51.031 - Contested Histories, Contested Spaces: Education in Oklahoma

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Oklahoma represents a particular crossroads of contested histories, contested knowledges, and contested educational landscapes. In this symposium we bring together four projects that aim to amplify silenced histories of education within Oklahoma, and within US education, more broadly. Although these histories are local, their specificity speaks to the ways that education is rooted in land and communities. This session explores histories of education within Oklahoma through the lenses of tribal Nations, all Black townships, white women in the KKK, and the first white students to attend Oklahoma’s only Historically Black College and University, Langston University.

Sub Unit

• Division F - Historical Inquiry in Education

Chair

• Mirelsie Velazquez, University of Oklahoma

Papers

• Under the Missionary Gaze: Education of the Five Civilized Tribes - Jennifer L Johnson, University of Oklahoma

• "Education Is the Watchword": Schooling in the All-Black Towns of Indian Territory, 1890–1935 - Eric Sourie, University of Oklahoma

• Organizing an Education of White Violence: White Women Mothering White Supremacy in Oklahoma - Moira Ozias, University of Oklahoma

• Being White at Langston University: An Oral History, 1969–1972 - Kim Lorraine Smith, University of Oklahoma