OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)— On Saturday, thousands gathered downtown in Oklahoma City for the dedication of the Clara Luper National Sit-in Plaza.
Schoolteacher Clara Luper, an Oklahoma City youth and teacher who on Aug. 19, 1958, was among the original 13 student members of the NAACP Youth Council, participated in a sit-in at Katz Drug Store. That act of courage resulted in the desegregation of Katz stores within three days and inspired a wave of sit-ins that propelled the Civil Rights Movement, advancing equal rights for all.
The new art installation, located at North Robinson Avenue and West Main Street at the former Katz site, commemorates this historic moment, showcasing symbols cemented in history: a 4-ton bronze lunch counter with realistic, life-sized depictions of the original 13 student “sit-inners,” Luper, and a Katz Drug Store employee.
At the plaza’s public dedication, those in attendance included musical performances by local choirs and remarks from Clara Luper’s daughter, Marilyn Luper Hildreth; committee members the Rev. Dr. Lee Cooper Jr. and John Kennedy; Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt; StudioEIS representative Elliot Schwartz; and ten of the 13 original sit-inners…