DesignWorks: Boley, Oklahoma

DesignWorks Boley, Oklahoma April 14-15, 2015

Boley The Coltrane Group OU College of Architecture OU Institute for Quality Communities 1

OU College of Architecture Institute for Quality Communities 830 Van Vleet Oval, Gould Hall Norman, Oklahoma 73019 iqc.ou.edu 2

Contents Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Collaborators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Boley: Crown Jewel of Black Towns ������������������������������������������������������������9 Boley Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Design Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Memories of Boley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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Summary In April 2015, The University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities sponsored a DesignWorks Team Visit to Boley, Oklahoma, through a partnership with The Coltrane Group. The Coltrane Group has been working with Boley and other historically all-black towns in Oklahoma. Notably, they created the Colored Memories collection of colorized historic photos, on display at the Oklahoma History Center.

DesignWorks is a program that brings together community residents and design professionals to address the image of Oklahoma towns. Through a two-day design charrette, a team approaches design issues with a fast-paced, creative process.

In Boley, the team included faculty, staff, and students from the OU College of Architecture and Institute for Quality Communities. The team toured important sites and met with Boley officials and area residents. Information gathered from these observations and conversations contributed to the recommendations in this report.

DesignWorks reports focus on achievable goals that can be completed with resources that exist in the community.

Recommendations for Boley include:

• Improvements to Boley’s gateway at US-62 • Memory exhibition celebrating Boley’s history • Interactive public art to gather community feedback Image: Oklahoma Today Magazine, January/February 2015

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Schedule Monday, April 13 4:00 p.m.

Team leaves Norman and travels to Shawnee

6:00 p.m.

Team dinner in Shawnee with project overview work session

Tuesday, April 14

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7:00 a.m.

Team breakfast at hotel in Shawnee

7:50 a.m.

Team leaves Shawnee and travels to Boley

9:00 a.m.

Walking tour of Pecan Street

10:00 a.m.

Coffee break at McCormick Grill with James McCormick, Andre Head, and Jessilyn Head

10:15 a.m.

Driving tour of Boley including rodeo grounds and other points of interest as determined by Boley residents and representatives

11:30 a.m.

Lunch meeting with Boley representatives at Packard House Museum, hosted by Mrs. Henrietta Hicks and Mr. Maurice Lee

1:30 p.m.

Open meeting with DesignWorks Team members and Boley citizens

2:30 p.m.

Team works on ideas, measures sites, photographs, and conducts additional field work as needed

6:00 p.m.

DesignWorks Team supper

8:00 p.m.

Team refines concepts and prepares presentation

Wednesday, April 15 8:00 a.m.

Team breakfast at hotel in Shawnee

9:00 a.m.

Work session as needed

12:00 p.m.

Community lunch at Boley Community Center

1:30 p.m.

Presentation to Boley community leaders and citizens

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Collaborators Boley, Oklahoma M. Joan Matthews, Mayor Brenda Jenkins Clara M. Harper Crolia Washington Donald McGant Dorothy M. Williams Earnestine Grayson Elmer S. LaGrand Francis Shelton Henrietta Hicks Homer Williams Jerry Grayson Jimmy Wheaton Joan Partridge Mary Etta Washington Maurice E. Jackson Maurice Lee Maurice Mobley Melva Dunn Odell Hill Ronald Shelton Sonja Sheet Theola Cudjoe Jones Velma Anderson

The Coltrane Group Andre L. Head, CEO & Founder Jessilyn A. Hall Head OU College of Architecture OU Institute for Quality Communities Hope Mander, Associate Director Ron Frantz, Director of Great Plains Studio David Boeck, Associate Professor of Architecture Shane Hampton, IQC Fellow Anna Siprikova, Graduate Fellow Matthew Crownover, Graduate Assistant

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Boley: Crown Jewel of Black Towns Boley was founded in 1903 as an all-black town. With many African Americans looking for a place to escape discrimination and Jim Crow laws, Boley grew to over 4,000 residents in less than 10 years. At its peak, Boley’s population reached more than 25,000.

Boley became a home for banks, churches, businesses, schools, two colleges, a railway station, and a Masonic lodge. When Booker T. Washington visited prior to Oklahoma’s statehood, he remarked that “Boley, Indian Territory, is the youngest, most enterprising, and in many ways the most interesting of the Negro towns in the US.” In 1932, Boley’s citizens stopped an attempted bank robbery by members of Pretty Boy Floyd’s gang.

In 1959, Smokaroma, Inc., was founded as the world’s only barbecue pressure cooker manufacturer. The appliances were invented by a Boley native and are manufactured in Boley by his descendants to this day.

Boley’s signature event, the Boley Rodeo, has been an important tradition of the region for more than a hundred years. The event includes a rodeo, parade, and barbecue festival.

Image: NewsOK.com nDepth, 2012

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“The youngest, most enterprising, and in many ways the most interesting of the Negro towns in the US.� Booker T. Washington, 1905 10

Image: “FD Moon Store,” Packard House Museum

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Boley Today In recent years, Boley has struggled with the closing of its school system and a tornado. Boley is challenged to provide adequate housing and commercial services. Some families have left because of inadequate housing options, and many residents must drive to nearby towns for job opportunities and shopping.

