[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 15, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1095-E1098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN HONOR OF THE LIFE OF CLARA MAE SHEPARD LUPER
______
HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, today, we honor Clara Mae Shepard Luper and
her lifelong work towards achieving equality for all in the state of
Oklahoma. She has been the face of the Oklahoma Civil Rights movement
since 1958 and to many she is a treasure to the United States and an
icon for the struggle for equality.
In the face of segregation and wide-spread discrimination, Clara
Luper decided that enough was enough. Mrs. Luper's courage,
determination, and integrity cultivated her strong leadership to
organize a sit-in protest at the Katz Drug Store in downtown Oklahoma
City, a business that refused to serve black customers. Mrs. Luper was
fearless when she organized civil disobedience demonstrations and she
unapologetically used these demonstrations to challenge the state of
Oklahoma's allowance for discrimination against blacks.
I recall Mrs. Luper spoke about her mother witnessing a Black man who
had been hung by a White mob in Texas. Regardless of her experience,
however, her mother instilled in her a belief of ``loving people, no
matter what their color.''
Mrs. Luper's mother believed that freedom and equality were
guarantees of the Constitution and Mrs. Luper was bound to make sure
the state of Oklahoma made good on that promise. Thus, she continued to
influence others with the beliefs her parents taught her by including
young people in the struggle for civil rights and immersing herself in
demonstrations for equality across the country.
Mrs. Luper participated in the march in Selma against segregation in
1965. She was arrested then and many other times for protesting against
social injustice. She was even beaten by demonstrators protesting
against the movement in Selma. However, she courageously continued.
For over 40 years Mrs. Luper traveled with groups of young people
from Oklahoma to conventions across the United States that rallied to
end segregation in America. During these conventions, some students
witnessed desegregated public bathrooms and restaurants for the first
time in their lives. However, I most admire her journey with these
young people to the March on Washington in 1963 and her leadership to
hundreds of youth in the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, NAACP, Youth Council in Oklahoma.
As an educator for over 40 years, Mrs. Luper taught American history
to Oklahoma youth. Although she retired in 1991, many of her students
still credit her for instilling in them a sense of worth and confidence
that they could go out and change society for the better. Some of them
considered her more than an educator, with many to this day still
referring to her as ``Mom.''
She also had an interest in public service. In 1972, Mrs. Luper threw
her hat into the political ring and ran for the U.S. Senate. She stated
``as a teacher, I was interested in getting some practical experience
in the political realm. And I sure did that.'' Although she did not win
the nomination from the Democratic Party, many current politicians in
Oklahoma and abroad have benefited from her courage and significant
involvement in Oklahoma politics.
In the years following, Mrs. Luper founded the Miss Black Oklahoma
Scholarship Pageant. Attending and affording college and a deep
knowledge of American and civil rights history are the foundations of
the scholarship pageant program. Young black Oklahoma women have
benefited Mrs. Luper's vision to provide educational opportunities and
scholarships to rising young leaders in the state and I am grateful for
her efforts and investment in America's youth.
53 years ago, civil rights leader and icon Clara Luper displayed the
inspiring courage to better this country for all of its citizens. I
know that this Congress and the people of this Nation can work to
further the ideals of Mrs. Luper and the Civil Rights Movement.
[From the New York Times, Jun. 11, 2011]
Clara Luper, a Leader of Civil Rights Sit-Ins, Dies at 88
(By Dennis Hevesi)
Her name does not resonate like that of Rosa Parks, and she
did not garner the kind of national attention that a group of
black students did when they took seats at a Woolworth's
lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., in February 1960. But
Clara Luper was a seminal figure in the sit-ins of the civil
rights movement.
Ms. Luper, who led one of the first sit-ins--at a drugstore
in Oklahoma City 18 months before the Greensboro action--died
Wednesday at her home in Oklahoma City, her daughter Marilyn
Hildreth said. She was 88.
