The Long Road To Liberty
Celebrate Oklahoma’s African American history by exploring the individuals, landmarks, historic towns,
restaurants and more that impacted the state’s African American legacy and cultural heritage.
Bill Pickett's Grave Site
Tulsa City-County African-American Resource Center
Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame
Farmers & Merchants Bank
Fort Gibson Historic Site & Interpretative Center
Oklahoma Black Museum & Performing Arts Center
Deep Deuce Historic District
Fort Sill National Historic Landmark & Museum
Boley Historical Museum
Down Home Blues Club & OK Blues Hall of Fame
Greenwood Cultural Center
John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park
Historic Fort Reno
The Verden Separate School
Greenwood Historical District
Boley Historic District
Honey Springs Battlefield Historic Site
Melvin B. Tolson Black Heritage Center
Fort Supply Historic Site
Beulah Land Cemetery
Langston University
Three Rivers Museum
Mabel B Little Heritage House Museum
Okmulgee Downtown Historic District
Leona Mitchell Southern Heights Heritage Center & Museum
Citizen's Cemetery
Evelyn's Soul Food
Bobo's Chicken
Aja Bleu Café
McCormick's Grill
Mama E's Wings & Waffles
Smokehouse Bob's Bar-B-Q
Florence's Restaurant
Massey's BBQ
John & Cook's Real Pit Bar-B-Que
Boley
Booker T. Washington called Boley, "the most enterprising and in many ways the most interesting" of all-black towns in the country.
Brooksville
The Banneker School in Brooksville was an important institution for George W. McLaurin and many other black Oklahomans.
Clearview
Originally named Lincoln, then briefly called Abelincoln, the town of Clearview began as a prosperous railway settlement.
Grayson
Formerly known as Wildcat, Grayson was named after a Creek Chief and had an early population of Creek Freedmen.
Langston
The influence of Langston University and the Langston City Herald helped Langston thrive during the Depression when most small towns failed.
Lima
Named for the local limestone quarries, the town of Lima found prosperity with the discovery of the Greater Seminole Oil Field in 1926.
Red Bird
In 1939, Red Bird mayor I.W. Lane successfully challenged an Oklahoma law before the U.S. Supreme Court that limited black voting in Wagoner County.
Rentiesville
Founded in 1904, Rentiesville was home to legendary bluesman D.C. Minner and pioneering black historian John Hope Franklin
Summit
Once known as South Muskogee, Summit got its name by being the highest point between the Arkansas and North Canadian Rivers.
Taft
Taft was home to many important African-American schools, such as the Halochee Institute and the W.T. Vernon School.
Tatums
An early African American movie studio filmed a 1927 movie here called Black Gold, which starred the town’s founder Marshal L.B. Tatums.
Tullahassee
Tullahassee is considered the oldest surviving all-black town in Oklahoma and was home to Flipper Davis College.
Vernon
Like many all-black towns, Vernon benefitted from the Rosenwald Fund, which helped build its first public school.
Mr. Sprigg's Real PIt Bar-B-Q
Historic Black Towns
Soul Food
Attractions
