All-Black Towns of Oklahoma – Clearview

All-Black Towns of Oklahoma – Clearview. . The all-Black towns of Oklahoma represent a unique chapter in American history. Nowhere else, neither the Deep South nor the far West, did so many African American men and women come together to live in and govern their own communities. By 1920, Oklahoma had more than 30 towns considered all-Black. , All-Black towns grew after the Civil War when former slaves of the Five Civilized Tribes settled together for mutual protection and economic security. When the lands of the tribes were allotted to individuals, most Indian “freedmen” chose land next to other African Americans. This created prosperous farming communities that could support towns. , When the land run of 1889 opened yet more land to non-Indian settlement, African Americans from the Old South rushed to the new territory for free land. Edwin McCabe founded Langston and encouraged African Americans to settle in his all-Black town. He even had a vision for an all-Black state. Although his dream was never realized, many all-Black communities were established on the rich topsoil of the new territory and state. , The all-Black towns of Oklahoma prospered until the 1920s, but gradually declined under the pressure of Jim Crow laws that denied African Americans the right to vote, the Great Depression, and population flight from farm to city after World War II. Today, a few all-Black towns still survive, but all are remembered, a legacy of economic and political freedom. , Clearview , Clearview was founded in 1903 along the tracks of the Fort Smith and Western Railroad. Originally, the name of the town was Lincoln. From the beginning, the community supported a newspaper, The Lincoln Tribune, that evolved into the Clearview Patriarch. J.A. Roper, Lemuel Jackson and John Grayson platted the townsite and formed the Lincoln Townsite Company to attract settlers and advertise the settlement. Grayson and Roper were involved in the Abe Lincoln Trading Company, a venture they organized to operate a general store, deal in farm produce, and buy and sell real estate. Grayson also became the first postmaster for the town and Roper owned a sawmill and lumberyard. By 1904 the town boasted a two-story hotel and a printshop. Very early Clearview built a brick school and supported two churches. J.E. Thompson moved to Clearview around 1911 about the time Roper and Jackson departed the town. By 1914, he announced to Booker T. Washington at a Business League meeting that he owned or managed a total of 5,800 acres of land in Okfuskee County. J.C. Leftwich opened a Creek and Seminole agricultural college northeast of town in 1916 that operated for four years. In 1907, the population of the town was 618. By the late 1930s the town had a population [of] 420 and in 1990, there were 47 people residing there. , Some early business owners and leaders of the community included Mr. Sharp, L.W. Warren, Ernest Lynwood, J.C. Leftwich, A.M. Tomkins, L.H. Haynes, Susie Haynes, Mr. Ewing, Rev. C.F. Brokenburr, Charly Porter, Maggie Chilton, Mattie Lucas, Lincoln Gamil, Caroline Samuel, Lula Mayberry, West Mayberry, Mr. Norwood, Mr. Evans, Ruth Jones, Hattie Wright, Ruby Osborn, Elizabeth Gresham, Jessie Johnson, Rev. H.L. Marina, Nannie Talton, Langston Bush and A.T. Golden. , Captions (clockwise from top left) , . Clearview faculty, 1938 Front row: Miss Amos Daniels, Ms. Bolsey Haynes, Edna Armstrong Moore, Elizabeth Alford Mayberry, Rubye Hall. Back row: C.C. Collins, Minnie Dalton, Mr. D. Hall, Olive Owens and James Ellis. , . Reproduction of an early advertisement. , . Class of 1938. , . Creek-Seminole College ca. 1916.