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THE CLARA LUPER LEGACY 

CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
EDUCATOR

2012.201.B0366B.0546 Oklahoma Publishing Company Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society, July 4, 1964.

NEWS & EVENTS
Clara News
Anything recent pertaining to Clara Luper

March 8, 2024

The nation is celebrating Women's History Month this March, and a countless number of women have left their mark on Oklahoma. 

Here's a look at some of Oklahoma's most notable women. 

Clara Luper
Clara Luper, born in 1923 in Okfuskee County, was a Civil Rights leader who was the first African American admitted to the graduate history program at the University of Oklahoma in the 1950s...

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By: Alexia Aston  The Oklahoman

HISTORY

A BRIEF HISTORY

The story of Oklahoma City's leading civil rights activist

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2012.2012.B1439.0757 Oklahoma Publishing Company Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society

ABOUT US
COMMITTEE

About Us

The Clara Luper Legacy Committee works to support the sit-in and civil rights movement, Oklahoma, and the nation. 

We are here to educate and
to keep the story of educator and activist, Clara Luper, alive.

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Marilyn Luper Hildreth

In order to understand where we are going, we must understand where we have been.  It is our responsibility to tell the story of the Oklahoma civil rights movement. My mother, Clara Luper, loved and was totally involved in her community. She believed all children could learn and referred to them as her diamonds. She always dreamed of a better day. And would say to us, "I want you to go to places I have never been and dream dreams I have never had." I would often ask her after a demonstration when people would spit on us, kick us, laugh, and call us names, "Do I have to love these people?"  She would say, "You have no choice. You must love your enemies as you love yourself."

Meet the Committee

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