A Fluid Frontier: Minority and Ethnic Groups and Opportunity in Oklahoma

Oklahoma is home to people of many diverse backgrounds. Many ethnicities and cultures helped shape the state of Oklahoma. This land is a place of diversity with many cultures, which is something to be celebrated. Since its beginning, Oklahoma has served as a unique frontier for interaction and opportunity.

When the land that is now Oklahoma was first being explored, and later officially opened for settlement in the late 1800s, many people came in the hopes of achieving a better life.

These adventurers did not all share the same backgrounds and ethnicity. This created cross-cultural interaction unseen in other parts of the United States, making Oklahoma distinct.

Since Oklahoma is made up of so many wonderful cultural backgrounds, this exhibit focuses on a selection of ethnic minority groups that interacted on the frontier, making Oklahoma unique from the start.

Historic black-and-white photo of men and women of various ages posing for a group portrait. They wear traditional high-collared tunic shirts and strait-leg trousers.

Oklahomans with roots in China, c. 1938 (21412.M587.17, Z. P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection, OHS).1

A boy with long hair past his chin looks at the camera with a serious expression. He wears loose-fitting garments and sits with his hands in his lap.

A Mexican boy who was rescued from Comanches, c. 1871 (172, Josiah Butler Collection, OHS).2

Portrait of S. Douglas Russell dressed in a suite and tie. He has a neatly trimmed beard.

S. Douglas Russell, c. 1900 (5494, William Parker Campbell Collection, OHS).3

Portrait of Michael Shadid in a suit and tie with a serious expression.

Dr. Michael A. Shadid (2012.201.B1237.0640, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS).4