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Looking Back With the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
LOOKING BACK WITH THE
Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
Tulsa Historical Society & Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and presenting Tulsa’s history – and telling the stories of all its citizens.
BY TIFFANY HOWARD
Photos courtesy of Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
MICHELLE PLACE
THSM Executive Director
MAGGIE BROWN
THSM Director of Exhibits H oused within the Sam Travis Mansion off South Peoria Avenue, the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum (THSM) was originally the family home of Tulsa resident Sam Travis. Constructed in 1919 from wealth made in oil, the Travis Mansion was built in the Italianate Revival style. The mansion was facing demolition in the 1990s until it was purchased by the Tulsa Historical Society in 1997, thanks to additional support provided by the Tulsa Tribune Foundation.
The museum opened in its current location in 2004. After a series of renovations and expansions, THSM reopened in 2008 with additional public space.
TELLING ALL OF TULSA'S STORIES
With the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre in 2021, Tulsa as a whole has been experiencing a great reckoning around how the history of our city has been passed down. And as the official keepers of Tulsa’s history, THSM recognizes how great their responsibility is in telling all of Tulsa’s stories, not just certain glamorized parts. “There’s been an awakening in that history has always been written by the victors, or those who had the power,” said Michelle Place, THSM executive director. “When I became the executive director in 2012, there was much more talk about the 1921 Race Massacre at that time, and my staff and I made a commitment to one another that we were going to tell all of Tulsa’s stories, not just the oil story.” THSM offers eight different exhibits, most of which rotate fairly regularly. “Exhibits are a story-telling project,” said Maggie Brown, director of exhibits. “When you’re talking about history, you use different items to highlight and explain how those items fit into that story. The exhibits change at different times with the idea that someone could visit every couple of months and there would be something new to see. We try to
cover a range of topics in hopes that everyone can find something they are interested in.”
Travis Mansion in 1920.
“There’s been an awakening in that history has always been written by the victors, or those who had the power.” – MICHELLE PLACE Executive Director Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
ONGOING EXHIBITS
A few of the exhibits are more ongoing than others, like the Timeline of Tulsa History, the History of the Travis Mansion, and a virtual exhibit on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that includes every known item in their collection related to the massacre. Museum staff members are often asked why they don’t just display all their artifacts at once, and the answer to this is multi-fold. First, their archival collection is far too large, as it includes items that predate Oklahoma statehood and runs all the way to the present day. Second, items have more meaning when they are organized around an exhibit theme meant to highlight their historical significance. And third, the deterioration process is unfortunately expedited when an item is on display; artifacts need to
Oil baron Sam Travis built the mansion in 1919 in Italianate Revival style. The libarary of the Sam Travis home as photographed in the 1920s.
Fashionably Fun
The Tulsa Historical Society & Museum is currently featuring a “Fashionably Tulsa” exhibit, with clothing items spanning from the early 20th century into the 1970s. Another soon-to-be featured exhibit will display the retro kitsch of the Route 66 era and the specific significance Tulsa brought to the iconic Mother Road.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for one of THSM’s most popular events, the summer Chautauqua. Happening under a tent on the sprawling THSM front lawn from June 7 to 11, this year’s theme is “Surviving the Sixties: Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll.” Guests are invited to bring a picnic and listen to five talented scholars deliver entertaining and educational historical presentations and workshops as the following people: Allen Ginsberg, Christopher Isherwood, Timothy Leary, Cass Elliot, and John Lennon. You really don’t want to miss this! When you visit THSM, remember that if you see something that speaks to you, the museum can create a digital copy of almost anything for a small fee.
eventually be returned to their climate-controlled, acid-free storage environment away from light as a way to preserve them for generations to come. When deciding on a new exhibit theme, Brown and staff first have to decide if they have enough artifacts to support a certain idea. Because they do not purchase any sort of collections to display, THSM relies heavily on the community for donated items. Some of the items on their “wish list” include photographs, city directories, Indian Territory era artifacts, items relating to Black Wall Street and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, diaries, journals, video, clothing, oral histories and more (see the full list at tulsahistory.org). Everything must have a Tulsa or northeast Oklahoma connection, and they are always looking for items from groups that have tended to be left out of history – either racially, culturally or otherwise. “We’re always looking for exhibit ideas, and the great thing about Tulsa is that there are so many stories to be told,” said Place. “But of course, we can’t tell stories without the donation of artifacts and photographs from the public. There has traditionally been an issue with historical museums that minority populations do not trust the majority populations with their story. And so that takes effort on our part to build those relationships and that trust in order to tell their stories, which is so important to us because we want to tell more than just the oil history of Tulsa.”
Tulsa Historical Society & Museum 2445 S. Peoria Ave. • Tulsa
Open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ADMISSION:
Adults: $5 • Seniors: $3 Admission is free for members, students and children.
GO TU!
The History of the University of Tulsa
BY KAREN SZABO
LITTLE SCHOOL ON THE PRAIRIE The University of Tulsa’s roots reach back to 1882 when it was the Presbyterian School for Girls. Located in downtown Muskogee, Indian Territory, the small boarding school offered primary education to the young women of the Creek Nation.
The school expanded in 1894 to become Henry Kendall College, named in honor of the Rev. Henry Kendall, first general secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions. Kendall College was granted the first post-secondary degree in Oklahoma in June 1898 and moved to a larger campus donated by Creek Nation Chief Pleasant Porter. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, the school struggled through its first decade until 1906 when school officials asked the Synod of Indian Territory to assume control and seek a new location for the college.
TULSA TIME The oil-rich Tulsa community presented an attractive bid to trustees in 1907 that included $100,000, 20 acres of land, and a guarantee for utilities and streetcar service. The college opened to 35 students in September 1907, two months before Oklahoma statehood. Students attended classes at the First Presbyterian Church until permanent buildings could be built. Kendall Hall, the first building of the new school, was completed in 1908 and was quickly followed by two other buildings.
In 1918, the Methodist Church proposed building a college in
Tulsa, using money donated by Tulsa oilman Robert M. McFarlin. It was soon apparent that Tulsa could not yet support two competing schools. In 1920, Kendall College merged with the proposed McFarlin College to become The University of Tulsa. TU’s McFarlin Library was named after the oilman, while Henry Kendall’s name lives on in the Kendall College of Arts and
Sciences.
Presbyterian School for Girls. Students cheering at a football game.
HURRICANES IN TULSA? Until 1922, the university’s football team had a slew of nicknames that included the Kendallites,
Presbyterians, Tigers, Orange and
Black, and Tulsans. When football coach Howard Archer came to
TU that year, he first proposed the name "Golden Tornadoes" based on the team’s new gold and black uniforms and a remark during practice that the team would be
Ten years later, local retail store Clarke’s Good Clothes held a contest to compose the TU fight song. TU student Ben Henneke’s mother heard about the contest and encouraged her son to enter. Henneke won the contest and a $25 prize. He later said that the opening notes of his composition were inspired by the sounds his family's Hoover vacuum cleaner made.
POINTS OF PRIDE When Chancellor John D. Finlayson became president in 1928, he made sweeping changes that solidified TU as an independent institution recognized for the quality of its curriculum and faculty. The first change was the opening of a petroleum engineering school. Nearly a century later, TU is known for its petroleum engineering (currently ranked sixth in the nation) and, more recently, energy business programs.
Alumni have gone on to executive positions in global oil and gas corporations. Many have struck out on their own and built well-known energy companies from the ground up. Today, TU also embraces alternative energy education and research. The university's most recent Rhodes Scholar was honored for his work on solar power
