Historical Marker Program

Boley

Okfuskee County
Location: in community of Boley
Coordinates: 35.493390, -96.484182
Material: Other (Interpretive panel)
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society
Topics: American Indians; Ethnic Diversity; Government; Territorial Period, 1861–1907; Transportation; Urban Development

Boley is one of 13 All-Black towns, out of more than 50 that once existed, remaining in Oklahoma. While Tullahassee is reportedly the oldest, most were established between 1889 and 1907 as African Americans sought security and control of their own destiny in a segregated world. Boley was established in 1903 on land owned by a Muscogee (Creek) Freedwoman, Abigail Barnett. Boley was incorporated on May 11, 1905. By 1911 it boasted more than 4,000 citizens (25,000 in surrounding areas) and many businesses, including two banks and three cotton gins. The town hosts the oldest African American community-based rodeo every Memorial Day weekend.

Boley, Oklahoma

Okfuskee County
Location: on US-62 in Boley
Coordinates: 35.488219, -96.484095
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Oklahoma Historical Society/Town of Boley
Topics: American Indians; Ethnic Diversity; Government; Territorial Period, 1861–1907; Transportation; Urban Development

Boley, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, established as an all Black town on land of Creek Indian Freedwoman Abigail Barnett. Organized by T.M. Haynes first townsite manager. Established August 1903. Incorporated May 11, 1905. Declared National Historic Landmark May 15, 1975.

Okfuskee County, Rosenwald Schools, and Boley

Okfuskee County
Location: on US-62 in Boley
Coordinates: 35.488227, -96.484178
Material: Aluminum
Sponsor(s): Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation/Town of Boley
Topics: Early Statehood, 1907–1941; Education; Ethnic Diversity; Religion/Philosophy

In 1911, Booker T. Washington, head of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, asked Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish Philanthropist, to serve on the board of directors at Tuskegee. Rosenwald's desire to help, nurtured by Dr. Washington, led to the creation of the Rosenwald Fund. Between 1917 and 1932, the Rosenwald Fund built 5,340 schools for Black-American children. One hundred and ninety-nine Rosenwald schools were built in Oklahoma: fourteen schools and three teacher's homes were in Okfuskee County. Boley High School, a beneficiary of Rosenwald funding, provided generations of young people opportunities to better lives.