THE CLARA LUPER LEGACY
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
EDUCATOR
2012.201.B0366B.0546 Oklahoma Publishing Company Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society, July 4, 1964.
Clara News
Anything recent pertaining to Clara Luper
2025 Freedom Fiesta Celebration
Calling all artists! Join in on the art exhibition of the Freedom Fiesta Celebration, recognizing the Civil Rights Movement and the 13 original sit-inners - led by Ms. Clara Luper.
Register at: forms.office.com/r/x5XhRzLyy7
Click the images above to access the pdf files for download.
I am a full-blood Southern Cheyenne and very proud of who I've become today. I want to give credit where credit is due, to Clara for taking me under her wing when I came to John Marshall High School back in 1988 for a brief time. She was my history teacher. I had just lost my mother, my father was trying to raise us and provide for us as we also just moved from a rural town in western Oklahoma to Oklahoma City. As a teenager, I didn't have much guidance or anyone to tell me right from wrong. Meeting Clara changed my life for the better. She's inspired me to be a better person and always strive for the advancement of my people and to be a voice for those who don't have one.
I've since earned my letters in the Western education world, a bachelor's degree in Native American Studies, a master's in legal studies from OU-College of Law, and almost an MA in socio-cultural anthropology. I'm also highly involved with my Cheyenne people and am reminded that you cannot lead where you haven't been, so I am always constantly challenging my own personal limits to be a better human being.
Clara inspired me to want to be a leader amongst my people and to not be afraid to go forward and lead by example. In the last year, I was made a traditional Cheyenne chief, one of several, for my people, and I am thankful for all of the individuals, like Clara, who willingly shared their time with me to help mentor me to be who I am today.
I just wanted to take this time to say Thank You to Clara Luper, although I know she's passed. But if her family can see this note, I would greatly appreciate it. Again, I am thankful for her contributions and sacrifices she's made to make this world a better place. Having known people like her gives me inspiration to keep moving forward.
I'm very proud to consider myself "one of her kids."
Much respect to the work you all do!
Chris Tall Bear
TESTIMONIALS
TESTIMONIALS
3rd grader Skylee Roberson, created a tri-fold informational board and dressed and Clara Luper for a class project. Her family and teacher (and the Legacy Committee) are very proud of her carrying on Clara Luper's teachings.
Darci Lollar, teacher
Oklahoma National History Day participant, Hayden Estrada from Canton Public Schools ranked 5th on the national level in the Junior Individual Exhibit category.
"The Right to Sit: Clara Luper and the Oklahoma City Sit-in Movement"
Tiffany Estrada, teacher
I was extremely young and always in the way!!! I am the spawn of "Wildcat," OK!!! We were the "Dunjee children" of the "Grande Dame" of "human rights" whose dreams made our dreams possible! Had she and her "best friend" never dreamed of leaving "cat," my life and the lives of my five children, seven grands would be soooooo unimaginably different! She created an environment within which we, "her children," felt safe to hold our heads up, look everyone in the eyes, speak clearly and succinctly, and to learn and grow respectfully!
Thank you for preserving the legacy of this American icon/hero!
Veran C. Randle
As a young girl, I had the pleasure of meeting Clara Luper on Monday nights at the Freedom Center. We had tutoring sessions and community engagement training. I was selected to participate as a page in the Miss Black Oklahoma Pageant and the ACTSO Program. I was a speaker in the 50th March on Washington Anniversary celebrations at the History Center and honored the original sit-inners at the State Capitol in 2019 as a State Representative for House District 99 in OKC which is where Deep Deuce and Katz Drugstore was located.
Rep. Ajay Pittman
Clara Luper was a visionary with steadfast determination to ensure all African Americans were afforded equal opportunities. I spent much of my youth working with Mrs. Luper as President of the NAACP Youth Council. Her leadership convinced others to participate in nonviolent protests for freedom. Her passion for civil and human rights was unwavering. When the death threats came, she didn't even blink. She simply said, "We can't quit. We shall not be moved. We've got to see this through." Her courage lifted me, inspried me and made me stronger. The legacy of Clara Luper lives on through all of us that benefited from her crusade for equality, justice and freedom.
Gail Parker
As on of Mrs. Luper's students, I participated in one sit-in. I was afraid that would be the one day they would serve us and I didn't have money to pay for it. I was 10 years old at the time and not mature enough to know that Mrs. Luper would have covered the cost for the group. Nor did I realize it was a long shot that we'd be served that day.
Marilyn Garrison
A BRIEF HISTORY
The story of Oklahoma City's leading civil rights activist
2012.2012.B1439.0757 Oklahoma Publishing Company Collection, Oklahoma Historical Society
About Us
The Clara Luper Legacy Committee works to support the sit-in and civil rights movement, Oklahoma, and the nation.
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We are here to educate and
to keep the story of educator and activist, Clara Luper, alive.
Meet the Committee
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."