However, Boley remains an important hub for surrounding rural areas and small communities, with its community center, post office, churches, public safety facilities, rodeo grounds, and playground. Boley also hosts important social services, giving it the nickname “City of Refuge.�

Boley is also significant because it hosts numerous events throughout the year that bring people together and attract crowds from the region. Most notably, the annual Boley Rodeo draws thousands of people each year.

While many of Boley’s historic buildings have been lost over the years, some significant buildings still remain. Many of these buildings are in local ownership with plans to secure and preserve the structures.

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Boley’s Gateway Approximately 1,200 vehicles pass through Boley on US-62 each day. US-62 is national route over 2,000 miles long, traveling from El Paso, Texas to Niagara Falls, New York. At El Paso, the route terminates at an international crossing of the Rio Grande into Mexico. At Niagara, the route leads to the Rainbow Bridge which crosses into Canada with views of Niagara Falls, making US-62 the only east-west highway connecting Mexico and Canada. In Oklahoma, US-62 passes by the Oklahoma State Capitol.

Boley is pleasantly situated on a hill overlooking US-62. Looking north along Pecan Street from the highway, the street passes over a historic bridge in an interesting natural setting of a tree-lined creek. The impressive buildings of Boley’s Pecan Street step up a hill in the distance.

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Boley’s gateway at US-62 includes McCormick’s Grill on the south side of the street, a “Welcome to Boley” sign, a historical marker, and a landscaping bed.

Maintenance of these items has proven to be a challenge due to the lack of water access. Volunteers have had to carry water long distances to care for landscaping elements.

Improvements to Boley’s gateway serve as a signal to people passing on the highway that Boley is a significant place of historic importance, and may draw them in to explore Boley’s history. However, the gateway is primarily a feature that benefits the people of Boley and surrounding communities, proudly greeting people as they return home or visit a community service.

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Gateway: Concept A This concept utilizes the beautiful stone that is a part of Boley’s architectural heritage. This stonework is a unique feature of Boley that can be celebrated at the gateway. The sign should be positioned in a location where it can be read from both the east and west on US-62.

Stone could be salvaged from homes or debris piles that are not repairable.

Landscaping at the base of the signage could utilize low-maintenance native plants that do not require significant water. Solar-powered garden lights can be used to light the sign at night.

This concept also emphasizes the bridge that crosses the creek into Boley with stone pillars that match the gateway at the corners of the bridge.

A previous study of Boley’s gateway recommended a similar design.

Sketch: Dave Boeck

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Gateway: Concept B Another gateway concept produced by the team is a smaller steel marker in Boley’s signature red color, with a small bed of low-maintenance landscaping and solar-powered lights.

This slim marker design may also lend itself to placement as secondary signage at the corners of the bridge, in place of the stone columns included in Concept A.

Rendering: Matthew Crownover

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Gateway: Concept C The team was fascinated by this interesting metal sculpture that is visible from US-62. Previously, the sculpture was moved, cleaned, and repainted by volunteers. To make this sculpture even more visible, the red color of the Boley Bears could be used. The sculpture would be striking from US-62 and crossing the bridge on Pecan Street. This area has been known to flood, so any additional improvements should keep in mind that possibility.

Rendering: Shane Hampton

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Visualizing Boley’s gateway with a monument and red sculpture.

Sketch: Dave Boeck

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Memory Exhibition There is a strong desire to utilize Boley’s historic buildings to celebrate Boley’s story. In nearby Shawnee, vacant windows on a downtown building were filled with a timeline of Shawnee’s history (see images at right). A similar concept could work for Boley.

The storefront spaces on Boley’s buildings are perfect locations for posters or displays that can be enjoyed by residents or by people visiting Boley. Posters could be printed on durable outdoor material and affixed to the protective boards on some buildings. On buildings with windows like the bank, posters could be printed on indoor material and displayed behind the glass.

Content for posters might include:

• • • • •

Photographs from Colored Memories exhibit Historic photographs of Boley Descriptions of the history and past uses of a particular building Stories about historical events in Boley Personal stories about living in Boley and the surrounding communities

Sketch: Dave Boeck

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View of memory exhibition.

Sketch: Dave Boeck

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Interactive Public Art A component of interactive art could be included in the memory exhibition to gather community feedback. Based on the work of New Orleans artist Candy Chang (see image below), the team created an example showing how a chalkboard could be included with the memory exhibition on the facade of Boley’s buildings.

The chalkboard would have an aspirational statement like “I wish this was...” and allow people passing by to describe their dreams for the future of Boley.

Rendering: Anna Siprikova; Image: Candy Chang

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MEMORIES of

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BOLEY Boley is a place that is rich with memory. The DesignWorks Team wanted to capture some of these special memories that live in the streets and buildings of Boley. The memories come from people who live in Boley and the surrounding communities and rural areas.

With many memories revolving around attending the school, visiting Pecan Street businesses, and enjoying events and daily life with neighbors, they reveal the importance of Boley as a place where people come together.

Memory card activity: Hope Mander

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