Henderson-Tolson Cultural Center

Henderson-Tolson Cultural Center. . This building stands as an expression of the belief by the university family that ethnic and cultural diversity is a source of the strength of this institution. It is named in honor of two distinguished professors at the University of Oklahoma, Dr. George Henderson and Dr. Melvin B. Tolson, Jr. , Built by the WPA in 1936, as the ROTC Services building, it became the new quarters for the Stovall Museum of Natural History in the late 1940's, named after Dr. J. Willis Stovall. Dr. Stovall was a vertebrate paleontologist who collected some of the most significant dinosaur fossils ever found. The museum's collection expanded greatly under his direction in the 1930's. Stovall served as director of the museum until his death in 1953. , Dedicated on September 13, 2002, after almost a year of renovations, the Henderson-Tolson Cultural Center houses the Black Student Association and many of the organizations that support the cultural and social needs of African-American students at the University of Oklahoma. It is also available for use by other organizations and the entire student community. The center was originally located on Elm Street at the present-day Wesley Foundation parking lot and most recently the Wilson Center Cafeteria before finding its current and permanent home. , Dr. George Henderson has served as David Ross Boyd, Goldman, and Regent's Professor of Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma, and a professor of Education. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Sociology in 1957 and 1959 respectively, and his Ph.D. in Educational Sociology in 1965, all from Wayne State University. Henderson came to OU in 1967. In 1971, he was named director of the new OU Human Relations Program. An author of numerous scholarly articles and over 15 books. Dr. Henderson has received numerous awards and honors including being the first African-American professor in the state of Oklahoma to occupy an endowed chair and the first African-American dean on the Norman campus. He was a leader in efforts to make Norman a more diverse community. , Dr. Melvin B. Tolson Jr., professor emeritus, began his service with the university in 1962 and later became the university's first African-American full-time faculty member. He received his B.A. in English and Philosophy from Wiley College in 1942, B.A. in Theology from Gammon Theological Seminary in 1946, and a M.A. in French and English from Oklahoma A&M University in 1950. Dr. Tolson went on to receive the Diplome de la Litterature Contemporaine from the University of Paris in 1956 and his Ph.D. in French and Spanish from the University of Oklahoma in 1965. In addition to teaching modern languages, literature and linguistics, he served as an adviser in University College and was the first faculty sponsor for the OU Afro-American Student Union, later to be called the Black People's Union.