Ms. Luper was a history teacher at Dunjee High School in
1957 when she agreed to become adviser to the Oklahoma City
N.A.A.C.P.'s youth council. The youngsters asked what they
could do to help the movement.
On Aug. 19, 1958, Ms. Luper led three other adult chaperons
and 14 members of the youth council into the Katz Drug Store
in Oklahoma City, where they took seats at the counter and
asked for Coca-Colas. Denied service, they refused to leave
until closing time. They returned on Saturday mornings for
several weeks.
The sit-ins received local press coverage. Eventually the
Katz chain agreed to integrate lunch counters at its 38
stores in Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa. Over the next
six years, the local N.A.A.C.P. chapter held sit-ins that led
to the desegregation of almost every eating establishment in
Oklahoma City.
``The actions that Ms. Luper and those youngsters took at
the Katz Drug Store inspired the rank and file of the
N.A.A.C.P. and activists on college campuses across the
country,'' Roslyn M. Brock, the group's national chairwoman,
said Friday.
Ms. Luper's activism extended beyond the sit-ins. A week
after that first protest, 17 white churches in Oklahoma City
let members of her youth group attend services. At another
church, a pastor asked two youngsters to leave, The
Associated Press reported at the time. ``God did not intend
Negroes and whites to worship together,'' he told them.
Ms. Luper was arrested 26 times at civil rights protests.
Now a street is named after her in Oklahoma City, and flags
flew Friday at half-staff in her honor.
Born Clara Mae Shepard on May 3, 1923, to Ezell and Isabel
Shepard, Ms. Luper grew up near Hoffman, Okla. Her father was
a brick worker, and her mother was a maid. ``When she was a
child, her brother got sick and they wouldn't treat him at
the hospital,'' Ms. Hildreth said. ``That really triggered
her.''
Ms. Luper is also survived by another daughter, Chelle
Wilson; a son, Calvin; a sister, Oneita Brown; five
grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and one great-
great-grandchild. Her husband, Bert Luper, died before her.
[[Page E1096]]
Ms. Luper graduated from Langston University in 1944. In
1951 she earned a master's degree in history from the
University of Oklahoma, where she was the first black student
admitted to a graduate history program. She taught at
Oklahoma City high schools until she retired in 1991.
On the blog Stories in America, she said her father ``had
never been able to sit down and eat a meal in a decent
restaurant.''
``He used to tell us that someday he would take us to
dinner and to parks and zoos,'' she said. ``And when I asked
him when was someday, he would always say, `Someday will be
real soon,' as tears ran down his cheeks.''
____
[From NewsOK.com, Jun. 9, 2011]
Civil Rights Leader Clara Luper Has Died
(By Robert Medley and Bryan Painter)
Clara Luper, a civil rights pioneer whose lunch counter
sit-ins helped end discrimination in public restaurants, has
died. She was 88.
Luper died Wednesday night in Oklahoma City after a long
illness, family members confirmed.
Luper has been the face of the Oklahoma civil rights
movement since 1958, when she led a sit-in protest inside
Katz Drug Store in downtown Oklahoma City, where the owners
had refused to serve black customers.
Roosevelt Milton, 66, president emeritus of the NAACP's
Oklahoma City and Oklahoma chapters, said she was a primary
groundbreaker in the movement.
``I think that Clara was the last great civil rights icon
in Oklahoma,'' Milton said. ``She was a very passionate and
fearless person when it came to the NAACP mission.''
Oklahoma House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, called Luper
a civil rights giant.
``Throughout her life, Ms. Luper adhered to the principle
that actions speak louder than words,'' Steele said.
``Through her actions, she helped lead Oklahoma and the
nation forward by showing courage and courtesy
simultaneously, often in the face of unpleasant opposition. A
road near the Capitol is now deservedly named in her honor,
but perhaps the most fitting tribute to give Ms. Luper is
fulfilling her vision that all Oklahomans and Americans are
equal, our histories and futures intrinsically linked. She
will be greatly missed, but her legacy will never be
forgotten.''
