OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) – The Center City Post Office is now officially the Clara Luper Post Office in honor of one of Oklahoma City’s best-known black civil rights activists.
Luper is best known for organizing and directing sit-ins at the lunch counter at Katz Drug in downtown OKC, which began a successful six-year desegregation process in public restaurants and other public places around the city.
The first sit-in at the Katz drug lunch counter was on August 19, 1958, a full four years before four black college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, sat-in at a lunch counter in a drugstore and was reported nationwide .
Saturday a crowd gathered to inaugurate the newly named Clara Luper Post Office between NW 5th and 6th on Harvey and directly across from the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. The event was part of a weekend of activities held each year to commemorate the first sit-in strike on August 19, 1958.
“I’m so glad we sat down here in Oklahoma City, because if we hadn’t sat down here, the young people in this whole nation would never have stood up,” said Clara Luper’s daughter Marilyn Hildreth to a standing ovation and shouting from the Crowd Saturday.
Hildreth, who joined the other youths Luper led, challenged those who had come to step forward and take action for others and asked what they did and whom they helped raise.
Challenging separation
Luper selected the teens and adults to escort them to the bustling Katz Drug Store in the heart of the Main Street shopping district in downtown Oklahoma City, long before there were any shopping malls and before there was any “fast food”. In fact, the lunch tables in drugstores offered what would later become known as “fast food,” including hamburgers, sandwiches, and soft drinks.
Katz Drug was Luper’s choice precisely because it was one of the busiest drugstore lunch counters in Oklahoma City and was likely to attract the most press attention.
They came and filled the places during a busy time of the day trying to order. At first they were not arrested, but they were also not served.
And most importantly, no one could sit and buy food at the sit-in. It had an economic impact on Katz Drug’s business.
In her challenge to racial segregation in Oklahoma City, but also across the state and nation, Luper was arrested 26 times.
Congressman
Seated Congresswoman Stephanie Bice organized and directed the event. Free Press spoke to her briefly before the ceremony.
“This is an incredible moment to recognize Clara Luper and her contribution to the Oklahoma City area. As one of the first leaders of the civil rights movement, she has become an icon and it is a real honor to celebrate her today, ”said Bice.
Bice invited former Congressman Kendra Horn to come and speak because it was Horn who brought a bill through the house to rename this post office so it would be a reminder of what Luper did.
Senator James Lankford then passed the bill through the Senate and then President Donald Trump signed it with the name change.
“It is so important that we mention Clara Luper’s name that we acknowledge the sit-inner and all those who stood by their side to stand up and challenge injustice wherever it was, wherever it was said, and that we still have a lot to do, ”said Horn in her speech.
“It is so important that we recognize what the power of hate can do to bring us down while we stand here,” said Horn. “It is all the more important that we stand up for what is right and good and remember the work that was done to change the face of our city.”
OKC Mayor Holt
As Mayor of Oklahoma City since 2018, David Holt has been on record each year to clearly acknowledge the evil that white racist Timothy McVeigh perpetrated on Oklahoma City residents when he bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995.
He did so on Saturday in his remarks at the Post Office’s renaming ceremony, which was located west across from Harvey from the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
Holt named the various places in town that Luper’s names were given, such as the new administration building for the OKC Public Schools.
“The name Clara Luper reminds us of how far we’ve come and how far we have to go,” said Holt.
And then Holt pointed to the post office behind him, asked his own question, and answered it.
“Do you know why the Clara Luper Post building appears relatively new behind me? This is because an avowed white racist blew up the previous building. “
He was referring to the destruction of the previous building by the concussion of McVeigh’s truck bomb about half a block away.
“The bombing was a symbol of the dehumanization and depths of evil that humans are capable of,” said Holt. “Clara Luper is a symbol for the best that humanity has to offer.”
“And now the name of a black woman who was arrested two dozen times by this city while fighting for racial equality is now emblazoned on a public building that was once blown up by white racists,” said Holt to applause and shouts .
“Symbol”
Lee E. Cooper, Jr., pastor of Prospect Missionary Baptist Church on the east side and a native of the area, spoke to Free Press prior to the ceremony.
He described Luper as an “icon that not only changed our community, not only changed our state, but also helped transform the entire scope and landscape of this United States.”
“And because of that, it’s really impressive in terms of how our hearts have recognized the fact that Clara Luper did this here in Oklahoma City.”
“Work to do”
Jabee spoke to us after the ceremony about what the name change meant for him.
“It is very important that a black woman’s name be associated with a building in downtown Oklahoma City – so that my daughters can come and see their children, it just means a lot.”
We asked if he thought the job was done.
“Oh, definitely not,” said Jabee. “The work is not done yet. I think we can pull up and come to the post office and see their name and people can google it, but I think it’s important to keep teaching our kids this story and educating the people in schools about who she was and what she was also did. “
“Having your name here means a lot, but we still have so much to do.”
Garland Pruitt, president of the Oklahoma City NAACP, had similar views.
“The challenge that we still have today is to stand up, speak and demand something different from what you see and experience every day.”
Clara Luper, center, with fellow protesters and an Oklahoma City police officer. (Credit: Oklahoma Historical Society, John Melton Collection.)
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Last updated August 22, 2021 12:32 AM by Brett Dickerson – Editor
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