Resolution; recognizing and celebrating February as Black History Month.

Resolution
ENROLLED SENATE
RESOLUTION NO. 29 By: Nice, Goodwin, and Kirt

A Resolution recognizing and celebrating February as
Black History Month; recounting legislative actions;
remembering the roles of Black Oklahomans in the
Civil Rights Movement; and honoring the contributions
of Black Oklahomans and recognizing 100 years of
Black History.

WHEREAS, 2026 marks the 100th year of celebrating Black History
in the United States; and

WHEREAS, the first bill passed in the Oklahoma State Senate
after Oklahoma’s admission as a state was Senate Bill 1, requiring
separate facilities for Black people in public transportation,
education, and other public facilities. One hundred years later,
the Legislature approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 49,
repudiating Oklahoma’s Jim Crow laws; and

WHEREAS, Black people sought opportunity in Oklahoma long before
statehood, establishing 50 all-Black towns throughout Oklahoma and
Indian Territory. Communities like Boley, Red Bird, and Langston
became prominent and thriving towns with banks, businesses, and
schools. Thirteen of those communities still exist today. Those
communities and other important locations were highlighted in the
creation of the Oklahoma Civil Rights Trail, the result of
bipartisan legislation approved in 2023; and

WHEREAS, the events of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 are
believed to be the single worst incident of racial violence in
American history. Long ignored and hidden, those events were
brought to light when, in 1997, Representative Don Ross and Senator
Maxine Horner, both of Tulsa, championed legislation creating a

ENR. S. R. NO. 29 Page 2
commission which ultimately released a 200-page report containing an
official history of the massacre. Today, the Greenwood Cultural
Center and Greenwood Rising continue to tell that story, honoring
the past and inspiring the future; and

WHEREAS, in 1897, the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature approved
House Bill 151, creating what is now known as Langston University,
providing Black students with an industrial and agricultural
curriculum, a teacher’s college, and a liberal arts curriculum.
Prominent students included Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, whose later
efforts led to the desegregation of the University of Oklahoma
College of Law; Nancy Randolph Davis, inspired by Sipuel Fisher,
became the first Black student to attend what is now Oklahoma State
University; Maxine Horner, one of the first two Black women to serve
in the Oklahoma State Senate, the other being Vicki Miles-LaGrange;
Bessie Coleman, the first woman of color in the United States to
earn a pilot license; and many others; and

WHEREAS, cities throughout the state continue to draw attention
to the contributions of Oklahomans during the Civil Rights Movement,
including the recently dedicated Clara Luper National Sit-In Plaza
in downtown Oklahoma City, located on the original site of the Katz
Drug Store in Oklahoma City where Luper and members of the Oklahoma
City NAACP Youth Council staged a nonviolent protest in 1958 to help
bring an end to segregation. A Clara Luper Civil Rights Center is
also planned in Oklahoma City; and

WHEREAS, throughout the state’s history, Black Oklahomans have
made significant contributions in politics, business, medicine,
literature, music, and more, including Hannah Diggs Atkins, who was
the first Black woman to serve in the Oklahoma House of
Representatives and later served as Secretary of State under
Governor Henry Bellmon, among many other accomplishments. J.C.
Watts Jr., a former University of Oklahoma quarterback, served as
the state’s first Black United States Congressman. Prior to being
elected to Congress, Watts was elected to the Corporation
Commission, becoming the first Black Oklahoman to win statewide
office. Green Currin was the first Black Oklahoman to serve in the
Oklahoma Territorial Legislature in 1890, while A.C. Hamlin became
the first Black Oklahoman elected to the Oklahoma Legislature in
1908. E. Melvin Porter became the first Black man elected to the
Oklahoma State Senate in 1964. Ralph Waldo Ellison was an American

ENR. S. R. NO. 29 Page 3
writer, critic, and scholar, best known for his novel Invisible Man,
and became the most widely known man of letters in America.
Historian, educator, and author John Hope Franklin, best known for
his seminal 1947 book From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African
Americans, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the
highest U.S. civilian honor. Charlie Christian won acclaim as an
American swing and jazz guitarist and was among the first electric
guitarists, transforming electric guitar from a rhythm instrument
into a leading solo instrument. Oklahoma’s Leona Mitchell sang for
18 seasons as a leading spinto soprano at the Metropolitan Opera in
New York and performed for five U.S. presidents. Actress and
producer Alfre Woodard has starred in film, television, and theater,
winning multiple awards, including four Emmys, a Golden Globe, and
three Screen Actors Guild Awards and was nominated for an Academy
Award, a BAFTA, and two Grammy Awards. These are but a few of the
many remarkable Black Oklahomans whose accomplishments have brought
positive attention to their professions and to Oklahoma.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE 2ND SESSION
OF THE 60TH OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:

THAT the Oklahoma State Senate recognizes and celebrates
February as Black History Month.

THAT the Oklahoma State Senate recognizes and applauds the
contribution of Black Oklahomans in the Civil Rights Movement and
efforts by communities and by the state to highlight those
accomplishments for future generations, and honors the
accomplishments of Black Oklahomans who have been trailblazers in
their fields, earning state and national recognition for their
talent and dedication.

ENR. S. R. NO. 29 Page 4
Adopted by the Senate the 19th day of February, 2026.

Presiding Officer of the Senate

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of __________________, 20 _______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________