Oklahoma Black Homesteaders

Introduction:

Starting in 1889, tens of thousands of African Americans took part in a mass migration to Oklahoma and Indian Territories. In Oklahoma Territory, Black Homesteaders planted their hopes and dreams for a new life on 160-acre claims. These maps compile a sampling of the names, places, and stories of these men and women. They document ongoing research of the Oklahoma Black Homesteader Project (OKBHP) and its interactive digital archive that fosters complex conversations about freedom and land ownership in Oklahoma and across the United States.

The OKBHP led by Dr. Kalenda Eaton (Oklahoma) is the collaborative effort of the University of Oklahoma (OU) and The Center for Great Plains Studies (CGPS) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with support from Homestead National Historical Park. The project has received funding from the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, the Data Institute for Societal Challenges (DISC), and the Arts and Humanities Forum at OU; the National Endowment for the Humanities, CGPS; the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Park Service.

Text adapted from materials produced by the Center for Great Plains Studies, Oklahoma Black Homesteader Project, and National Park Service.

 
 

Map Legend

 

What’s in a Map?

Maps seem simple, at first glance. They show us the locations of places and things, or any data ranging from census records to language use – what many consider to be neutral information. Yet assuming maps are “just facts,” alone, obscures the history of their creation and the purposes for their use. Maps are powerful because they represent particular points of view at a particular point in time and from a specific place in the world. In this sense, they tell curated stories about what is important – and, through omission, what is not.

On the Oklahoma Black Homesteader Project map, you’ll notice overlapping histories and government priorities: Black Homesteaders and Black majority homesteading communities like Sweet Home, once racially segregated cities like Tulsa, the reservation lands assigned to sovereign Tribal Nations, and natural resource maps outlining the region’s oil deposits. We deliberately include these features to enable reflection on their deeper meanings. What those places and resources meant – the values and goals that defined their purpose – were not universally accepted, or even always agreed upon within individual communities. Then as now, there are many ways of viewing the world.

When viewing and using maps – any map – users should ask themselves questions about what is or is not represented, and why that matters. What stories are being told through the use of symbols, legend, and data? What stories are missing? How does the map promote a particular point of view? What can we learn from looking at maps with a critical eye, and with an attention to the historical contexts within which maps are produced?

Indian Territory, African American Freedom, and Homesteading Opportunity:

The state of Oklahoma had a long history before it was established in 1907 by merging Oklahoma Territory with the existing Indian Territory. The US government removed Native American Tribal Nations to this arid and dry region via military campaigns under the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Before the passage of the Homestead Act in 1862, over 8,000 African Americans were already living in the area. Some were “free,” but most were still enslaved by the Five “Civilized” Tribes -- a name given by white Americans to the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole – who had been removed to the region.

When President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law in 1862, it embodied the Republican ideals of freedom and was written to distribute land to the public and prevent the expansion of slavery in the United States. Homesteaders had to be American citizens or declare their eligibility and intention to become one. Meanwhile, Confederate soldiers and their supporters were prohibited from filing claims. With the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1866, the United States further enfranchised the right of African Americans to access the full rights and privileges of citizenship---including their right to file for Homesteads.

The Compromise of 1877 withdrew the last federal troops from the former Confederate states and killed any remaining hope for the promise of Reconstruction in the southern United States. Black “Exodusters” began migrating in waves to states like Kansas and eventually Oklahoma Territory. In the decades before, the US Army forcibly removed over 25 Tribal Nations to Indian Territory. When Congress further reduced their meager land holdings through forced allotment, the government then opened up that “excess” land to homesteaders. Some Black Americans joined thousands of white Americans and European immigrants at the Kansas/Oklahoma border as they prepared to rush into the territory and claim the newly available land.

Research has estimated that the Black population in the Oklahoma District of Indian Territory ballooned from 3000 to 25,000 people between 1890 and 1900. These Black homesteaders often formed tight-knit communities in counties like Kingfisher, Logan, and Lincoln which served as glimpses into the possibility of equality and freedom. While there are many examples of successful Black homesteads, many could not ultimately escape the pervasive anti-Black racism, a lack of financial support to prove up on their land, and an increasingly hostile political environment in the state. As Dr. Kalenda Eaton, Director of the Oklahoma Black Homesteader Project, explains: “[It] presents a very nuanced, multicultural, multi-layered story of Oklahoma that allows us to open up the conversation about Black freedom and promise.” That promise was embroiled within the nation’s reckoning after the Civil War and the ongoing resistance of Tribal Nations to government violence; ultimately highlighting the complex and conflicting relationships between land ownership, citizenship, and autonomy in the United States.

Text adapted from materials produced by the Center for Great Plains Studies, Oklahoma Black Homesteader Project, and National Park Service.

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The corresponding NPS DataStore on Integrated Resource Management Applications (IRMA) reference is Oklahoma Black Homesteaders Project.

Last updated: June 12, 2025

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