Oklahoma Hall of Fame ignores Luper and Sequoyah

Only a few days remain to submit nominations for the 2007 Oklahoma Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Oklahoma Heritage Foundation.

 

Last year, Oklahoma Gazette pointed out some omissions from the hall of fame including Woody Guthrie. The Okemah native was inducted back in November.

 

There are still a few names yet to be placed in the hall of fame, including Clara Luper and Sequoyah.

 

Proclaimed the mother of the civil rights movement for the nation and Oklahoma, Luper became the first black student to enroll in the history department at the University of Oklahoma.

 

She would sponsor the Oklahoma City National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Council, which led to the first sit-in in the United States. In August of 1958, Luper took her DunjeeHigh School students and sat in the whites-only section of the Katz Drugstore counter. It sparked sit-ins and demonstrations throughout the country.

 

Sequoyah is the man who brought a modern writing system to the Cherokee Nation. He created "Talking Leaves" " 85 letters that make up the Cherokee syllabary " in the early 1800s. He later added one more letter.

 

Nomination forms are available online at www.oklahomaheritage.com.

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