Emmy-winning storyteller Bob Dotson will be the keynote speaker for the February launch of a mobile app designed to better acquaint users with Oklahoma City’s African-American history.
The app is the creation of Oklahoma Black Living Legacy, a nonprofit founded in 2020.
The organization’s goal is “to bring awareness to and preserve Oklahoma’s Black history, cultural artifacts and legacies, while fostering understanding and pride across generations,” according to Doris Youngblood, founder and executive director.
The app is designed for walking and driving tours of 31 sites in Oklahoma City. Some sites will spotlight more than one person, for a total of 50 stories to be told.
The free app will be introduced from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Oklahoma History Center. Dotson will speak at noon. Visitors can also enjoy an exhibit, door prizes and live jazz music.
Volunteers with Oklahoma Black Living Legacy conducted the research for the app, with assistance from staff and volunteers at the Oklahoma History Center. An Oklahoma Historical Society Preservation Grant and other sponsors helped fund the project, Youngblood said.
“We thought it was important to document these landmarks,” Youngblood said. “As people drive by, the site or significant person will pop up on a map. The map is interactive, and participants can take quizzes. This is part of our effort to expand our educational programs.”
Dotson, who began his broadcasting career at WKY in Oklahoma City, won his first National Emmy Award for “Through the Looking Glass Darkly,” which chronicled African- Americans in territorial Oklahoma and their contributions following statehood.
For months, Dotson scoured attics and basements for images for the documentary, which first aired Sept. 30, 1973. He left WKY in 1975 to begin a network career, and “The American Story with Bob Dotson” aired for 40 years on NBC’s TODAY Show.
Youngblood said she was a teenager “sitting on the floor watching TV” when “Through the Looking Glass Darkly” premiered, igniting in her a lifelong passion for the history of her people. She remembered that day as plans got underway for the launch of the app.
Neighborhoods included on the tour include Deep Deuce, JFK, the Edwards Addition and Oklahoma City’s Eastside. Buildings include churches, schools and the homes and businesses of prominent Black leaders.
Luminaries whose stories are reflected in the app include civil rights leader Clara Luper, author Ralph Ellison, musician Charlie Christian, haircare moguls Sidney and Mary Lyons and theater owner Zelia Breaux.
Youngblood and her husband, Marq, have since 2013 owned the three-story home built by Oklahoma City’s first Black physician, Dr. Wyatt H. Slaughter. It’s a stop on the tour, as is the home of Dr. W.L. Haywood, who was enticed to move his practice to Oklahoma after he was treated by Slaughter after falling ill in Guthrie. The building that housed Haywood’s medical practice is still standing and now the home of the Deep Deuce Grill.
The app tells the story of Walter and Frances Edwards during a stop in the neighborhood that bears their name. They were the first African-Americans to build a housing development for Black residents in Oklahoma City, and the first in the nation to receive FHA backing for mortgages for Black homebuyers.
During visits to sites where the original buildings no longer stand, vintage photos will appear on the app, Youngblood said.
Board members of Oklahoma Black Living Legacy are chairman James R. Johnson, who is the grandson of Walter and Frances Edwards; along with Marq Youngblood, Renita Fish-Wisby, who is the great-great niece of Dr. Haywood; Christian Jackson, Rozia McKinney-Foster and Marcus Young.
