Historic figures to be honored by Legacy Keepers
Feb. 3—Legacy Keepers R Us will go deep into history at its "Gone But Not Forgotten" bruncheon this Saturday.
The organization will honor nearly 31 historic figures during the bruncheon, 11 a.m. Saturday at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center. Admission is free.
"Most of the time, when people have Black history program, they talk about the same three or four people, or people nationally known, as if they're the only ones who did anything," said historian and organizer ShironButterfly Ray. "And we here in little old Muskogee, Oklahoma, developed and created some awesome people who came here to make their fortune, and they paved the way. We feel it's time to honor them."
Honorees include national, state and early local leaders: The Rev. Sugar T. George, Booker T. Washington, the Rev. Solomon Sir Jones, Neely Fuller Sr. Napoleon B. Scott, Bass Reeves, William Ragsdale Sr., Tollie Elliott, Willie A. Elliott, William Henry Twine, Jessie Mae McIntyre Stovall-McIntosh, Dr. Eddie Warrior, Louis "Peabody" Bradley, Relford "Bear" Thompson, Dr. Jesse S. Chandler Sr., Tommie Robbins, Willie Mae Robbins, William P Greene, Alexander George Washington Sango, Mabel Harding, Cornelius G. Lowe, Dr. Albert Schoats, Cornelius J. Jones, Second Lt. Oscar D. Hutton Jr., Carolyn Embry Wade, Joseph "Stick" Ross, Willard Giddings Parker, Ishmael King, John Wiley Jones, Joseph Jacob "Jake" Simmons Jr., Wiley T. Escoe, Sadie Smith, Herman E. Duncan, Gaynell and Porter Reed.
"Neely Fuller, he owned the hotel and he had other businesses," Ray said. "He was on North Second. He was a big figure on the north end."
Another example was early attorney William H. Twine.
"He had two newspapers at one time," Ray said. "Then he had office space for doctors, lawyers, other people and other businesses. That was on South Second."
The bruncheon also will feature discussion on efforts to restore Black cemeteries — including Booker T. Washington, Harding and Old Agency — and research people buried there. Keynote speaker "Orange Rex" Campbell, will give an update on his work.
Bruncheon-goers can see a memorial sign to be installed at Greenhill Cemetery, noting 59 Black people buried in unmarked graves.
"There is a section at Greenhill that was designated the Colored section," Ray said. "Up to 1907, no Blacks could be buried in Greenhill because of Jim Crow, segregation. In this section, no one had a monument, so this area looks like a little lawn."
In 2014,the cemetery recently dedicated unknown graves that had been moved there from other cemeteries in 1904. Ray said Vernon Martin, the cemetery caretaker at the time, told her the cemetery had a colored section in those early years. She said she researched cemetery history and found 59 names of Black people buried there. Two were sons of lawman Bass Reeves — Bass Reeves Jr. and Homer Reeves.
Other bruncheon speakers are community volunteer Samuel Craig, city council member Perline Boyattia Craig, history researcher Delores Briscoe Brooks, city council member Traci McGee and retired educators Cedric Johnson and Dennis Wilhite."