Historic sit-in
In 1958, she chaperoned a group of black students to New
York City. The trip eastward was through the northern states;
many of the students experienced, for the first time,
treatment equal to whites in public places. On their return
through Southern states, they re-entered familiar, segregated
territory. That brief taste of equality would help change
American history.
In August 1958, a youth council group met in Luper's home
and decided to force the issue at downtown eating places that
refused to serve blacks. They decided to sit down and sit
there until they were served.
With 13 young people, ages 6 to 13, including her two
oldest children, Calvin and Marilyn, Luper directed a protest
at Katz Drug on Main Street. She taught them courage and
self-respect and the nonviolent philosophy of Martin Luther
King Jr. She made certain that every day their clothes were
clean and ironed, so they would look confident.
The youth endured curses and threats from other customers,
were covered with ketchup, hot grease and spit and were
kicked and punched. Luper was with them constantly. One black
child was served a hamburger at the Katz lunch counter, and
the breakthrough opened Oklahoma City restaurants to blacks.
Luper and the children demonstrated for better treatment for
blacks at John A. Brown's luncheonette, Anna Maude Cafeteria,
the Skirvin Hotel and Wedgewood Amusement Park.
Legacy
Luper helped establish the Youth Council of the Oklahoma
City Chapter of the National Association of the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) in the 1950s and served as its
adviser for 50 years. She is credited with directing a new
type of nonviolent protest, the sit-in, and for staging the
first such publicized event in the nation.
Luper taught American history for 41 years, beginning at
Dunjee High School and working at other Oklahoma City
schools; she retired from John Marshall in 1989.
Clara Shepard Luper was born May 3, 1923, in Okmulgee
County, the middle of five children of Ezell and Isabell
Shepherd. She attended Langston University, then became the
first black student to enroll in the history department at
the University of Oklahoma, where she earned a master's
degree.
She marched with Martin Luther King Jr., whom she knew
personally. In Selma, Ala., she was injured by a hit to the
knee with a club. Luper was arrested 26 times during sit-ins
and other nonviolent protests.
Her book, ``Behold the Walls,'' published in 1979, detailed
her work in the civil rights movement, much of which drew
national attention.
Luper made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate, became
the first black vice president for the Oklahoma County
Teachers Association and served as a consultant and adviser
on school desegregation in Oklahoma City.
In 2000, a 2.7-mile section of NE 23, where she had led
young people in walks and marches many times, was renamed the
Clara Luper Corridor. In 2002, Edward L. Gaylord, then
president of The Oklahoma Publishing Co., initiated a
scholarship fund in her name, honoring her life work of
giving youngsters self-respect and hope, along with a start
on their education.
In later years, Luper directed celebrations of the
anniversaries of civil rights landmarks, and produced the
Miss Black Oklahoma pageant, which she used as a medium to
teach young women social skills. She opened the Freedom
Center, the northeast Oklahoma City headquarters for NAACP
youth programs and frequently served as a calming, practical
influence for cooperation in race relations.
Remembering Luper
As a 16-year-old, Joyce Henderson, a soon-to-be senior at
Dunjee High School, heard the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
present his ``I Have a Dream'' speech Aug. 28, 1963. With a
little cash in her purse and a change of clothes in a small
suitcase, Henderson boarded one of two charter buses with
fellow students active in the NAACP Youth Council. One of her
teachers, Clara Luper, invited her to make the trip to
Washington.
Last Friday and again Monday, Henderson went by to see
Luper. On Friday, ``I said, `Mother Luper, this is Joyce.'
She nodded her head; she knew who I was.''
Henderson, though not in on the initial sit-in, became
involved in the movement. She said Luper's students at Dunjee
would call her ``Ms. Luper.''
``As we've grown older many of us began calling her Mother
Luper,'' she said. ``She was truly that. For whatever reason
she made each of us feel special, like she was our mother.''
