Black History is Oklahoma History

This page is a work in progress, created to share resources about the Black experience in Oklahoma.

As an educational organization and a dedicated community partner, the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) has long believed that one important step toward ending racism and injustice is a better understanding of our shared history. By providing resources that give context for the Black experience in Oklahoma, we hope to spark civil discourse and open dialogue about the role of race in the history of our state. While these conversations about our past may not be comfortable, they are necessary to understand where we have been and how we can best move forward together.

During its 127-year history, the Oklahoma Historical Society has collected and shared the story of Oklahoma. In the 1980s, the OHS began a concerted effort to engage with Oklahoma’s Black community—to listen to their stories and share their experiences. While we have made both mistakes and significant strides, we will continue to do better and do more. As new voices call for change, the OHS stands committed to our mission to collect, preserve, and share the history and culture of all Oklahomans. Learn more and browse free resources related to the Black experience in Oklahoma below.

Exhibits

A Smithsonian poster exhibit is on display at the Oklahoma Territorial Museum and Carnegie Library in Guthrie through May 29.

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Traveling Exhibits
Bring a traveling exhibit to your school, library, church, or local community center.

Visit Realizing the Dream, an exhibit about the Black experience in Oklahoma, at the Oklahoma History Center.

Freedmen and the Territorial Era

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

African Americans
African American Newspapers
Battles of Cabin Creek
Battle of Honey Springs
Buffalo Soldiers
Civil War Era
Civil War Refugees

Freedmen
Freedmen Schools
Juneteenth
Reconstruction Treaties
Slave Revolt of 1842
Slavery

Researching Freedmen History
View images, learn about Dawes Rolls, and find sources for Freedmen records

Podcast
“Slavery in Indian Territory,” BrainBox podcast, Oklahoma Humanities

The Chronicles of Oklahoma
“‘The Golden Days’: Taylor and Mary Ealy, Citizenship, and the Freedmen of Chickasaw Indian Territory, 1874–77,” by Ellen Cain

“Reading Prestatehood Muskogee: Racial-Political Discourse in American Indian, African American, and White Newspapers, 1905–07,” by Angela M. Person

“West Edwards Days: African Americans in Territorial Edmond,” by Christopher P. Lehman

Audio and Video

The Clara Luper Show
Listen to select episodes on YouTube

Podcasts
“Black Wall (Main) Street,” A Very OK Podcast
“Bill Pickett,” Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum Podcast
“Slavery in Indian Territory,” BrainBox podcast, Oklahoma Humanities

“Blacks on the Oklahoma Frontier: Lawmen, Outlaws, Cowboys, Cowgirls, and Rodeos,” Oklahoma African American Film Festival (2020)

A Long Road to Liberty (2020)
This retrospective history of the African American experience in the state of Oklahoma was written and directed by Bryan Beasley and produced by Bob Ross. This film was created with support from the Inasmuch Foundation.

Through the Looking Glass Darkly (1973)
Part I, Part II, Part III
From WKY-TV News, this documentary shares stories of Black Oklahomans from pre-statehood to the 1970s through rare photographs and interviews.

“Oklahoma Bound,” the films of Reverend S. S. Jones
Watch selections from silent films created by Reverend S. S. Jones, who came to Oklahoma Territory in 1889. Scenes of traditionally All-Black towns of Oklahoma include Taft, Clearview, Melvin, and Boley in the 1920s.

Discover How Black Oklahomans Shaped Literature, Music, and Culture

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

African American Arts and Crafts
Blue Devils
Blues
Zelia Breaux
Charlie Christian
Dudley Henry Dickerson Jr.
Frenchy Edwards
Ralph Waldo Ellison
Ernie Fields
John Hope Franklin
Lowell Fulson

Gap Band
Juneteenth on Greenwood
Howard McGhee
D. C. Minner
Leona Mitchell
Oscar Pettiford
Jimmy Rushing
Wayman Tisdale
Melvin Tolson
Uncle Wallace and Aunt Minerva Willis

Sports History

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

African American Baseball
Prentice Gautt
Marques Haynes
Wilber “Bullet Joe” Rogan
Barry Sanders

Selmon Brothers
Billy Ray Sims
Willie “Pops” Stargell
Wayman Tisdale

Interview with Bobby Walton (2016)
Bobby Walton discusses breaking barriers in his attempt to be certified the first African American to register and participate as a player in the Oklahoma American Legion Baseball Tournament in 1954–55 in Enid, Oklahoma.

Black Writers

Learn about some of Oklahoma’s celebrated Black authors in the online exhibit Oklahoma Writers: A Literary Tableau.

The Tulsa Race Massacre

Read the encyclopedia article
Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, published in 2001 (PDF)
Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission

E-Exhibit
Tulsa Race Massacre

Lesson Plans
Senate Bill One
Black Wall Street
The Tulsa Race Massacre
Riot Versus Massacre

Teacher Resource Guides correlating to Oklahoma History Academic Standards
OKH.5.2, Examine multiple points of view regarding the evolution of race relations in Oklahoma

Researching the Black Experience in Oklahoma

Historic Black Newspapers Available Online

The Black Dispatch
The Langston City Herald
The Muskogee Cimeter
The Muskogee Lantern
The Oklahoma Guide
The Oklahoma Safeguard

The Peoples Elevator
The Taborian Monitor
The Tulsa Star
The Weekly Progress
The Western World
The Wewoka and Lima Courier

Visit the OHS Research Center in Oklahoma City to view more historical newspapers on microfilm.

Learn More
The Chronicles of Oklahoma
The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
The Gateway to Oklahoma History
OHS Printable Resource Guide (PDF)
Guide to OHS Manuscript Collections (PDF)

Tourism and Recreation

Explore events, landmarks, attractions, and more from the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.
www.travelok.com/long-road-to-liberty

View the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department’s Long Road to Liberty: Oklahoma’s African American History and Culture online or order your free copy at travelok.com

Civil Rights in Oklahoma

Presented by the Oklahoma Historical Society, this documentary shares the history of sit-ins in Oklahoma City during the Civil Rights Movement. Through historic images and new interviews with sit-in participants, producers Joyce Jackson and Bruce Fisher tell the powerful story of this movement.

“The Good Fight,” Crossroads online publication
This issue presents an intimate look back at the struggle for civil rights in Oklahoma City.

Find more about Civil Rights Leaders and History
in The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

Green I. Currin
Drusilla Dunjee Houston
Roscoe Dunjee
Amos T. Hall
Ira DeVoyd Hall Sr.
Coody Johnson
Clara Luper
Frederick Moon
George Perkins
Melvin Porter
Jake Simmons Jr.
Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher
A. J. Smitherman
James Stewart
William Twine
I. W. Young

Civil Rights Movement
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950)
NAACP
Segregation
Senate Bill One

The Chronicles of Oklahoma
“An Unflinching Call for Freedom: Clara Luper’s Pedagogy at the Center of Sit-Ins,” by Rachel E. Watson

“Fitting In and Sitting In: Phillip Henry Porter and Memories of Integration Efforts in Enid, 1955–58,” by Aaron Preston

“Thurgood Marshall’s “Broom Closet”: The Structure of Segregation in McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents,” by Eric Lomazoff and Bailie Gregory

“Unforgotten Trailblazer: Nancy O. Randolph Davis,” by Gloria J. Pollard

Resources for Educators, Parents, and Students

E-Exhibits
The African American Civil Rights Movement in Oklahoma
The Tulsa Race Massacre
“African Americans” in A Fluid Frontier: Minority and Ethnic Groups and Opportunity in Oklahoma

Lesson Plans
The Curious Case of All-Black Towns
Senate Bill One
Black Wall Street
The Tulsa Race Massacre
Riot Versus Massacre

Teacher Resource Guides correlating to Oklahoma History Academic Standards
OKH.5.2, Examine multiple points of view regarding the evolution of race relations in Oklahoma

Traveling Trunk and Pop-up Panels
African Americans in Oklahoma

We Remember...Before and Beyond: An Oklahoma African American History Coloring Book
Learn more

Historic Places

“An Oklahoma Story of Place: Voices of Preservation”

“An Oklahoma Story of Place: Voices of Preservation” – Summit, Oklahoma
This video features interviews with descendants of Reverend L. W. Thomas, founder of the town of Summit, Oklahoma (Muskogee County). Summit was one of more than fifty All-Black towns established in present-day Oklahoma, and one of only thirteen still in existence today. The many businesses in Summit before World War II included a cotton gin, filling station, grocery, and garage.

“An Oklahoma Story of Place: Voices of Preservation” – Threatt Filling Station
This video features Reverend Allen Threatt III discussing the Threatt Filling Station, which was built in 1915. Owned and operated by his family, this service station was located along Route 66 near Luther, Oklahoma, and it served African American travelers and locals. This business is one that would typically be included in “The Travelers’ Green Book.”

National Register of Historic Places

Attucks Community Center, Ponca City
Attucks School, Vinita
Douglass High School (Old), Oklahoma City
Douglass School, Lawton
Dunbar Elementary School, Oklahoma City
Dunbar School, Dunbar
Edwards Heights Historic District, Oklahoma City
Excelsior Library, Guthrie
First Baptist Church (Colored), Anadarko
Jamison Cemetery, Okay vicinity
Jewel Theater, Oklahoma City
Langston University Cottage Row Historic District, Langston
Mount Zion Baptist Church, Tulsa
New Hope Baptist Church, Chickasha
Edward Richardson Building, Arcadia
Dr. W. H. Slaughter House, Oklahoma City
St. John Baptist Church and Rectory, Ponca City
St. Paul Baptist Church & Cemetery, Meeker vicinity
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Muskogee
St. Thomas Primitive Baptist Church, Summit
Reverend L. W. Thomas Homestead, Summit vicinity
Trinity United Presbyterian Church, Oklahoma City
Union School District 19 1/2, Newalla vicinity
Vernon A.M.E. Church, Tulsa