“COME MEET EMMA”
In early October 2014, the Drumright Historical Society began discussion on a way to honor our founder, Emma E. Akin. Due to the fact that there are not many persons left in Drumright that remember Ms. Akin or her work, we wanted to first focus on our local community. However, because of the significance of her work, we also hoped to reach out to the state of Oklahoma.
Curator, Tammy Posey suggested a special exhibit featuring many of Ms. Akin’s personal belongings and writings. February 20, 2015 was chosen as the opening as this was the 40th anniversary of her death and “Come Meet Emma” was chosen as the name of the exhibit.
Emma E. Akin was a white educator and came to the young oil boomtown of Drumright, OK in 1920. She had a passion and a fire for many things, but of all of the many endeavors, the two dearest to her heart were the Drumright Museum and the children of Dunbar. …show more content…
Emma’s husband died suddenly in 1929. He had been an avid member of the KKK and because of his beliefs kept Emma and her children away from the black community. He had also filled her head with negative ideas of that time period. It was in 1930 that Emma was given the Dunbar School as part of her responsibility as Supervisor of Schools. Emma was not happy about the new opportunity. It took a year for her to realize that the Dunbar students were just like the white students which she had taught for many years. She fell in love with the people of the community and soon began to work for equal education. She worked tirelessly to show the white community the true character of the good people of
In early October 2014, the Drumright Historical Society began discussion on a way to honor our founder, Emma E. Akin. Due to the fact that there are not many persons left in Drumright that remember Ms. Akin or her work, we wanted to first focus on our local community. However, because of the significance of her work, we also hoped to reach out to the state of Oklahoma.
Curator, Tammy Posey suggested a special exhibit featuring many of Ms. Akin’s personal belongings and writings. February 20, 2015 was chosen as the opening as this was the 40th anniversary of her death and “Come Meet Emma” was chosen as the name of the exhibit.
Emma E. Akin was a white educator and came to the young oil boomtown of Drumright, OK in 1920. She had a passion and a fire for many things, but of all of the many endeavors, the two dearest to her heart were the Drumright Museum and the children of Dunbar. …show more content…
Emma’s husband died suddenly in 1929. He had been an avid member of the KKK and because of his beliefs kept Emma and her children away from the black community. He had also filled her head with negative ideas of that time period. It was in 1930 that Emma was given the Dunbar School as part of her responsibility as Supervisor of Schools. Emma was not happy about the new opportunity. It took a year for her to realize that the Dunbar students were just like the white students which she had taught for many years. She fell in love with the people of the community and soon began to work for equal education. She worked tirelessly to show the white community the true character of the good people of