Stillwater's Washington School Oral History Collection

About the Collection

Washington School, named for Booker T. Washington, was the segregated school for African Americans in Stillwater in the early 1900s. Initially the school served grades first through eighth but would later expand to include a high school after a new building was built in 1938 as part of the Public Works Administration. Washington High School nurtured academic, athletic, and civic success in its students and served as a beating heart for the south Stilllwater community 'the Ville.' Between 1938-1956 Washington saw countless students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as several football and basketball championships, including winning the first integrated Class C state championship in 1956. After the 1954 Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education, the city decided to integrate the high school in 1956 and eventually the lower grades in 1967. Since then, the school building has served various educational and civic functions before being sold to private owners and sitting vacant. Throughout that time the building still represented an essential part of Stillwater history for the African American community. As a result of decades long community advocacy and recent collaboration with Oklahoma State University faculty, the city decided to purchase back the school site in 2022 and restore it to become a public community center. The Washington School Heritage Foundation oversees the fundraising and community advocacy for the building in partnership with the city of Stillwater.

The Stillwater's Washington School oral history collection is comprised of interviews with community members and alumni of the Booker T. Washington School in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The purpose of this project is to document the history of the school and African American community in Stillwater as well as the ongoing preservation efforts for the school. The project started in 2017 in collaboration between Oklahoma State University’s Edmon Low Library and the Stillwater Public Library with the assistance of community members Gloria and Aretha Bailey and has since grown to include partnerships with the Washington School Alumni Association and Washington School Heritage Foundation.

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Contact Us

Oklahoma Oral History Research Program
207 Edmon Low Library
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-7685
liboh@okstate.edu

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