Boley in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma — The American South (West South Central)
Okfuskee County, Rosenwald Schools, and Boley
Photographed by Jerry Klinger, October 14, 2023
1. Okfuskee County, Rosenwald Schools, and Boley Marker
In 1911, Booker T. Washington, head of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, asked Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish Philanthropist, to serve on the board of directors at Tuskegee. Washington shared his vision with Rosenwald; lifting the veil of ignorance would point the way to progress and industry. Black-American children in the rural South were severely discriminated against and largely denied educational opportunities. Rosenwalds desire to help, nurtured by Dr. Washington, led to the creation of the Rosenwald Fund. Between 1917 and 1932, the Rosenwald Fund built 5,340 schools for Black-American children. One hundred and ninety-nine Rosenwald schools were built in Oklahoma; fourteen schools and three teachers homes, were in Okfuskee County. Boley High School, a beneficiary of Rosenwald funding, provided generations of young people opportunities to better lives.
Working through mutuality, commonality, and respect, the Rosenwald Fund linked local communities of Blacks and Whites to reach Dr. Washingtons vision of good for all Americans.
Reverse
Fourteen Rosenwald Schools, and three teacher's homes adjacent to Chilesville, IXL,
this page online
Erected 2023 by Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Town of Boley. Boley Chamber of Commerce. Oklahoma Historical Society.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Education.
Location. 35° 29.293′ N, 96° 29.055′ W. Marker is in Boley, Oklahoma, in Okfuskee County. It is on Pecan and Rt. 62. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Boley OK 74829, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Oklahoma’s Muscogee Nation. It is also in the American South, specifically on the prairies, and on the Southern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 11 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Boley, Oklahoma (a few steps from this marker); J.B. Boley
Photographed by Jerry Klinger, October 14, 2023
2. Okfuskee County, Rosenwald Schools, and Boley Marker Reverse
Also see . . .
1. Still standing: The legacy and history of an Oklahoma Rosenwald school. Oklahoma history and the history of Black Americans has been inextricably linked by a number of events throughout time, from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre to the start of the sit-in movement by civil rights icon Clara Luper. In fact, at one point the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. even visited Oklahoma City, applying for a preaching job at Calvary Baptist Church in Deep Deuce. The building Rosenwald Hall built the same year as the race massacre that took place 100 miles northeast, was one of numerous investments in Black communities across America, in partnership between Booker T. Washington, a Black educator and leader of the Tuskegee Institute, and Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish American businessman and philanthropist. (Submitted on October 15, 2023, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)
2. Rosenwald Schools helped educate Black students in segregated South. Could a national park follow.
ST. GEORGE, S.C. (AP) As Ralph James settled into the restored, highbacked desk at the segregated school he attended in rural South Carolina, he remembered the old school bell, the cascading light through tall windows, the Christmas pageant and the basketball court just outside.(Submitted on October 15, 2023, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)
It was in schools like this one, and nearly 5,000 others built in the American South a century ago, that Black students largely ignored by whites in power gained an educational foundation through the generosity of a Jewish businessman who could soon be memorialized with a national park.
3. Boley: A Negro Town in the American West (1908). (Submitted on October 15, 2023, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)
4. The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture: Boley.
Located halfway between Paden and Castle in Okfuskee County, Boley is the largest and most well known of the more than fifty All-Black towns of Oklahoma and one of only thirteen still existing. The town, established on land allotted to Creek freedman James Barnett's daughter Abigail, was named after J. B. Boley, a railroad official of the Fort Smith and Western Railway. Founded in 1903 and incorporated in 1905, Boley and the African Americans living in the area prospered for many years. The Boley Progress, a weekly newspaper, began in 1905. The paper and various advertising campaigns circulated through the South and lured many former slaves to the new town. At 1907 statehood Boley sheltered 824 individuals.(Submitted on October 15, 2023, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)
5. Okfuskee County, Rosenwald Schools, and Boley.
Boley, Oklahoma, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, was established as an all-Black town on the land of Creek Indian Freedwoman Abigail Barnett in 1903. When the Five Tribes, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminoles, were forcibly removed from their homelands in the 1830s40s, people enslaved by the tribes also made the long journey to Indian Territory. By 1861, eight to ten thousand Black people were enslaved throughout Indian Territory. Ms. Barnetts family was part of that story.(Submitted on November 3, 2023, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)
Boley was named in honor of J.B. Boley, a White man, as the historical marker on the main street around the corner from the Mayors office noted with dignity. J.B. Boley was the roadmaster for the Fort Smith and Western Railroad. He was convinced that Black Americans could govern themselves. Boley worked hard, successfully convincing the Railroad to share his vision. The Town of Boley was incorporated in 1905.
By 1911, Boley attracted many Blacks from throughout the South seeking to escape Jim Crow. The Town prospered. It was a haven of Black Enterprise, potential, and refuge from anti-Black bigotry. Its population rose to 4,200.
Credits. This page was last revised on July 25, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 15, 2023, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,042 times since then and 65 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 15, 2023, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A wide view photo of the marker and the surrounding area together in context. • Can you help?
