A01=Clara Luper
activism
African American history
American history
Author_Clara Luper
Category=JBFA1
Category=JBSF11
Category=JPVC
Category=NHK
civil rights
Civil Rights activist
civil rights conflict
Civil Rights Movement
desegregation
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma Civil Rights activist
Oklahoma history
racial segregation
racism
resistance
segregation
sit-ins
Social Justice
twentieth century
twentieth-century American politics
Product details
- ISBN 9780806192796
- Weight: 272g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 18 Jul 2023
- Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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On August 19, 1958, Clara Luper and thirteen Black youth walked into Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City and sat down at the lunch counter. When they tried to order, they were denied service. As they sat in silence, refusing to leave, the surrounding white customers unleashed a torrent of threats and racial slurs. This first organized sit-in in Oklahoma—almost two years before the more famous sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina—sparked other demonstrations in Oklahoma and other states. Behold the Walls is Luper’s engrossing firsthand account of how the movement she helped launch ended legal racial segregation.
First published in 1979, Behold the Walls now features a new introduction and 33 newly selected historical photos. Luper’s direct, unvarnished account captures the immediacy of the events she witnessed. As a Black woman, Luper refused to let either her race or her gender deter her from stepping forth as a leader. Born in 1923, Clara Luper taught history in Oklahoma public schools and led the NAACP Youth Council. The students who sat in at Katz Drug and other businesses belonged to that organization. Luper highlights the contributions of others, especially young people, in breaking down the walls of segregation in Oklahoma through numerous demonstrations, marches, and voter registration campaigns.
This commemorative edition of Luper’s eye-opening autobiography, published near what would have been her 100th birthday, as well as the 65th anniversary of the sit-ins, offers invaluable insight into the history of protest in the early years of the civil rights movement. With racial inequality still at the forefront of national debate, Behold the Walls places Luper’s efforts in the larger national context of the struggle to resist injustice and inspire positive change.
First published in 1979, Behold the Walls now features a new introduction and 33 newly selected historical photos. Luper’s direct, unvarnished account captures the immediacy of the events she witnessed. As a Black woman, Luper refused to let either her race or her gender deter her from stepping forth as a leader. Born in 1923, Clara Luper taught history in Oklahoma public schools and led the NAACP Youth Council. The students who sat in at Katz Drug and other businesses belonged to that organization. Luper highlights the contributions of others, especially young people, in breaking down the walls of segregation in Oklahoma through numerous demonstrations, marches, and voter registration campaigns.
This commemorative edition of Luper’s eye-opening autobiography, published near what would have been her 100th birthday, as well as the 65th anniversary of the sit-ins, offers invaluable insight into the history of protest in the early years of the civil rights movement. With racial inequality still at the forefront of national debate, Behold the Walls places Luper’s efforts in the larger national context of the struggle to resist injustice and inspire positive change.
Clara Luper (1923–2011) was an Oklahoma schoolteacher, civic leader, and nationally prominent civil rights activist.
Karlos K. Hill is Regents’ Associate Professor in the Clara Luper Department of African and African American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He is the author The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: A Photographic History.
Bob L. Blackburn retired as executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society in 2021 and is the author of numerous books, including (with Duane King and Neil Morton), Cherokee Nation: A History of Survival, Self Determination, and Identity.
Karlos K. Hill is Regents’ Associate Professor in the Clara Luper Department of African and African American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He is the author The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: A Photographic History.
Bob L. Blackburn retired as executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society in 2021 and is the author of numerous books, including (with Duane King and Neil Morton), Cherokee Nation: A History of Survival, Self Determination, and Identity.