Henderson always felt a sense of security knowing of
Luper's presence in the world, she said. That made Thursday a
sad day for Henderson, who retired in 2006 after 36 years as
an educator and administrator.
``You've got to admit that Oklahoma and this world is a
better place because of Mother Luper,'' she said.
Bruce Fisher, administrative program officer for the
Oklahoma History Center, was emotionally shaken Thursday when
he heard the news.
Fisher played a major role in designing an exhibit at the
museum featuring a replica of the Katz Drug Store lunch
counter. He said Luper's efforts are an important part of
Oklahoma history and important to the national civil rights
movement as well.
``I wanted to make sure that we never forget that, and what
an important role she played in ensuring the rights and
freedoms that so many of us now take for granted,'' Fisher
said.
Valerie Thompson, president and chief executive officer of
the Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City, said Oklahoma has
lost an innovative educator and pioneer for change.
``Clara Luper served as a beacon for civil rights and
equality,'' Thompson said. ``Her pioneering spirit, tireless
commitment to education and advocacy for equal opportunity
will never be forgotten.''
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said Luper was a great
Oklahoman and a great American.
``Her peaceful, resolute sit-in protest at the Katz Drug
Store, where the owners at the time refused to serve African-
Americans, paved the way for equal rights in Oklahoma City,''
Cornett said. ``If that was the extent of her contribution to
Oklahoma and the Nation, it would have been accomplishment
enough, but that act came early on, and Clara dedicated the
rest of her long and wonderful life to such basic human needs
as dignity, honor and respect.''
Cornett requested that flags on city property be flown at
half-staff in honor of Luper through sunset Friday.
Gov. Mary Fallin described Luper as a tremendous civil
rights activist and a devoted mother.
U.S. Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, said, ``The
courage of Clara Luper and her children provided the turning
point in Oklahoma's race relations, through their dignified
and principled stand against discrimination in 1958. A
lifetime later, our culture has made great strides, but we
still have much work to do to remove barriers that keep
Americans from achieving their fullest potential. Today's
generation can thank Clara Luper for many of the freedoms
they experience today.''
____
[From paregien.net, Aug. 6, 2008]
Clara Luper: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement in Oklahoma
(By Stan Paregien Sr.)
Most people would probably try to hide the fact that they
had been arrested not just one or twice but 26 times. But
there is only one Clara Luper, and she wears those arrests
like battle decorations. And so they were. Only the battle
was not against an enemy nation but against the ignorance and
intolerance that fostered racial problems right here in the
good ol' USA.
Clara Shepard was born on May 3, 1923 in Okfuskee County,
Oklahoma. Her parents were dirt-poor share croppers with a
total of five children. She attended a segregated (all Black)
elementary school in Hoffman, Oklahoma. She graduated from
Grayson High School in 1942.
``One of my little brothers got very sick. So my parents
took him to the only doctor in Henryetta, Oklahoma. But the
doctor refused to examine him because he was Black. And he
died shortly after that.''
Clara married Bert Luper at Durant, Oklahoma. Clara and
Bert had three children--
[[Page E1097]]
Calvin, Marilyn, and Chelle. After his death, she married Mr.
Wilkerson.
She graduated from a segregated Black college, Langston
University (Langston, Oklahoma) with the B.A. degree in math
and education.
A Teacher for 41 Years
Her first job after graduation was teaching at a Black
school for orphans, deaf and blind students. That was at
Taft, Oklahoma. She also taught school in Pawnee, Oklahoma.
But her longest tenure and greatest impact was at the
segregated Dunjee High School in Oklahoma City and, later, at
John Marshall High School. She taught history, Human
Relations, math and social studies. And, just as important,
she instilled in them a sense of worth and a confidence that
they could go out and change society for the better. She
retired in 1991, after 41 years as an educator and motivator
of Black students.
Luper said, ``My students had dreams about what they could
become. I looked at them like you'd look at a caterpillar
long before it changes to a butterfly. I knew they had skills
and abilities down deep that they could not yet see. So I
did-my best to develop those gifts, to polish those diamonds
in the rough. That is what teaching is really all about.''
