Sand Springs Desegregation – Overview

In August 1964, members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), shortly after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, initiated a drive to integrate the Sand Springs, Oklahoma school system.

A group of students from the segregated Booker T. Washington School, which housed all grades from first to 12th, sought admission to Charles Page High School. The Sand Springs School Board refused admission. The students then filed a complaint under the Civil Rights Act with the United States Attorney. The school board relented after being contacted by the U.S. Attorney. The students were then admitted to Charles Page High School. Subsequently the rest of the Sand Springs public schools were integrated as well and Booker T. Washington School closed.

This webpage was established in 2009 to provide a place on the internet for documents about that struggle.

In 2021, a group of Black and white former students from Charles Page High School when it was first integrated began a campaign to place a plaque in the school commemorating the integration. The plaque was installed on January 7, 2022.

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