{"title":"\"We Are Now the Owners of the Land\": Black Homesteading and the Rise of Political Participation in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, 1889–1907","authors":"H. Dodson, Kalenda C. Eaton","doi":"10.1353/gpr.2023.0001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT:This article expands on recent scholarship uncovering the experience of Black homesteaders in Oklahoma Territory in the late 19th century. Drawing on census records, newspapers, and homesteading land entry case files, it spotlights the stories of families who successfully proved claims in Kingfisher County while becoming public figures in political and civic circles. Examples include Doctor B. Garrett and Anthony Overton Jr., who in some ways were atypical homesteaders because they were prominent in public life and farmers. Yet they are representative of hundreds of Oklahoma Black homesteaders in their dreams of owning property, voting, and building communities in a place free of the terror and political oppression many experienced in the South. Their aspirations were partially realized. They served as delegates in Republican conventions, were appointed or elected to state and local positions, and \"proved up\" their homesteads. Still, the growing tide of Jim Crow policies in Oklahoma territory threatened to reverse these gains as the Republican Party became increasingly \"lily white,\" and economic struggles led to farm foreclosures. In the end, the social networks Black homesteaders and settlers created were invaluable support systems in a territory that became increasingly hostile to their presence.","PeriodicalId":35980,"journal":{"name":"Great Plains Research","volume":"33 1","pages":"19 - 7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Great Plains Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/gpr.2023.0001","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT:This article expands on recent scholarship uncovering the experience of Black homesteaders in Oklahoma Territory in the late 19th century. Drawing on census records, newspapers, and homesteading land entry case files, it spotlights the stories of families who successfully proved claims in Kingfisher County while becoming public figures in political and civic circles. Examples include Doctor B. Garrett and Anthony Overton Jr., who in some ways were atypical homesteaders because they were prominent in public life and farmers. Yet they are representative of hundreds of Oklahoma Black homesteaders in their dreams of owning property, voting, and building communities in a place free of the terror and political oppression many experienced in the South. Their aspirations were partially realized. They served as delegates in Republican conventions, were appointed or elected to state and local positions, and "proved up" their homesteads. Still, the growing tide of Jim Crow policies in Oklahoma territory threatened to reverse these gains as the Republican Party became increasingly "lily white," and economic struggles led to farm foreclosures. In the end, the social networks Black homesteaders and settlers created were invaluable support systems in a territory that became increasingly hostile to their presence.
期刊介绍:
Great Plains Research publishes original research and scholarly reviews of important advances in the natural and social sciences with relevance to and special emphases on environmental, economic and social issues in the Great Plains. It includes reviews of books and reports on symposia and conferences that included sessions on topics pertaining to the Great Plains. Papers must be comprehensible to a multidisciplinary community of scholars and lay readers who share interest in the region. Stimulating review and synthesis articles will be published if they inform, educate, and highlight both current status and further research directions.