Oklahoma Prior to 1950
By way of a short history lesson, many promoters convinced
Blacks from both the South and the North that the new state
of Oklahoma (admitted to the Union in 1907) was a Promised
Land for them. And many hundreds of Blacks moved West and
developed small, all-Black towns in Oklahoma.
Along with the Black towns came Black-owned newspapapers.
And in 1914 one Black newspaper man founded his own
newspaper, The Black Dispatch, in the Black area of Oklahoma
City. He was outspoken in his calls for Blacks to fight the
forced segregation as practiced in most of the nation at the
time. And he argued that Blacks should become involved in
politics to make sure their voices were heard.
The tensions between the races rose even higher following
the tragic race riot in Tulsa in 1921. It was triggered by an
incident in which a Black man allegedly made unwelcome
advances on a White woman. The end result was that most of
the Black business district on the north side of Tulsa was
burned to the ground and some 300 people killed.
Clara Luper's own parents had different approaches to
dealing with racial segregation and other injustices. ``My
dear mother believed in loving people, no matter what their
color. She was always a bit afraid of the power of White
people. She had actually seen a Black man hung by a White mob
in Texas. So she was never eager to step out and challenge
the status quo.
``My father, Ezell Shepard, served in the U.S. Army while
it was still highly segregated and suffered many injustices.
And there he saw new and better relations between the races,
where people were judged more by what they could do than by
the color of their skin. So he was more willing to challenge
the system. He was just a man of great optimism who did not
dwell on negative things but looked for the good things.
``One time we all got on a bus, headed somewhere or other.
And I asked my parents, `Why do we have to sit here in the
back of the bus?' My mother whispered in my face, `You just
shut up, girl.' But my father laughed and said, `Oh, that's
alright. Don't you worry about it Clara. Times will get
better some day.' That is how it was in our family. He was a
`some day' man.''
On Dec. 5, 1955, a young Black girl named Rosa Parks in
Montgomery, Alabama set off a furor when she refused to give
up her seat on a bus to a White woman. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., followed up with a call for a boycott of the bus
system until they agreed to end their racist seating rules.
That boycott lasted until December of 1956, when the city
finally agreed to eliminate their descriminitory rules.
``Oh, I got great strength of courage by seeing the new
coverage of those Black people taking action to better their
lives,'' Clara Luper said with a wave of her arm. `` And it
also filled me with anger that they had to walk to work and
elsewhere just to fight for the same seating rights as White
people.''
The Freedom Center
I interviewed her as we sat in her modest office at the
Freedom Center she helped establish at 2609 N. Martin Luther
King Avenue in Oklahoma City. That was on August 6, 2006. Her
speech was strong and animated, her pronunciation so distinct
and precise as to be almost theatrical. It was obvious that
her talent in public speaking had been honed by years of
teaching and motivating others. And I could imagine how,
fifty years ago, many lesser educated Whites and Blacks could
feel intimidated or even threatened by her self-confident
poise.
``This building has been a blessing to our people,'' she
said. ``The National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, NAACP, started meeting in my house at 1818 NE
Park Place in 1957. We soon needed a bigger place to meet and
we bought and converted what had been an old Mobil gas
service station to our Freedom Center. We were able to rally
a large number of people, particularly young people, to
participate in our motivational activities. And a lot of
White folks didn't like that one bit.
``So one night someone threw a torch or a bomb into the
building. All my personal correspondence with people like
Martin Luther King and Medgar Evers was lost in the fire. But
we turned right around and rebuilt the building. The kids at
Northwest Classen High School, where I was teaching, helped
raise some of the money. No one was ever arrested for the
crime.''
the sit-in in oklahoma city
On August 18, 1958, Clara Luper led her students into a
Katz Drug Store in downtown Oklahoma City. The drug store
also had a lunch counter and soda fountain, but only served
White people. So Luper and her young people walked in and
placed their orders and, when promptly refused, they sat down
and refused to leave. This was a peaceful and orderly and
non-violent demonstration to gain the right to eat there. But
the police were summoned and escorted the group from the
building. But Luper and the students returned time and time
again until the store finally gave in and agreed to serve
Blacks just as they did everyone else.
Influence of Religion
She said that she came from a very religious family. ``My
Christian faith has always been extremely important to me,
both in my personal and professional life and in my
experiences in the Civil Rights Movement. It all goes back to
my parents and grandparents who taught us to believe for the
rain when it didn't fall, to believe for the sun when it
didn't shine and to pray to the God we had never seen.
``And I was heavily influenced by the ministers in the
Black community. They were largely uneducated or self-taught.
But despite their lack of a formal education, they were often
the best role models for our children. And most of them did
all they could to help our young people.
``You see,'' she said with a big smile, ``those ministers
were not dependent on White employers for their incomes,
unlike most Black folks. So they could be more vocal on
social issues.''
Clara Luper is a long-time member of the Fifth Street
Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.
March on Washington
In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called for a march on
Washington, D.C., to demand passage of the Civil Rights Bill.
About a hundred people, including Clara Luper, loaded onto
two buses for the trip to Washington and were present on that
historic day, August 28, 1963. Some 250,000 people crowded
together to hear the speakers. And all of the U.S. TV
networks, as well as many foreign networks, carried to
messages to millions of people around the world.
``We had a great time on those buses. We sang freedom songs
and talked about what a great gathering it would be. And it
was better than we could ever have imagined. There were rows
and rows of buses as far as the eye could see, with hundreds
of thousands of people gathered together. The highlight was
when Dr. King gave his ``I Have a Dream'' speech. That was so
simple and yet so powerful. My son, Calvin, got to shake
hands with Dr. King and with President John Kennedy.
``We had come to Washington. Then we got back on the bus
and it was silent for a long time. Then someone broke out
singing `We Shall Overcome' and we all started singing. It
was an enchanting, heavenly feeling that I shall never
forget. Yes, yes.''
``You know something?'' she asked, rhetorically and then
firmly stated, ``It is hard to love your enemies, those who
would walk up to you and spit in your face. But Dr. Martin
Luther King said you've got to. And, of course, he got that
from the Bible.''
Unfortunately, President Kennedy was assassinated just
three months later. But his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson,
signed the Civil Rights Act into law on July 2, 1964. The
bill gave the federal government absolute power to enforce
school desegregation. It even prohibited segregation in
public places. And, just as important for the long haul, the
Civil Rights Act established a Commission on Equal Employment
Opportunity.
``The Civil Rights Bill of 1964,'' Luper noted, ``was also
a big help to women. For the most part, and particularly in
the Black community, women were taught to be subservient to
men. Women had been indoctrinated to believe they were dumb
and that whatever men said was the end of the discussion. But
that Bill said you cannot discriminate on the basis of race,
creed, color or sex. So that was something to really be proud
of.''
Times were changing for the better, to be sure. Just like
Clara's father had predicted.
March on Selma
In 1965, Clara Luper and Eddie Stamps and others drove in
vans to Selma, Alabama to march against segregation.
``In Selma it was just like a war. The Civil Rights
protesters were on one end of the town and the police and
their supporters (``posse men'') were on the other end. Even
the highway patrol pointed guns at us as we drove into town.
``When we started our march, one of the `posse men' as they
called themselves, hit me on the leg. My leg started bleeding
and the girls, white girls, that were with me started crying
and saying, `Oh, mamma, mamma, you're hurt.' And those posse
men or Klu Klux Clan came up and said to the white girls, `Is
she your mamma?' and the white girls said, `Yes, that's our
mamma.'
``So those men came back to me and asked me who the father
of those girls were, since they were calling me mamma. So I
told them God was their father. And those men began
[[Page E1098]]
to cuss and say `Screw them niggers'. So I knew they were
ignorant and it didn't matter what I said to them,'' Luper
said.
