The auditorium was built with funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal government agency that funded various building construction projects around the country during the Great Depression. The WPA was part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal initiative.&nbsp; Before it was built, there was no place in the city that could sit more than 2,000 people. The city decided to remedy this situation by constructing the auditorium, which had a seating capacity for 6,000 in the main theatre. Major renovations took place in 1967 when the large theatre was downsized and other changes were made. The name of the building was changed to its current&nbsp;one as well. Another round of renovations took place in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was during this time that the Civic Center attained its excellent acoustics.

Civic Center Music Hall was built in 1937 and originally called Municipal Auditorium. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Built in 1937 and originally called the Municipal Auditorium, the Civic Center Music Hall is renowned around the country for its excellent acoustics. It features three theatres as well as a large reception hall. Over one million attend events are held here per year and it is home to a number of local performing arts companies including the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the Oklahoma City Ballet. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 for its architecture and important role as an art and cultural center. 

Civic Center Music Hall

This walk explores the history of Oklahoma's leading city and begins at two of the state's most significant cultural sites:  the recently-constructed Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Civic Center Music Hall which was built during the Great Depression. The tour includes local landmarks and historic buildings such as the Skirvin and Colcord hotels as well as museums such as the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.  

The museum's roots go back to when the Oklahoma Art League and Art Renaissance Club, which formed not long after statehood was granted, began promoting arts in the city. It wasn't until the founding of the WPA Experimental Gallery in the 1930s that formal efforts to establish an art organization began. The Gallery became a private institution (the WPA, the Works Progress Administration, was a federal program) in 1945. It evolved into the Oklahoma City Art Center. It merged with the Oklahoma Museum of Art in 1989 since the city could not support two art museums. The museum moved into the new building in 2002.

Opened in 2002, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art boasts an impressive collection covering five centuries art from around the world. Hihglights include European and American art from the 19th-20th centuries, contemporary art, and glass sculpture work by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. In addition to the collection, the museum also features a repertory cinema and a museum school which offers art classes for people of all ages. Over 130,000 people from all 50 states and over 30 countries visit the museum each year.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art

The Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks was established in New York City in 1868. They established the lodge in Oklahoma City in 1898. The lodge rented meeting space until the building was constructed in 1926. As noted above, it was supposed to be twelves stories tall but the lodge did not have enough money to build the rest of the floors. The Elks owned the building until the Great Depression made it difficult to retain members and maintain the building. The Elks sold the building to General William S. Key, who served in World War I as a colonel and became General of the Oklahoma National Guard. Back home, he became a successful businessman, investing in the oil industry. He bought the building to house his business offices and invest some of his money. His offices were located on the first floor; he rented the other levels. One of these tenants was the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company.&nbsp; The company played a key role in the city's growth during the early 20th century. It built the first natural gas pipeline to the city in 1906 and the gas started to flow on December 28, 1907. The advantages of natural gas—it was cheap, clean-burning, and efficient—attracted businesses to the city. As a result, economic activity increased. The company purchased the building in 1947. The company is now a division of ONE Gas.&nbsp;

The former Elks Lodge Building is historically significant for its association with the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks and its association with the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company, which moved into the building in 1932. The company was founded in 1906 and grew rapidly before making this building its headquarters in the early years of the Great Depression. The building was designed in the Italian Renaissance style and was originally meant to be twelve stories tall. Its exterior, which remains largely unaltered, features a number of interesting elements including double-arched windows separated by a column; above the windows are additional arches with tiles and a medallion inside. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 for its historically significant architecture as well as its connections to the business history of the state. While fraternal organizations have been faced with declining memberships over the past century, the oil and gas business remains central to the local economy and the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company still occupies the building today.

Elks Lodge Building

<blockquote>Catholicism in the area of what now is present day Oklahoma dates back to the time of Spanish and French expeditions in the New World in the mid 1500s. Among other things, one of the objectives of the European explorers was to evangelize the native tribes. This small Catholic presence would grow just slightly until the first permanent Catholic missionary in Indian Territory. In 1875 French Benediction monks arrived in Potawatomi County to set up a monastery in order to escape persecution in France. This monastery would later become St. Gregory’s in present day Shawnee. The native tribes, again, were the focus of the Catholic missionaries. However, the bulk of the early Catholic population in Oklahoma would come from Caucasian immigrants. Italians, Germans, Polish, Irish, and Lebanese laborers and merchants were flocking to the Oklahoma City area around the time of the Land Run.</blockquote><blockquote>The Land Run of 1889 was part of the movement to seek new beginnings and fortunes in the west of America. As some 4000 settlers raced to the Oklahoma station to set up homes and businesses, they also set up churches. Many of the first services across all denominations took place in tents or other primitive structures. The same was the case for Rev. Nicolas Scallon, who arrived by train on April 22nd, 1889 to the infant city. Upon his arrival he started to amass his congregation and within two weeks of the land run, plans had been made to build a church.</blockquote><blockquote>The original Church was a small wooden structure that was complete with cross and bell by August 2nd, 1889. It was the first church built in Oklahoma City, done so by the congregation of 16 families. A short two years later the congregation had outgrown its humble church, and in 1901 the plans were drawn for a much bigger, brick building. It was dedicated in 1904 by Oklahoma’s first bishop, Rev. Theophile Meerschaert, and in 1905, Pope Pius X raised the Vicarate of the Oklahoma Territory to a diocese, making St. Joseph’s the first cathedral in Oklahoma. Over the next several decades the Cathedral has seen many changes and renovations, the largest coming after the Murrah building bombing in 1995. The damage was extensive and the church was closed for two years.</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>Today, 130 years later, the church is a part of the National Register of Historic Places. The building still stands and holds daily and weekend masses for its congregation. A trip inside will leave no doubt as to why it is referrred to as the "Old Cathedral". From the stained glass windows, to the chipped wooden pews, the Cathedral's dated look is still beautiful.</blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote>

The church that would become St. Joseph's Old Cathedral is the oldest congregation in Oklahoma City. The original building was constructed in 1888 and expanded with the growth of the congregation in 1904, making St. Joseph's the first cathedral in Oklahoma. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

St. Joseph's Old Cathedral

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;At 9:02 a.m., a Ryder rental truck exploded outside of Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. In the blink of an eye, 149 adults and nineteen children lost their lives, and over 680 people sustained serious injuries. Timothy McVeigh, a Persian Gulf War veteran, orchestrated this attack because he wanted to punish the federal government for its flawed response to the Waco Siege and the Rudy Ridge incident.&nbsp; 
 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;In response to this tragedy, Americans rallied together to remember those who lost their lives. In the days following the attack, Oklahoma City residents erected a chain link fence that served as a temporary memorial. People from across the country descended upon Oklahoma City to remember the victims by leaving&nbsp;personal messages, stuffed animals, flowers, and various mementos along the fence. In fact, elementary students from several states&nbsp;sent over five thousand painted tiles to honor the victims. This senseless tragedy elicited an overwhelming response from numerous Americans. 
 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Even though the chain link fence was a powerful memorial, Oklahoma City residents and national leaders decided to construct a professional memorial. The memorial’s advisory board conducted an international design contest, and Hans and Torrey Butzer's design was the best of the 624 submissions.&nbsp;Their creative design resulted in a memorial that&nbsp;consists of seven main sections: the survivor tree, the field of empty chairs, the reflecting pool,&nbsp;the gates of time, the survivors’ wall, the chain link&nbsp;fence, and the children's area. Each of these sections has an important&nbsp;symbolic meaning. 
 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;First, the survivor tree is an American Elm that survived the bombing. Even though this tree lost its leaves and suffered severe damage from the bombing, it has managed to thrive over the years. Since 1995, this tree has continued to&nbsp;represent the resilience of Oklahoma City and America because it shows that life continues even after an unthinkable tragedy. Also, the field of chairs includes a chair for each person&nbsp;who died. From a distance, all of the chairs appear to look the same. However, no two chairs are identical. For example, nineteen of the 168 chairs are smaller because they honor the children who perished.&nbsp;These diverse&nbsp;chairs emphasize that 168 unique individuals died. Torrey Butzer explains that the empty chairs not only&nbsp;"speak of the absence" of the victims, but they also "embody their presence." 
 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Furthermore, in the center of the memorial, there is a reflecting pool. This pool appears to have great depth, but it is only one inch deep. The reason for this optical illusion is to show&nbsp;how sorrow can seem much greater than it actually is. Besides its symbolic meaning, the reflecting pool also creates a serene environment for the memorial. Additionally, there is a gate of time&nbsp;at each end of the reflecting pool. The gate directed towards the east has "9:01" engraved on it. This is the minute before the bombing when life was normal. Engraved on the opposite wall is "9:03". This is the minute after the bombing when the healing process began for America.&nbsp; 
 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;While the memorial honors those who died in this attack, it also has a survivors' wall to encourage those who lived through this nightmare. This wall consists of the only two walls of the Federal Building&nbsp;that remained standing after the explosion. In addition, the chain link fence that served as the original memorial remains&nbsp;an integral part of the modern memorial. Unlike most memorials, the Oklahoma City National Memorial includes a specific section designated for children to leave messages and drawings. The purpose of the children's area is to show that this bombing has not stolen innocence and hope from people, especially children.&nbsp;

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Even though it has been over twenty years since the bombing, this memorial and museum allow the 168 victims to live on in the hearts of all who come to this memorial. The purpose of the memorial and museum is "to remember those who were killed, those who survived, and all those changed forever."

The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum commemorates the 168 Americans who died from the worst domestic act of terrorism in American history. Timothy McVeigh detonated a fertilizer bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. Following this tragedy, Americans united to honor these victims by erecting a chain link fence, which served as a temporary memorial until the official memorial was completed. President Bill Clinton dedicated The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum five years after the bombing.

Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum

St. Paul's congregation was established in 1891 and held its first services in the federal courtroom. The first church was erected two years later and moved to another location in 1901. As noted above, the growing congregation built the current structure in 1904. The congregation later built a parish house in 1909 and&nbsp;its Sunday School Building in 1949.&nbsp;

Constructed in 1904 in the Norman Gothic style, St. Paul's Cathedral is one of the two oldest churches in Oklahoma City (the other is St. Joseph's Cathedral). It was built in 1904 and became the Episcopal Cathedral in 1908. The building features a Norman-style tower, stained glass windows (including two Tiffany windows behind the altar), and a carara marble altar. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.  

St. Paul's Cathedral

Now home to the YMCA Association Offices and a community organization called Healthy Schools Oklahoma, the former Oklahoma Publishing Company Building is a fine example of Classical architecture. It features a number of notable features including composite capitals that sit atop tall columns that reach the base of the building. The building was erected in 1909 by the Oklahoma Publishing Company, which published "The Oklahoman" newspaper. The Oklahoman was originally established by a publisher named Reverend Sam Small in 1889. Another publisher, E.K. Gaylord, founded Oklahoma Publishing Company in 1903. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Oklahoma Publishing Company Building

African Americans&nbsp;first came to Oklahoma as both enslaved persons and members of Native American tribes during the forced removal of American
Indians from Georgia and the American Southeast.&nbsp;Calvary Baptist Church dates back to the period of Oklahoma statehood. The congregation was established in 1890 by&nbsp;African Americans who arrived in the area from Tennessee. By 1900, this small congregation joined&nbsp;African American Baptists from California and officially adopted the new name of Calvary Baptist Church.&nbsp;African American architect Russell Benton Bingham designed this church which was built in 1921 in the&nbsp;“Deep
Deuce” neighborhood of Oklahoma City. During the era of segregation, the neighborhood was surrounded by Black-owned hotels and other establishments that were operated by Black entrepreneurs for members of the Black community.&nbsp;Ralph Ellison, the author of The Invisible Man grew up in
this neighborhood and based some of his writings on his experiences in this part of the city.&nbsp;

Following its construction, the church
served as both a religious and social center for African Americans.&nbsp;In the late 1950s students and church members joined Black leaders like Clara Luper a former teacher, in challenging segregation. Members of Calvary Baptist Church began a series of nonviolent protests with the support of the Oklahoma City NAACP Youth Council. On August 19th 1958,
Black students in Oklahoma City launched a sit-in at&nbsp;Kat’s
Drug Store in downtown Oklahoma City. Sit-ins&nbsp;continued for an
arduous period of six years from 1958-1964 and leaders like Luper were arrested multiple times for their&nbsp;participation in these protests.&nbsp;

Established in 1890 Calvary Baptist has long been one of the religious and social centers of Oklahoma's City's Black community. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at meetings at this church which was constructed in 1921. Cavalry Baptist congregants and leaders played an important role in the civil rights sit-ins that led to the integration of 175 restaurants throughout the city. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Calvary was the place where protesters met before and after the protests despite bomb threats and the church's insurance company declaring that they would no longer cover the building if it continued to host civil rights meetings. 

