Oklahoma City is preparing to dedicate a new downtown landmark that cements its role as the birthplace of the civil rights sit-in movement. The Clara Luper National Sit-in Plaza, scheduled for a public dedication on Saturday, November 1 at 11 a.m., honors the pioneering activism of Luper and the 13 students who staged the nation’s first lunch counter sit-in at Katz Drugstore in 1958.
Watch: Interview with John Kennedy, who co-chaired the committee that oversaw the creation of the plaza.
Although Greensboro, North Carolina, is often credited with launching the movement in 1960, Oklahoma City’s protest came two years earlier and lasted six years — the longest-running sit-in campaign in the United States.
John Kennedy, civic leader and co-chair of the plaza committee, said the effort to create a permanent public tribute began in 2018 with the 60th anniversary of the sit-in. “We’ve got to do better at telling our own stories,” Kennedy said. “This plaza represents the intersection of history, art, and respect.”
The plaza features 15 sculptures crafted by StudioEIS of New York, with guidance from renowned sculptor Ed Dwight and input from Luper’s daughter, Marilyn Luper Hildreth. The project was funded privately, with contributions from Oklahoma City business and civic leaders, including Thunder GM Sam Presti.
The dedication will include performances from the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Langston University, and local school choirs. Kennedy says the goal is not long speeches but for “the real star of the show to be the sculpture and the story behind it.”
The plaza sits just blocks from the Oklahoma City National Memorial, creating what Kennedy calls “a powerful contrast on the same street — two of the most significant examples of violence and nonviolence in our country’s history.”
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