``About that time Dr. Martin Luther King came up and got us
all to walk toward the bridge in an effort to get the local
Blacks registered to vote. It was a long, hard day.
``That night we all fanned out to be in different homes to
listen to President Lyndon Johnson speak on TV to the Nation.
I wound up in a pretty run-down house. We all watched TV as
President Johnson said that the very next day he was going up
to speak to the Congress and to ask them to pass a voters
rights bill. We all just went wild.''
Political Candidate
In 1972, Luper threw her hat into the political ring. She
ran for the U.S. Senate against fellow Democrat Mike Turpen
and Republican Dewey Bartlett.
``As a teacher, I was interested in getting some practical
experience in the political realm. And I sure did that. I had
debates with both Turpen and Bartlett, so it gave me a great
platform to express my views. But, of course, Dewey Bartlett
won the election. It was still a great educational experience
for me and for my students. I really enjoyed that experience
more than anything else I have ever done.
``I remember one incident down somewhere in southeast
Oklahoma, down there in `Little Dixie'. I was speaking at a
political rally when a White man stood up and asked me what I
thought about interracial marriage. I said, `I'm so happy you
asked me that. You see as an educator and a student of
history, I have never seen an ant having intercourse with an
elephant. What that basically means, sir, is that anything
that God did not want to have mate with another of his
creations He made it physically impossible. That man got mad
and walked out,' she said with a hardy laugh.''
When asked what her typical day is like today, Clara Luper
said: ``There really is no `typical day,' because I am
involved in so much and traveling a lot. But when I am home,
I usually get up at 6 a.m. I shower, read the newspapers and
listen to the news on either the TV or the radio. Then I go
down to the little lake behind my house and, every other day,
I feed the fish. And then I usually phone my children and
talk with my sister. And on Mondays, I try to spend several
hours at my office at the Freedom Center.''
She says she also relaxes by playing the word game Scrabble
with anyone who is available. And she likes listening to
spiritual music and to the blues.
Honors to Whom Honors Are Due
At the time of my interview with her, Clara Luper was 83
years old. Yet she still maintained a heavy speaking schedule
all across the country. That is because she is known as a
freedom fighter, a true Civil Rights hero, across the nation
and not just in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed HB 2715
honored her by naming a portion of NE 23rd Street in Oklahoma
City as ``Clara Luper Corridor''. She has been inundated with
over 500 other honors as well. And of them she says, ``Every
award has been a recognition of the people who worked with
me. So all those awards are special. It just shows what
people working together for a common cause can do.''
Devon Energy Corporation joined hands with Oklahoma Gas &
Electric Company to establish a ``Clara Luper Scholarship''
program at Oklahoma City University. It was set up to help
minority students and to honor Luper for her contributions to
education in Oklahoma and to the Civil Rights movement here
and throughout the Nation. And on May 5, 2007, the first 22
Clara Luper scholars received their diplomas from OCU. They
had completed, as a group, some 13,000 hours of community
service during their four years at the University.
Clara Luper wrote a 346 page book, Behold the Walls, which
is her account of development of the Civil Rights movement
during her lifetime. It was published in 1979, and Oklahoma
City University reprinted the book in January, 2007.
``Looking back after all these years,'' Luper said. ``I see
how the progress we made took the coordinated efforts of so
many people. It was not just the work of Clara Luper. It was
the work of every person who helped in any way to advance the
movement. Some marched and some participated in sit-in's,
while others were behind the scenes in prayer and providing
food and money for those of us who were out front.
``I have seen in my lifetime the fulfillment of my father's
dream that `Someday it will be alright'. I have seen us get
the right to eat in any restaurant or to use any restroom, to
stay in any hotel in the country. I am grateful that we are
now able to take our family to the zoo on any day, not just
on one day a week that was formerly designated for coloreds.
But we still have a long way to go.''
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