Date

4-26-2024

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)

Chair

Luci Vaden

Keywords

Oklahoma, Long Civil Rights Movement, Integration, Civil Rights, Five Tribes, Southern History

Disciplines

History

Abstract

The perspective to view Oklahoma as a Southern state where racial policy sets the tone for the land is not new, but previous scholarship argued that Oklahoma’s Southern foundation began during the period of statehood in 1907 and ceased following court and legislative action during the Civil Rights Era. This work argues that Oklahoma’s Southern turn commenced much earlier, during the Five Tribes' relocation to Indian Territory following the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This Southern base cemented itself in the very fabric of the land when the Five Tribes joined the Confederate States during the war for secession and, following the American Civil War, attempted to limit the citizenship status and opportunities of their freedmen. For a brief moment, during the leadup to statehood, these future Oklahomans had the opportunity to move away from their Southern roots and take a more progressive stance in establishing racial equality. Instead, Southern sympathies swept into power through the Democratic Party and the rise of “Lily-White” Republicans, allowing Democrats to dominate the state constitutional convention. A long Civil Rights Era commenced in the state, sparking a mixture of racial violence, intimidation, and legal action. Following the Brown decision after four decades of state-sponsored segregation, Oklahoma once again had a new opportunity to move away from its Southern roots; one that state leadership attempted to foster. However, the Southern foundation proved challenging to overcome in the state as Oklahoma City fought integration efforts for decades, demonstrating the pervasiveness of Southern ideology in Oklahoma.

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