Civil rights activist Joyce Henderson and Talihina Supt. Ray Henson named to Educators Hall of Fame

Longtime Oklahoma City civil rights activist Joyce Henderson is one of two people who will be inducted next week into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame.

Henderson and southeastern Oklahoma educator Ray Henson will be honored on Nov. 10 during a ceremony at Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club.

Just one slight problem — at the moment there is no actual place to hang the Hall of Fame portraits.

Where are the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame portraits?

Portraits of the honorees used to hang in a public hallway at the Oklahoma State Department of Education, housed in the Oliver Hodge Building in the state Capitol complex. However, they were removed soon after state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters took office.

Sharon Lease, a professor at Mid-America Christian University and the Hall of Fame's executive director, told The Oklahoman Wednesday the portraits have been in storage at the state Education Department since they were taken down in February. However, she said, "We are going ahead with our banquet and honoring the educators, because we want to continue. We just will not have portraits at the banquet like we usually have each year." Lease said she hopes "there's a change of mind on this," and that the portraits eventually will be re-hung in the Oliver Hodge Building. Other options also are being considered, she said.

Walters' office did not respond on Wednesday to questions about plans for the portraits of Hall of Fame members.

Now 76, Henderson was a student under Clara Luper at Dunjee High School and traveled with the civil rights icon to Washington, D.C., to witness Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Henderson began her education career as a social studies teacher at Dunjee and later served as the principal at four Oklahoma City high schools — Emerson, the original Classen, Northeast and Star Spencer. She later also spent time as the first principal at the reopened Classen School of Advanced Studies.

Toward the end of her career, she served as the executive director of school and community services for Oklahoma City Public Schools.

'A true inspiration'

“Mrs. Henderson is more than an administrator — she is a true inspiration,” said B.J. Bryant, a 2001 graduate of Classen School of Advanced Studies. “Her unwavering passion, loyalty and gratitude have served as a guiding light for all those who have the honor of knowing her. Her daily demonstrations of these qualities motivated us as young people to strive for excellence and be the very best versions of ourselves.”

Henderson is featured in the “Children of Civil Rights” documentary film, along with others who participated in the Oklahoma City sit-in movement. She’s served on numerous boards and foundations, including those for the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, Clara Luper Legacy Committee, OKC Clara Luper Plaza Committee and the OKC Freedom Center/Clara Luper Civil Rights Center.

This will be Henderson’s fourth Hall of Fame induction. She’s already in the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation’s Wall of Fame, the Oklahoman African American Educators Hall of Fame and the Langston University Education Hall of Fame. Henderson earned a bachelor’s degree from Langston in 1968, a master’s degree from the University of Central Oklahoma in 1972 and a secondary school administration certificate from the University of Oklahoma in 1973.

Henson’s 53-year education career began as a science teacher in Kinta and he later became a basketball coach and high school principal in Glenpool. In 1971, Henson became the superintendent for Talihina Public Schools and served in that role for 35 years. He became a state and national champion and expert on the importance of Impact Aid, which supports districts with large amounts of federal and tribal lands.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC civil rights activist named to Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame