African Americans in Oklahoma Trunk and Pop-Up Panels

Through hands-on items, students can explore the stories of prominent African Americans living in Oklahoma from the Trail of Tears to the present. Educators may reserve the trunk by itself, or include pop-up banners about African American history.

Trunk Topics Request a Trunk Checkout Process

Hands-On Objects

  • Large photographs (7)
  • Replicas of The Black Dispatch and The Tulsa Star: These large photographs and replicas of pages from two Black Oklahoma newspapers, The Black Dispatch and The Tulsa Star, are informative primary sources documenting historical events in Black Oklahoma communities, including but not limited to local news in All-Black towns, civil rights issues, and the Tulsa Race Massacre.

    Copy of the historic Tulsa Star newspaper Historic photographs and the front page of The Black Dispatch
  • Juneteenth flyer
  • Taft recruitment pamphlet
  • Freedmen applications
  • All-Black towns of Oklahoma map
  • Radio/CD player: While it can play modern CDs, this vintage-style radio is reminiscent of the type of radio Oklahomans would have used in the mid-20th century.

    A vintage-style chrome radio
  • Langston University pennant and graduation cap: Due to the limited and inadequate higher education options for Black Oklahomans, residents of the All-Black town of Langston founded Langston University, the first African American college in Oklahoma, in 1897. This trunk includes
    a Langston University pennant and a graduation cap.
  • Scrabble Game: This trunk includes a vintage Scrabble game, a favorite of Clara Luper, a schoolteacher and civil rights activist widely recognized for her role in the 1958 Oklahoma City sit-ins. Additionally, Luper was the first African American to be admitted to the University of Oklahoma’s graduate history program.

    A vintage-style Scrabble board game box.
  • Buffalo Soldier uniform: After the Civil War, many African American men saw military service as a chance to earn a steady income and respect. They mainly served in the west. Included in this trunk are a belt and buckle, a kepi (military style hat popular in the 19th century), a soldier’s trousers and suspenders, and a military coat.

    A man's dark blue button-down long-sleeved shirt and pants with white suspenders. A black belt with a large, gold buckle with the letters U S and a blue military hat with a short brim.

Books and Booklets

  • The Long Road to Liberty: Oklahoma’s African American History and Culture, Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department
  • Humanities magazine special edition
  • Rosenwald School Day Program
  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  • Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport
  • Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin by John Hope Franklin
  • The Buffalo Soldier by Sherry Garland
  • The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
  • The Tuskegee Airmen Story by Lynn Homan
  • Up From the Ashes by Hannibal B. Johnson
A collection of books included in the trunk.

DVDs and CDs

  • Freedom Summer, PBS (may not be suitable for young viewers)
  • Dr. Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher DVD of family photos
  • Clara Luper Radio Show CD (recordings of two shows)