Descendants of the Black 1000: Flight from Oklahoma Black Towns to Canada
Learn how Black history in Oklahoma had an international reach
Cheryl Foggo (2022) by David Ofori Zapparoli Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Descendants of the Black 1000: Flight from Oklahoma Black Towns to Canada was on view in the Mary LeFlore Clements Gallery from Nov. 9, 2023-April 1, 2024 .
A journey toward freedom
Descendants of the Black 1000: Flight from Oklahoma Black Towns to Canada featured the work of Canadian artists Donna Paris and David Ofori Zapparoli, whose collaborative project uncovered the historical movement of Black communities from Oklahoma to Canada.
Installation view of Descendants of the Black 1000 (2023-11-09/2024-04-01) by David Ofori Zapparoli and Donna Paris Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Black-and-white portraits and poignant voices
A selection of 12 photographs with corresponding audio recordings revealed the deep connections between Black Canadians and Oklahoma, from where many of the portrait sitters’ ancestors hail.
Through photographs, interviews, and archival materials, Descendants of the Black 1000 created a fuller picture of how Black history in Oklahoma had an international reach, going beyond the state and connecting communities across the continent.
Installation view of Descendants of the Black 1000 (2023-11-09/2024-04-01) by David Ofori Zapparoli and Donna Paris Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Stories untold
Upon statehood, the first state laws enforced disenfranchisement and enacted Jim Crow laws, leading to flight further west, to Mexico, and to Canada. Between 1908 and 1911, more than 1,000 Black Oklahomans migrated to the Canadian prairies in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Mule shoe, ca. 1941
This mule shoe was plowed up on the former property of Rolla Ramsey Jr., who succeeded his father as the second postmaster of Breton (formerly Keystone), Alberta. In 1915, he married Ophelia Hayes, paternal aunt to Vant Hayes, one of the Oklahoma descendants of the Black 1000.
Installation view of Descendants of the Black 1000 (2023-11-09/2024-04-01) by David Ofori Zapparoli and Donna Paris Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Oklahoma history
The photograph of Antoinette Snow’s class (left) is what former slaves, now sharecroppers, envisioned and strove to achieve: the equity and freedom that served as the bedrock for more than fifty thriving Black towns starting in 1865.
But equity and freedom were swiftly denied with the signing of Senate Bill One, the state's first Jim Crow law and first bill signed into law upon statehood in 1907 (right).
With newly gained freedoms eroding, Black Oklahomans responded to the call to move north to Canada.
Descendants Vant Hayes, Cheryl (née Melton), Milton Budd Phipps, Carol Lafayette Boyd and Myrna Wisdom
Descendants Charlotte Lynn Williams (née Mayes), Debbi Beaver, Judy Williams, Brandy Fredrickson (née Robinson) and Leander Lane.
Installation view of Descendants of the Black 1000 (2023-11-09/2024-04-01) by David Ofori Zapparoli and Donna Paris Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center
Their story continues
Descendants of the Black 1000 revealed an important story that not only charted migration but also captured the human spirit that stirs people into movement away from persecution.
The exhibition spoke to the sheer will to traverse the unknown, drawn from a wellspring of fortitude and hope passed down to descendants.
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