Calvary Baptist Church

The name of this local establishment is a reference to the community which earned the nickname "Deep Deuce" when it was the heart of Oklahoma City's&nbsp;African American community. The district attracted many traveling&nbsp;musicians during the early years of jazz and blues music. This&nbsp;two-story brick structure was built in the 190s and is best known for owner&nbsp;W.L. Haywood who opened numerous businesses including the&nbsp;first Black hospital in Oklahoma City.&nbsp;

Oklahoma City's Deep Deuce Grill is located in the Haywood Building which was constructed by Dr. W. L. Haywood in 1926. 

Deep Deuce Grill 

Red Earth, Inc. Museum is
a non-profit organization that over the course of its existence as built up a
reputable reputation. Not only does it house a large historical collection for
Native American art and cultural pieces it is provides educational programs to
teach the cultural history of the American Indian Tribes.

The Red Earth Museum as
it is known today was founded in 1992 were Red Earth incorporated was
established. Red Earth Incorporated was established based off of the merger of
two different Native American organizations. In 1978 known today as Red Earth,
Inc. was first established as The Center of the American Indian Museum. The main
mission of The Center of the American Indian museum was to display Native
American art. 9 years later, influential tribal leader and community member band
together to find the Red Earth American Indian Cultural Festival. At this
particular festival Native American cultural is shown through art music and
dance. The merger of these two organizations established the Red Earth Incorporated
in 1992.

Although the merger occurred
in 1992 the Red Earth American Indian Cultural Festival has been held every
year since its inaugural year of 1987. &nbsp;As
of today it is “the largest and most respected Native American visual and
performing arts event of its type in the world.” At this annual festival is
also a juried art and dance competition. Juried art is where artist participate
in an art contest where their work is judged by a judge or a panel of judges. The
Art center allows artist to not only display their work through competitions
they also allow Native American centered artist to sell their work as well.
Artistry work includes pottery, art work, textiles, basketry, and beadwork.

The Red Earth Museum holds over 1,400 pieces of Native American art, textiles, and pottery.  Often at the museum, they have demonstrations of music and dance, art workshops, and also literature seminars.  Red Earth Museum cares deeply about promoting the traditions of Native Americans, and keeping their traditions alive. Once a year there is a festival orchestrated by the museum to continue to bring awareness and promote the native American culture.

Red Earth Museum

The construction of the Skirvin reflected the booming times of the period thanks to the oil industry. Not only was it luxurious, it was also largely self-sufficient in that it had its own water well, electrical generators, and private gas pipeline. Guests during the years before World War II included wealthy cattle ranchers, political figures, and even outlaw figures of the day. Getting to the hotel was convenient, as it was located across the street from the Rock Island Depot. William Skirvin passed away in 1945 and the hotel was sold to hotelier Dan James. Under his leadership, the hotel continued to thrive. He modernized the hotel and made other changes including a large ballroom&nbsp;and a club on the lower floor. Soon, the hotel became the hottest place in town, attracting celebrities and politicians including Frank Sinatra and Harry Truman. James also provided employment opportunities&nbsp;for members of the local African American community, which afforded them the chance to gain a semblance of&nbsp;respect. Local African American activists, most notably Clara Luper (1923-2011),&nbsp;organized sit-ins at the hotel, which eventually compelled&nbsp;the hotel to desegregate, becoming the first hotel in the city to do so. The hotel began to decline after the war, as people started to move to the suburbs. The James family (Dan passed away in 1945)&nbsp;was forced to sell the hotel in the early 1960s. The hotel continued to operate under new ownership until finally closing in 1988. It was then left vacant and fell into disrepair. However, as noted above, it underwent a $50 million dollar renovation and reopened in 2007 as part of the Hilton portfolio of hotels.&nbsp;

