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One of only historic Black schools still standing in Oklahoma was purchased

An anonymous donor donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city of Stillwater to preserve Booker T. Washington School.

One of only historic Black schools still standing in Oklahoma was purchased

An anonymous donor donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city of Stillwater to preserve Booker T. Washington School.

AND NOW THE FUTURE OF THIS HISTORIC SITE. THE CLASS MOTTO IN 1956 WAS DON’T WAIT FOR SOMETHING TO. TURN UP, TURN IT UP AND WHAT WE’VE BEEN TRYING TO DO IN SAVING THE HISTORY, ONE OF ONLY THREE HISTORICAL SCHOOLS IN OKLAHOMA HAS BEEN SAVED BY AN ANONYMOUS DONOR. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF PURCHASING IN THE OLD BOOKER T WASHINGTON SCHOOL, WHICH IS BEHIND US HERE, AND A UNANIMOUS VOTE MONDAY. STILLWATER CITY COUNCIL AGREED TO PURCHASE THE HISTORIC SITE AFTER AN ANONYMOUS DONOR GIFTED. $250,000. HAVING A TRADITIONALLY BLACK SCHOOL THAT WAS BUILT SPECIFICALLY TO BE A BLACK SCHOOL THAT NEEDS TO BE PRESERVED AS PART OF OUR HISTORY. AND THIS IS THE ORIGINAL ENTRYWAY TO BOOKER WASHINGTON SCHOOL CITY LEADERS PLAN TO PRESERVE THE ORIGINAL KEY STRUCTURE OF THE BUILDING AND TRANSFORM IT INTO SOMETHING STILLWATER CAN BE PROUD OUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE IS THAT THE OLD CLASSROOM AND ADMINISTRATIVE OF THE BUILDING WOULD BE USED BY THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION FOR HISTORICAL DISPLAYS FOR COMMUNITY EVENTS, FOR EDUATION, OPPORTUNITY MOMENTUM TO SEE THE SCHOOL GAIN FROM A SCHOOL PANDEMIC PROJECT. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST IMAGES WE HAVE OF IT FROM ABOUT 1940. WHAT STARTED JUST DOCUMENTATION TURNED INTO A MISSION PROJECT, I ASKED IF WE COULD HAVE ENGINEERS AND SOME HISTORY STUDENTS TOGETHER TO DOCUMENT THE STRUCTURE AND EVERYTHING HAS GROWN OUT OF THAT. IT’S A REALLY BEAUTIFUL TESTAMENT TO WHAT WE CAN DO AND WE WORK TOGETHER.
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One of only historic Black schools still standing in Oklahoma was purchased

An anonymous donor donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city of Stillwater to preserve Booker T. Washington School.

One of the only historic Black schools still standing in Oklahoma has just been purchased.An anonymous donor donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city of Stillwater to preserve Booker T. Washington School."Their class motto in 1956 was, ‘Don’t wait for something to turn up, turn it up!’ That’s what we’ve been trying to do to save the history," said Kevin Clark, from the Stillwater City Council.One of the only three historic black schools in Oklahoma has been saved by an anonymous donor."We are in the process of purchasing the old Booker T. Washington School which is behind us here," Clark said.In a unanimous Monday, Stillwater’s City Council agreed to purchase the historic site after an anonymous donor gifted $250,000.City leaders plan to preserve the original ‘T’ structure of the building and transform it into something Stillwater can be proud of."Our hope for the future is that the old classroom and administrative office will be used by the alumnae association for historical displays, community events, education opportunities," said Norman McNickle, the city manager for Stillwater.Momentum to save the school gained traction from a school pandemic project."This is one of the best images we have of it from about 1940," said Laura Arata, an associate professor of history at Oklahoma State University.What started as just documentation turned into a mission project."I asked if we could have some engineer and history students work together to document the structure and everything has grown out of that," Arata said.

One of the only historic Black schools still standing in Oklahoma has just been purchased.

An anonymous donor donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city of Stillwater to preserve Booker T. Washington School.

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"Their class motto in 1956 was, ‘Don’t wait for something to turn up, turn it up!’ That’s what we’ve been trying to do to save the history," said Kevin Clark, from the Stillwater City Council.

One of the only three historic black schools in Oklahoma has been saved by an anonymous donor.

"We are in the process of purchasing the old Booker T. Washington School which is behind us here," Clark said.

In a unanimous Monday, Stillwater’s City Council agreed to purchase the historic site after an anonymous donor gifted $250,000.

City leaders plan to preserve the original ‘T’ structure of the building and transform it into something Stillwater can be proud of.

"Our hope for the future is that the old classroom and administrative office will be used by the alumnae association for historical displays, community events, education opportunities," said Norman McNickle, the city manager for Stillwater.

Momentum to save the school gained traction from a school pandemic project.

"This is one of the best images we have of it from about 1940," said Laura Arata, an associate professor of history at Oklahoma State University.

What started as just documentation turned into a mission project.

"I asked if we could have some engineer and history students work together to document the structure and everything has grown out of that," Arata said.