A Place to Call Home: A Study of the Self-Segregated Community of Tatums, Oklahoma, 1894-1970

This study examines Tatums, Oklahoma, under the assumption that the historically black towns (HBT) developed as a response to conditions in the South. This community provides a rich example of the apparent anomalies that the environment of self-segregation created. Despite the widespread violence of the Klan, the residents of the HBTs were not the targets of lynching or mob violence. During the years after World War II, Tatums residents enjoyed the greatest prosperity. The final chapter looks at the battle Tatums' residents fought to keep their school from being closed after the state of Oklahoma began to enforce the Brown v. Board of Education decisions in the 1960s. Their solidarity during the desegregation transition remained powerful enough for them to negotiate compromises regarding the fair treatment of their children in a world that was integrating around them.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2005

Author dc:creator

• Ragsdale, Rhonda M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Turner, Elizabeth Hays
• Campbell, Randolph B., 1940-2022
• Smith, F. Todd

• Tatums (Okla.) -- History.
• Segregation -- Oklahoma -- Tatums.
• Race discrimination -- Oklahoma -- Tatums.
• desegregation
• school closures
• self-segregation
• black town
• black community

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Ragsdale, Rhonda M.
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 68484849
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4842/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc4842

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc4842