Oklahoma City's landmark historic hotel, the Skirvin Hilton was built in 1911 by wealthy oil baron William Balser Skirvin. Constructed at a cost of $1.8 million, it was the most expensive and elaborate hotel in the city. The hotel initially consisted of two sections and was ten stories tall with 220 guest rooms. By 1928, the hotel had expanded in ways that reflected the growth of Oklahoma City, with three 14-story sections and 525 rooms. The hotel was completely renovated in the mid-2000s and reopened in 2007 with 225 rooms. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. 

Skirvin Hilton Hotel

African Americans in Oklahoma City held many meetings where they discussed strategies for confronting the racial discrimination they faced in the early 1950s. Clara Luper, a local teacher and the advisor of the Oklahoma City branch of the NAACP Youth Council, along with Barbara Ann Posey, the vice president of the branch, led the council in the decision to begin sit-ins at lunch counters. They targeted the Katz drug store due to its prominent location and well-known discriminatory policies after the manager refused their request to serve all people at the lunch counter. On August 19, 1958, the group of civil rights activists sat down at the Katz lunch counter and ordered sodas. Service was refused, as was expected, and the protesters sat quietly, filling the seats of the lunch counter for the next few days. On the third day, the store manager decided to serve the group.   Together with a successful sit-in in Wichita, Kansas, in July and August 1958, African American communities in Kansas and Oklahoma were at the vanguard of a growing movement of direct action campaigns. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. publicly acknowledged the achievement of the Oklahoma City Youth Council by awarding them citations at the NAACP convention in 1959, and the sit-ins in both states have been the subject of multiple articles and books that are also linked below. In recognition of these events, both Wichita and Oklahoma City are adding markers and monuments to their downtown landscapes. The 2022 plan for the Oklahoma City monument includes both a lunch counter and figures of the thirteen participants. Articles on the event tend to emphasize the centrality of Clara Luper and her children. Luper was not only an advisor for the Youth Council, she joined her own children in the sit-in. She was also an influential teacher who served the city schools for forty-one years and became the first African American woman in the graduate program in history at the University of Oklahoma, where she received her master’s degree. Researchers can view Luper’s collection of scrapbooks, photographs, and papers at the Oklahoma Historical Society.

One of the first civil rights sit-ins in the Southern Great Plains occurred at this location, as over a dozen youth and adults waged a protest at the Katz drugstore lunch counter for three days between August 19th and 21st in 1958. The effort was led by local high school teacher Clara Luper, who served as an advisor for the Oklahoma City branch of the NAACP Youth Council. Together with vice president Barbara Ann Posey, area students, and members of the community, the protesters trained for the event and endured threats and violence for hours over three consecutive days. The protesters stoically sat at the Katz drug store lunch counter and endured insults, threats, and violence until the third day, when they were finally offered service. The event inspired many additional efforts to challenge racial discrimination throughout Oklahoma City and beyond, with additional protests led by Clara Luper who was arrested 26 times in her life for protesting against racial discrimination. The efforts of Luper and other community members culminated in a 1964 city ordinance against racial discrimination in public accommodations. In March 2022, area leaders announced that the event would be memorialized by a public sculpture dedicated in honor of the sit-ins that would be dedicated at this location following fundraising efforts.

Katz Drug Store Sit-In (1958)

Today the building is 14-stories and reaches a height of 145 feet. The building recognizes a significant architectural landmark as&nbsp;the first steel-reinforced concrete structure in the state of Oklahoma. Colcord wanted his building designed in this manner after reviewing similarly-built structures in San Francisco that survived the 1906 earthquake.&nbsp;The building is also significant in that it is a fine example of the Chicago architectural style.&nbsp;

Constructed in 1910 and originally called the Colcord Building, the Colcord Hotel was the first skyscraper built in Oklahoma City. The building was originally 12 stories tall and erected by local businessman and developer Charles Colcord (1859-1934) who made his fortune in the oil industry. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, it has been a hotel since 2006.  

Historic Downtown Oklahoma City Walking Tour

Civic Center Music Hall

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources