Portrait Of A Generation

SELECT PORTRAITS

Portrait of a

Generation The Children of Oklahoma Sons and Daughters of the Red Earth

M.J. ALEXANDER

The Next Generation

G

enerations ago, the name of this land was whispered with overtones of hope, of dread, of possibility: Indian Territory. Oklahoma. It was a bitter last stop for tribes forcibly removed from their ancestral homes. For others, it was a place to reinvent themselves. They arrived in search of land. Opportunity. Fortune.

Whether invoking its name as a prayer or a curse, those making the trek here hoped the land would allow for a better life for themselves and for their children.

Now at the beginning of its second century of statehood, Oklahoma is home to 3.7 million residents. Nearly one million of them are aged 18 or younger. They are spread over 70,000 square miles, encompassing the Wheat Belt, the Bible Belt, the Confederate South and the American West. Some are descended from Land Run homesteaders, pioneering ranchers and oilmen, survivors of the Trail of Tears. Others were born on the other side of the nation or across the globe.

This book introduces the youngest generation of one of the most fascinating states in the union. From May through October 2010, I drove more than 11,000 miles – from the Rita Blanca Grassland to the Tallgrass Prairie, from the Blue River to the Glass Mountains – to meet the children of the 46th state.

I found children keeping traditions alive – through the rodeo circuit, harvest festivals, ranch barbeques, Vietnamese ceremonies, cowboy church services, Mexican folkloric dances, Czech parades, Indian language schools – and others being exposed to life in Oklahoma for the first time. I found children at food pantries, looking for their next meal; children rooted for seven generations to the same piece of land; children already on the road to national recognition; children looking to make a difference in ways big and small.

Some want to stay in Oklahoma forever and can point to the plot where they plan to build, on family land near their parents and grandparents. Others long to leave their hometown in the rearview mirror, to return later – or maybe never. But, for now, they all are Oklahomans.

Each child is unique; a self-contained poem, arranged here into verses, stanzas, chapters.

Their portraits distill something of their essence, and of the story of Oklahoma in the 21st century. PORTRAIT OF A GENERATION is an ode to the land and its people, the sons and daughters of the red earth.

- M.J. Alexander

My faith helps me realize the purpose of my musicianship. God uses me to touch those who are hurt and suffering, as well as rejoicing in what they have overcome. I love feeling such divine power flowing through my hands while I play improvisational music.

The best advice I’ve been given: If you can live without music, don’t be a musician. But if you can’t live your life without music, by all means, do it.

NAHRIE ESTHER CHUNG, 16, Tulsa | Born March 12, 1994 in Atlanta, Georgia | President/editor-inchief of high school newspaper | Volunteer, St. Francis Hospital | Parents emigrated from South Korea | First-generation American Photographed July 31, 2010 in Tulsa

It’s amazing – when we adults allow ourselves time for amazement – to think of all the promise concentrated in our children’s minds, hearts and lives.

Though the future is uncertain for our children – as it is for all of us here in the world – we hope we are instilling in Brenna and her brothers, Christopher and Gabriel, a Christian character that will fill their minds with faith, bolster their hearts with hope and lift their lives with love.

– Brandy McDonnell, mother

BRENNA FAIRE MCDONNELL, 100 hours old, Del City | Born June 25, 2010 in Oklahoma City Held by her father, Patrick McDonnell | Sixth-generation Oklahoman | Great-great-great grandfather Dwight Edward Barnard born June 7, 1891, in Gray Horse, Osage Nation, Indian Territory.

Photographed June 29, 2010 in Del City

M.J. Alexander traveled more than 11,000 miles, from dirt roads to interstates, to complete the PORTRAIT OF A GENERATION project.

TEXAS COUNTY, OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE

It’s all on loan from God, and we’re just taking care of it.

My grandfather started the ranch. He lived right next door, and would ride up on his horse and get me up in the morning. I often wonder what he’d think about all that’s happened since.

– Ralph Chain, great-grandfather

BLAKE NELSON CHAIN, 3 Photographed September 19, 2010 at Chain Ranch, west of Canton

Noodling is my life.

I eat, sleep and live for it. It’s you versus a flathead catfish using nothing but your hands.

I was taught at the age of 12 by my grandfather, and I want to pass it on down the line as well. It’s tradition for a lot of people.

When I’m in a river or lake, I feel like I become the fish. It’s the biggest adrenaline rush for me.

SHYLOH SHAKOTAH POWERS, 17, Carnegie | Born February 26, 1993 in Chickasha Photographed July 10, 2010 in Pauls Valley

I want to be a cheerleader. And a dancer.

MARY LYNETTE CLEVEND, 5, Lone Wolf | Born February 10, 2005 in Abilene, Texas Photographed June 28, 2010 in Lone Wolf

I’d like to be an actress, so I’ll be able to show all my emotions.

ANNA DUPHORNE PAYNE, 10, Oklahoma City | Born July 10, 2000 in Oklahoma City

Our family’s roots are here. Our connections to the state offer so many possibilities.

ELLEN MEYER PAYNE, 13, Oklahoma City | Born December 30, 1996 in Oklahoma City

I want him to work smart. Not work hard. – Kim Laster, mother RICKY BLAKE LASTER, 19 months, Erick | Born January 28, 2009 in Elk City | Fourth-generation Oklahoman | Enrolled member, Choctaw Nation Photographed August 27, 2010 in Erick

Great-granddaughters of William Thomas Payne, born January 26, 1892 in Tecumseh, Nebraska, one of five children of Thomas Jefferson Payne and Ellen Meyer Payne. Drought prompted family to relocate to Tecumseh, Oklahoma Territory in 1894. William Thomas Payne and Walt Helmerich co-founded Helmerich & Payne oil exploration, 1920. Company struggled for six years before hitting a 5,000-barrel-a-day wildcat in Braman. Payne went on to found Big Chief Drilling Company, 1936. Ellen named for great-great grandmother Ellen Meyer Payne. Anna named for three-great grandmother Anna Maria Schorb Meyer, mother to Ellen, born August 21, 1825 in Germany.

Photographed October 1, 2010 in Oklahoma County

I believe that what I have is a gift. Some people have talent. But with a gift, you can change lives.

THADDEUS JOHNSON, 17, Oklahoma City | Born August 30, 1992 in Lawton | Vocalist | American Idol contestant Photographed June 20, 2010 at Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain

Macy came here with the family and started to read the gravestones of our grandfather and his family – sisters, brothers, parents. Ancestors who came in the 1830s, on the Trail of Tears. The names are faded, written in Cherokee.

She can read and write the syllabary. My uncle cried, because he had lost the language. She spoke their names again.

– Wahlesah Dick, mother

MACY SOSTI RIDGE, 7, Briggs | Born July 5, 2003 in Tahlequah | Attends Tsalagi Tsunadeloquasdi, the Cherokee Nation Language Immersion School | Lives on family’s original Dawes Roll allotment, now owned by maternal grandmother, Georgia Dick.

Photographed July 13, 2010 at family burial grounds, Cherokee County

I came to America in ’94. My husband was raised here. There was a sign up there right by the railroad tracks that said America, but it ended up missing.

It used to be a pretty big place, the way I understood.

Now our kids are the last ones left.

– Stephanie Leader Friend, mother

KRISTIN LEANNA FRIEND, 5, America | Born December 17, 2004 in Talihina KYLE WAYNE FRIEND, 7, America | Born September 5, 2002 in Talihina | Enrolled members, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Beaver Clan | Great-grandchildren of Barney Leader, medicine man Photographed July 1, 2010 in America, Oklahoma

They’re pretty much very traditional, and they all understand the ways. The dancers do not speak, and only understand Apache. The point of their dance is to bring healing and to ward off evil spirits.

– Patricia Sahmaunt Unap, Apache Club advisor

TEENAGED APACHE GAAN MOUNTAIN SPIRIT DANCER, White Mountain/San Carlos Tribe | Identities kept secret; faces covered with hoods beneath wooden crown headpieces.

Photographed May 1, 2010 in Anadarko at end-of-year 49er dance and bonfire, Riverside Indian School

My daughter, Pĕja Kay West, is a survivor of six major surgeries at just 31/2 years old.

Although she has major congenital birth defects and system failures, she is wonderfully beautiful and healthy. Her struggles don’t define her, but they have helped shape her. All the operations and lifetime scars, as ugly as they may be, are symbolic of life and a future.

While she undoubtedly will be empowered with a special tenderness for the sick and an unusual appreciation for both life and death, her big accomplishment is breathing.

Breathing in the spring rain on our family acreage out in Spencer. Breathing in the aroma of fresh-baked cookies that we made together. Moment by moment, breath by breath, she is the 21st century.

– Kandis West, mother

PĔJA KAY WEST, 3, Spencer | Born September 23, 2006 in Oklahoma City Photographed June 9, 2010 in her backyard

I think the way people live in Oklahoma will definitely change by the time I have kids. We can’t go on driving everywhere forever. We must get more efficient and find alternate sources for fuel.

DERIC DOUGLAS TARO IDE CORN, 16 | Born November 7, 1993 in Oklahoma City

We may get overpopulation and another world war. More and more people are trying to take control. When everyone wants to be in charge, they’re all going to get into a fight.

MEGAN CARYND MEGUMI IDE CORN, 13 | Born October 17, 1996 in Oklahoma City

There might be better technology in the future. But at the same time, we’ll have to figure out how to stop polluting the world.

Autism is my greatest strength, and my greatest weakness. I’m in special classes, so I get to learn things that other kids don’t. Like I get to learn about my emotions, how to meet people, and how to say the right thing. I also get more time with my teachers, which I really like. I like attention – quite a lot.

But then again, being autistic is my greatest weakness.

Sometimes I get so upset I want to cry. I don’t understand if someone tells me to do a lot of things at once. I also have a lot of problems learning some stuff.

So I have to say autism is my superpower and my weakness, too. It’s my kryptonite.

TAYLOR DANE CROWE, 14, Midwest City | Born April 30, 1996 in Tulsa Photographed June 4, 2010 in Choctaw

ALEC DOUGLAS HIKARU IDE CORN, 11 | Born July 13, 1999 in Phoenix, Arizona Enrolled members, Chickasaw Nation | On father’s side, great-great-great grandniece and nephews of Douglas Henry Johnston, governor of the Chickasaw Nation 1898-1902 and 1904-1939, born October 13, 1856 in Skullyville, Choctaw Nation. Johnston County is named in his honor | Cousins to Mary Francis Thompson Fisher, the storyteller known as Te Ata, named Oklahoma’s first Cultural Treasure by Governor Henry Bellmon | On mother’s side, descended from Heikei Clan of samurai from the Heian period, immortalized in the 12th century epic Tale of the Heikei | Great-grandchildren of Shinjiro Yamamura, chief cabinet secretary of Japan 1963-1964.

Photographed July 24, 2010 at their home in Oklahoma City

SANTIAGO VARGAS, 9, Oklahoma City | Born October 28, 2000 in Oklahoma City Photographed October 9, 2010 at Plaza District Festival, Oklahoma City

Rodeo is not just a way of life. It’s a living.

SHADE ETBAUER, 16, Goodwell | Born October 11, 1993 in Liberal, Kansas SAGE KIMZEY, 15, Strong City | Born August 26, 1994 in Elk City KOLT KELLY, 16, Comanche | Born September 21, 1993 in Duncan Photographed July 17, 2010 at International Finals Youth Rodeo, Shawnee, before saddle bronc finals

My hope is that the children of her generation will encounter a world that is more open to each person’s unique qualities rather than focusing on divisive differences.

Her great-great grandmother was the first Jewish baby born in Indian Territory. Her grandmother was one of the first Asian-American children to come to Oklahoma City after the Korean War. Her father is an evangelical Christian, and her grandmother is a Buddhist.

Her roots are deep in Oklahoma culture and demonstrate the many different ethnic, religious and cultural paths that people of our state possess. She will be raised to appreciate the special qualities of each person she encounters and to accept with tolerance the way people lead their lives.

This generation will be different. When I was five and starting school, my mother tried to protect me from being teased. She told me not to use my given name, Keiko, and not to speak Japanese. Today my grandchild has the name Keiko and people think it is beautiful.

KEIKO CHELSEA ROBINSON, 15 months, Oklahoma City | Born March 29, 2009 in Oklahoma City | Fifthgeneration Oklahoman | Parents: Josh Evan Robinson and Bridgette Judge, both born in Oklahoma City. Paternal grandmother born in Tokyo, Japan; arrived in Oklahoma in 1952 at age three with her parents, Fumiko Muto and Charles Ruby, an Oklahoma soldier who served in the Korean War | Paternal grandfather an Oklahoma City-born attorney whose maternal grandmother, Amy Gerson Kohn, was first Jewish baby in Oklahoma Territory, born September 27, 1893 in Oklahoma City. Her parents – George Gerson, Oklahoma City’s first pharmacist, and Pauline Heyman Gerson – were founding members of Temple B’Nai Israel. Richard Robinson’s paternal grandfather, Jacob Robinson, owned and operated Jake’s, a used clothing store at Harvey and Reno in Oklahoma City. He was believed born in Minsk, Russia with the surname Skokolsky. Unable to understand English upon his arrival at Ellis Island, he was assigned the name of a nearby guard and became a Robinson.

Interviewed: Richard Alvin Robinson and Linna Keiko Ruby Robinson, grandparents/legal guardians Photographed June 23, 2010 in front of her home

It’s 22 miles to Clayton (New Mexico). Nineteen to Boise City. Eighty miles to the nearest Wal-Mart. You have to plan ahead for shopping trips, sure. But I think it’s an advantage. There’s not so much traffic here, and it’s fun to be around friends you’ve known for a long time.

I can see myself living around here, but not so much ranching. Maybe I’ll make a store where people could shop. A few groceries, maybe. Maybe some clothes in there.

HAYLIE ANN WATERS, 13, Felt | Born November 26, 1996 in Sayre

You learn things here at a younger age. You learn to drive a car younger.

Shoot a gun. I started driving around when I was seven.

I bet I know every kid in Cimarron County. It’s a good thing. Of the 20 kids in our high school, five are foreign exchange students. They’re great.

They’re like celebrities. It’s good for everyone. We get kids in the school system, learn how to get along with people from other cultures, learn a few words. They learn about how we live. One guy from Tokyo, Yuzo, had never shot a gun, never ridden a horse, never did anything. Another guy had never even seen a cow before.

AUSTIN DON WATERS, 16, Felt | Born February 27, 1994 in Sayre Photographed on family ranch, August 28, 2010 in Felt

The bombing? It’s not such a big deal to me. Not as much as people think. I don’t hold any grudges or hatred.

Really, all I try to do is learn from my mistakes. I’ve learned to be more diligent and to work harder. It sounds corny, but I try to put God first. I’ve enjoyed mission trips to Omaha, helping fix a hospital for the mentally impaired, and to Chicago working at St. Anselm Church, cleaning up and sorting through things.

I don’t try to blend in with others. I try to stand out.

I try to be the brightest color in the crayon box.

CHRISHAYLA DOMINIQUE PALMER, 16, Mangum | Born July 15, 1993 in Mangum 2010 Mangum Rattlesnake Derby Princess | Historian/Chaplain, Oklahoma Chapter, Business Professionals of America Photographed June 27, 2010 in Mangum

We have the means to help, and that’s just what we should do. It’s the Golden Rule thing, and the help-thyneighbor thing.

I don’t say to anyone, ‘this is what you should do because I do it.’

I just do it.

JOSEPH DANIEL WEBBER, 17, Oklahoma City | Born August 23, 1993, in Washington, D.C. | Sixth-generation Oklahoman; aspiring artist/designer | Varsity letter winner in track for 110-meter high hurdles, 300-meter medium hurdles | One of six children to survive the April 19, 1995 bombing of Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The attack claimed 168 lives, including 19 children under the age of six | Great-great-great grandfather Daniel Gordon MacLeod received land in Kingfisher as part of the 1889 opening of the Unassigned Lands.

Photographed September 16, 2010 in Oklahoma City

Art, weaving, life – it’s all interconnected. The creative thought: it’s what gives us meaning, it’s what gives us depth. It’s what makes us see the beautiful in the world.

– Margaret Roach Wheeler

SKYE DAWN SHACKLEFORD, 17, Lexington | Born June 27, 1993 in Duncan | With longtime artist/mentor MARGARET ROACH WHEELER, master weaver, and 2010 inductee to Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame Photographed July 29, 2010 at Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy, Ada

The most important thing is: always keep the faith. Through that, the family will always stay together. Our biggest bond, aside from the joy of the kids – they’re adorable, they’re lovely – is our faith. We enjoy each other. Times are good. We’ve had a lot of tough stuff. But we know that everything we do here on Earth is to glorify God and that keeps peace in the family, it really does. Church isn’t our only thing, but it’s our core thing. The kids are good kids because of it.

– Jeannie Klug Heitman, grandmother

Heitman grandchildren: SHEYENNE MARIE MITCHELL, 9, Yukon BRIAN WILLIAM MITCHELL, 7, Yukon JANIE LEA HEITMAN, 6, Oklahoma City JACLYNN MAE HEITMAN, 4, Oklahoma City JORDYN MARIE HEITMAN, 18 months, Oklahoma City SERENITY NOELLE HEITMAN, 21 months, Oklahoma City Photographed July 4, 2010 in Oklahoma City

ABANDONED PLAYGROUND, Picher, Oklahoma | Picher-Cardin Schools 2006-2007 enrollment: 350 children | 2008-2009 enrollment: 51 children | Seniors in Class of 2009, final graduating class: 11 | Former lead and zinc mining town at the center of 40-square-mile Tar Creek Superfund site. Picher Mining Field yielded 1.7 million tons of lead and 8.8 million tons of zinc before mines shut in 1970. Placed on Superfund toxic site national priorities list in 1983. Blood tests in mid-1990s showed continued elevated lead levels in many of Picher’s children. Federal buyout of remaining households announced in May 2006, offering average of $55 per square foot | On Mother’s Day 2008, an F4 tornado destroyed the south end of Picher, killing seven. Picher ceased operations as a municipality on September 1, 2009. | Peak population: 14,000, in 1926 | Population in 2000 census: 1,640 | 2010 population: seven households that refused federal buyout Photographed October 4, 2010

The toughest thing in the Panhandle is the distance between places. But people come together to make it work.

– Ella Durham, 4-H Club leader

Cimarron County 4-H Club members JAKE HITCHINGS, 17, Griggs | Born September 2, 1993 in Boise City JUSTON BALENSEIFEN, 14, Keyes | Born March 22, 1996 in Liberal, Kansas MARY FERNANDA FLORES MENDOZA, 15, Keyes | Born April 1, 1995 in Teziutlan, Mexico SHAWN MICHAEL BLACKBURN, 12, Keyes | Born September 12, 1997 in Pampa, Texas SHAIN DAWSON BLACKBURN, 11, Keyes | Born January 25, 1994 in Elkhart, Kansas Photographed August 29, 2010 on border of Cimarron and Texas counties

I want to be a cowgirl. Riding horses, roping cattle.

She’s growing up in a world where she can be anything she wants to be. For her, there is every possibility in the world.

– Mary Jane Hogsett, grandmother

CHARLOTTE “CHARLIE” KATHLEEN ETRIS, 18 months | Born January 6, 2009 in Norman | Five generations of Oklahomaborn women | With mother: MIA NICHELLE HOGSETT, 21.

Born October 27, 1988 in Oklahoma City | Grandmother: MARY JANE HOGSETT, 40. Born September 29, 1969 in Oklahoma City | Great-grandmother: CLEORA JUNE HOGSETT, 67.

Born December 16, 1942 at home in Chester | Great-great grandmother: LEORA “LEE” HEDRIC WEINMEISTER, 87.

Born May 1, 1923 in Chester Photographed June 17, 2010 in Drummond

I help take care of my grandparents’ horses, Lady and Daisy. You have to feed them and give them vitamin licks and they will need hay in the stalls. When you give them snacks, they eat them off your hand. It feels soft and slobbery.

ZOE ELIZABETH HOLMES, 4, Oklahoma City | Born September 7, 2006 in Oklahoma City | Great-great grandfather John Tontz, who emigrated from Switzerland, participated in the Cherokee Strip Land Run on September 16, 1893, at age 22. A family history recounts: “He staked a farm for the family at what is now Orlando, but was invited to get off at the point of a six-gun. The place has since become covered with heavyproducing oil wells. He elected not to engage in a gunfight and maybe lose his life. Instead, he wisely chose to lose the land and live his life.” He later bought a farm northwest of Guthrie.

Photographed with Caesar October 17, 2010 in Kite Park, Nichols Hills

I love my family. I want to marry a nice man.

My mother and father don’t take care of me, but I want to take care of my children.

I want to get my children into a good school and teach them about everything in the world. I want to take my children to Shabbat services. I like skateboarding. I like basketball.

I want to surfboard and do windsurfing. I want to play soccer with my children.

I want to swim. I want to clean up litter. I don’t want to be a litterbug. I want to help the environment.

I plan to go to school and to study really, really, really hard so I can be a dentist and help poor people.

ZOERINA RAECHEL SWAIN, 6, Oklahoma City | Born February 14, 2004 in Oklahoma City | In process of being adopted by grandmother Photographed July 19, 2010 in Oklahoma City

When I grow up, I want to be a professional basketball player. Some people might ask why basketball, why not something more inspirational like a lawyer, or a judge. All I have to say is, I love the game. To me, basketball is life.

Living out in the country, there isn’t that much to do. I practice all the time. I almost always have a ball with me. I love everything about the sport.

The fun, the hard work, the injuries, the practice – it’s all worth it to put that jersey on, play in the game, win or lose, and go home knowing you tried your hardest. Yes, you might get hurt. You might bleed. You might get the occasional floor burn.

But in the end, when you know you tried your hardest, you feel proud of yourself. You want to go ‘wow, look where I was and look where I am now.’

You feel a sense of accomplishment and you just want to keep improving.

That’s why I want to be a professional basketball player. Not because I want a lot of money, but because I love the game. Because to me, basketball is life!

CHI ANNE JEFFRIES, 13, Lamont | Born October 22, 1996 in Ponca City | Choctaw Nation, enrolled member | Descended from Thomas Jefferson Walls, born April 11, 1841 in Skullyville, Choctaw Nation.

Photographed July 28, 2010 in Grant County

A day on the farm is worth a month in the city.

DAXTON LOUIS SWAIM, 5, Okeene | Born November 2, 2004 in Enid | Named for father Brandon Louis Swaim (born January 10, 1972), grandfather Theodore Louis Swaim (December 19, 1939), great-grandfather Orval Louis Swaim (January 19, 1916) and great-great grandfather Oscar Louis Swaim (January 2, 1888) | Orval’s mother, Marie Oltmanns, came to Oklahoma Territory in a covered wagon pulled by oxen during the land opening in 1889.

DESTRY FREDERICK SWAIM, 3, Okeene | Born April 9, 2007 in Enid | Great-great grandfather Jacob Meier (born July 9, 1884 in Kansas) moved to homestead north of Hitchcock in 1892. Katherine Miller (born February 3, 1885 in Dreispitz, Russia) came to Oklahoma Territory alone in 1904 at age 19, marrying Meier the next year | In 1911, they moved to the farm where Dax and Destry now live. There they raised two sons and one daughter, Elberta May Meier, who met Orval Louis Swaim on a blind date. They were married for 66 years.

Photographed June 17, 2010 on the family farm, Blaine County

Emma’s personality is as large as the Oklahoma plains.

Her smile radiates the brilliance of an August afternoon. She shows tenacity and bravery. She was born on Oklahoma’s centennial day, exactly 100 years after her great-grandmother, who was born on Statehood Day. We consider her a double Oklahoma centennial baby, and are proud of our deep Oklahoma roots.

– Shari Myers, grandmother

EMMA GRACE CAROLINE PHILPOT, 2, Oklahoma City | Born November 16, 2007, Oklahoma’s Centennial Day, in Oklahoma City | Great-grandmother Nina Marjorie Taylor was born in Guthrie November 16, 1907, Oklahoma’s Statehood Day. Photographed September 17, 2010 in Oklahoma City

My great-great grandfather ran the Land Run in Guthrie. I am the fourth generation to live on my great-grandfather’s homestead in Cimarron County.

Everyone who lives here is needed. They need me on the basketball team, or there’s no team.

There are only five girls – and two of them are foreign exchange students.

Everybody knows everybody, and you have to be friends with everyone. I’d die without my cell phone! I love my BlackBerry.

But there’s not going to be anything here for my kids. Keyes High School will be closed by then.

I’d like to coach basketball, but can’t do it here if there’s no school.

RACHEL MARIE DURHAM, 18, Cimarron County | Born April 22, 1992 in Liberal, Kansas One of five members of the Keyes High School Class of 2011 Photographed August 29, 2010 in Texas County, Oklahoma Panhandle

PORTRAIT OF A GENERATION The Children of Oklahoma: Sons and Daughters of the Red Earth was made possible by the following:

Ten dollars from each book sold is donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County.