'We don't want the history to die': OKC councilwoman shares Black History Month mission

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma City Councilwoman Nikki Nice is highlighting people who made a difference in the community for Black History Month.

“We have to tell those stories, because that’s a part of Oklahoma history and I think that’s a part of Oklahoma culture,” she said.

Nice has been tweeting stories of prominent people and places in an effort to preserve their legacies.

“We don’t want the history to die,” Nice said. “It’s more than a name. It carries a story, it carries history, it carries culture, it carries community – and once you erase all that name from any type of building or area or street, you have lost that history.”

Nice pointed out the Aloft Hotel in Deep Deuce used to the be the Finley Building, where African-American doctor Gravelly Finley treated patients for decades. He began his practice in the 1950s, when most white doctors refused to serve black patients.

Down the street from the Aloft is the Deep Deuce Grill. Nice said the building once belonged to Doctor W.L. Haywood, who founded the first African-American hospital in Oklahoma City.

“That’s the history we want to hang on to,” Nice said.

She had to do a lot of digging to find some of these stories.

“My neighborhood is where Dolphin Wharton park is, and I never really knew the story until I looked at this book and found Dolphin Wharton and understood he was a part of the parks and commissions board and had great contributions to his community,” said Nice.

Even her alma mater, Northeast High School, has significance. It used to be an all-white school, and in 1961, optometrist A.L. Dowell sued Oklahoma City Public Schools for refusing to admit his black son. A decade later, the district finally implemented a plan to end segregation.

“That particular case set precedence for Oklahoma City Public Schools, and I think that’s why it’s important for us to understand history, understand culture, and understand the community at the end of the day,” she said.

Nice is hopeful the community will carry the lessons of the past into the future.

“The city incorporated in 1890,” she said. “We didn’t get our first African-American woman elected [to city council] until 1993, and here we are 2018 - I’m the second. That means we’re telling the story, but we also hope others will understand and recognize that there’s still more history to make.”