CLAREMORE, Okla. (KTUL) — You can hear the sounds of change at The Claremore Museum of History as they prepare for a new exhibit.
Director Of Education Kelsey Hildebrand is excited about what’s ahead.
“We’re really creating something that hasn’t existed here in Claremore before it’s all new,” said Hildebrand. “It gives us an opportunity to develop more programs and teach more about something that up until now has remained pretty quiet in the city of Claremore and in our museum.”
Board member Stephen Riley says it’s a way to teach others about some of Claremore’s Black history, which might surprise you.
“A lot of people think because it’s Claremore there’s not a lot of Black people in Claremore, and so basically, once you see the exhibit, you will say, ‘Hey, there was Black people here. There were smart Black people here. There were educated Black people here, and there were people who went on and did great things, and they grew up in a small town.'”
Including his dad, Gerome Riley Sr., who was part of the Lincoln Lions 1952 State Championship team, possibly one of the first state championship teams out of Rogers County.
Hildebrand explained, “You can learn about people who I mean qualified for the Olympics, judges, highway patrolmen. We’ve got all kinds of really incredible people who came right here from Claremore that we’re celebrating in this exhibit.”
Even an old newspaper clipping from The Tulsa Star in September of 1920 speaks of a tailoring place, bathhouse, meat market, and a half dozen businesses belonging to people of color.
The exhibit coming to The Claremore Museum of History will showcase businesses, people, and more that are all a part of the area’s Black history.
“This exhibit definitely shows that, hey, there was good people here, and there’s a lot of, you know, Black people were thriving here,” said Riley.
The “Building Heritage, History and Hope” exhibit opens to the public on June 19, 2021. You’ll be able to check it out Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m.
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