc.
Tulsa | $2,986 | The Greenwood and Beyond Project
Awarded funds to design and install a historical marker at the Charles and Bertha Blevins home, interpreting the property’s significance to Tulsa’s Black history and its role as a voting precinct for Black residents.

Oklahoma Black Living Legacy, Inc.
Oklahoma City | $37,385 | Tour App for All-Black Towns and Native American Sites
Awarded funds to create a self-guided tour app highlighting Oklahoma’s All-Black towns, civil rights sites, and related Native American sites through interactive maps, historical narratives, and educational content designed to expand public access to these histories.

Oklahoma Conference of Black Mayors, Inc.
Tullahassee | $44,284 | OCBM Civil Rights Trail Preservation
Awarded funds to develop a strategic plan and website for the Oklahoma Conference of Black Mayors (OCBM), strengthening organizational planning, grant readiness, and public visibility while supporting the All-Black towns represented by the organization.

Oklahoma Indian Territory Museum of Black Creek Freedman History, Inc.
Oklahoma City | $31,989 | Creek Freedmen History, Art, and 1866 Treaty Commemoration
Awarded funds to preserve and interpret Muscogee Creek Freedmen history through an updated exhibit, commissioned artwork, collecting archives, and filming of oral histories and public programs, and the 1866 Treaty Unity Gathering, highlighting Freedmen history, culture, and the significance of the 1866 Treaty.

Open Design Collective, Inc.
Oklahoma City | $49,983 | Cultural Placemaking Project
Awarded funds to create a multi-day cultural tourism experience featuring guided tours, storytelling, local businesses, and community programs in Tullahassee, Taft, and Rentiesville, while supporting preservation, economic activity, and future community-led tourism through a strategic toolkit and reusable event resources.

Project 2020 Foundation
Boley | $50,000 | Boley Visitor Center: Repair and Enhancement of the Historic McCormick Building
Awarded funds to purchase materials and support project management for the larger restoration and adaptive reuse of Boley’s historic McCormick Building as a visitor center featuring exhibits, guided tours, and educational programming about the town’s history.

Racismstinks Society
Tulsa | $50,000 | 13 Black Towns Tour & Festival
Awarded funds for a motorcycle tour of Oklahoma’s historic All-Black towns featuring history, books, and community visits, culminating in the Black Towns Music Festival in Tatums to promote Black self-governance, cultural tourism, and local economic activity. Developed in partnership with Black Towns Freedom Fund, the tour drew 105 participants and 573 attended the festival.

Raising Little Africa 1921, Inc.
Tulsa | $42,406 | Greenwood Griot Project and Digital Storytelling Hub
Awarded funds to establish an immersive digital storytelling hub in Greenwood, including production equipment, video tours and exhibits, and facility improvements exploring Oklahoma’s historic All-Black towns and settlements. This storytelling hub is based at the Greenwood Griot gallery in Tulsa’s Greenwood District.

Town of Red Bird
Red Bird | $50,000 | Red Bird Town Hall and Visitor Center Enhancement
Awarded funds to renovate and enhance Red Bird Town Hall as a community and visitor space featuring historical photographs and displays that share the history of Red Bird, its civil rights significance, and its legacy as one of Oklahoma’s historic All-Black towns.

Seminole Nation of Oklahoma Historic Preservation Office
Wewoka | $41,655 | Five Seminole Monuments
Awarded funds to complete a 20-year monument project by installing the three Seminole Band monuments omitted from the original monument area, along with memorials recognizing Sasakwa chiefs and the Seminole Burning victims.

Standing Bear Native American Foundation, Inc.
Ponca City | $18,466 | Standing Bear Park Civil Rights Trail Educational Kiosk
Awarded funds to install an outdoor educational kiosk at Standing Bear Park, interpreting Chief Standing Bear’s landmark 1879 court case and civil rights legacy, along with a new website page expanding access to Standing Bear’s story.

Town of Tatums
Tatums | $49,866 | Tatums Website, Street Sign Maintenance, and Visitor Prep
Awarded funds to create a website sharing Tatums’ history as one of Oklahoma’s historic All-Black towns, replace missing and deteriorated street signs to improve navigation, and purchase technology and audio equipment to support community events and welcome visitors.

T-Okie Civic and Social Club of Tatums, Oklahoma
Tatums | $49,964 | Spigner Park Restroom and Memorial Project
Awarded funds to restore and make Spigner Park’s public restrooms ADA-accessible, create a community website, and install a permanent memorial honoring Tatums’ founders and other historical contributors, and improve park amenities while preserving and sharing the town’s history.

Town of Tullahassee
Tullahassee | $47,228 | The Carter G. Woodson Experience
Awarded funds to create the Carter G. Woodson Experience, including a pavilion at the historic school site and 15 recorded oral histories preserving the experiences of former students, residents, and community members documenting the history and legacy of Tullahassee as one of Oklahoma’s historic All-Black towns.

Tullahassee Wildcats Foundation, Inc.
Tullahassee | $50,000 | Tullahassee Visitor Center
Awarded funds to establish a visitor center and digital hub sharing the history of Tullahassee, Oklahoma’s oldest historically All-Black town, including visitor technology, signage and visitor materials, website development, and organization of photographs and historical materials to support education, preservation, and heritage tourism.