It is an unobtrusive red brick building, two stories and a plain facade, sitting along U.S. Highway 75 near a busy intersection in Okmulgee.
But the building’s modest appearance belies its importance. This was one of a handful of hospitals in Oklahoma established expressly to serve the needs of African Americans during the racial segregation of the first half of the twentieth century, and the only one of those still standing. It represents a scant number of such hospitals that existed across the nation, most of them small. The Okmulgee Colored Hospital stands today as a symbol of solidarity and determination.
The hospital was built in 1922-23 and opened in 1924, operated as a racially segregated and separate hospital until it closed in 1956. Read “Preserving the Okmulgee Colored Hospital” from the Spring 2021 issue of the Chronicles of Oklahoma at the link below:
Stay informed about ongoing efforts to preserve this legacy at https://www.facebook.com/landmarkforallgenerations/.
Vanishing Spaces 
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