Early Oklahoma: Black Hope/Black Dreams exhibition

Early Oklahoma: Black Hope/Black Dreams features the accomplishments of three individuals who had a vision for greater opportunity and equality for themselves and others.

Edward (Edwin) Preston McCabe arrived in Oklahoma Territory in 1889. He was experienced in finance, law, land development and politics. McCabe sought a place where African Americans could establish their own towns similar to other groups of Americans.

Roscoe Dunjee was a newspaperman, activist, humanitarian and a man of extraordinary conviction and legendary accomplishment. Founded in 1915, Dunjee’s newspaper was titled the Black Dispatch. Dunjee also took aim at the legal system and the issues, incidents and laws that deprived African Americans of their rights of citizenship and human dignity.

Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher was the first African American admitted to the University of Oklahoma Law School on June 18, 1949, and the first to graduate in August 1951. Through her, African Americans succeeded in challenging the separate but equal doctrine as it applied to educational opportunities.