releases: https://horn.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=348
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://horn.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=348 | Bill to Rename Downtown OKC Post Office after Clara Luper Passes House | 2020-09-14 | 2020 | 2020-09 | Democrat | House | OK | Kendra Horn | H001083 | horn.house.gov | legacy | Today, Congresswoman KendraHorn's (OK-5) bill (H.R. 5597) to rename the downtown Oklahoma City Post Office in honor of civil rights icon Clara Luper, passed the House of Representatives in a bipartisan voice vote. All members of the Oklahoma congressional delegation are co-sponsors of the bill. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration. On August 19, 1958, Luper and the NAACP Youth Council led a civil rights sit in at Oklahoma City's Katz Drug Store,the first civil rights lunchcounter sit-in in America. The sit in was the first in a series of successful nonviolent protests to desegregate downtown establishments. The sit ins led by Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council in Oklahoma City helped inspire lunch counters protests across the South, occurring years before the Woolworth's lunch counter sit in in Greensboro, NC. In 1969, Luper was also the spokesperson for striking sanitation workers in Oklahoma City. I am proud that we are one step closer to recognizing Clara Luper and the sit-inners, true civil rights heroes who fought tirelessly for a better Oklahoma, saidCongresswomanHorn. Luper led sit ins, mobilized Oklahomans young and old, and faced down racism and intolerance all to foster equity and end segregation. We must remember her legacy and that of the NAACP Youth Council and the countless others who stood with her. More than fifty years after Oklahoma City civil rights sit ins, we still have work to do to end racism and discrimination. The story of Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council are inspiring a new generation of Oklahomans to take action. I hope the Clara Luper Post Office can stand as a testament to her enduring legacy, her courage, and her historic fight for justice. Thanks to the Oklahoma Congressional delegation and to the good citizens of Oklahoma for working to rename the post office after my mom, and for the thousands of young people whose lives that she helped direct and motivate - we say thank you,said Marilyn Luper-Hildreth, the daughter of Clara Luper. For those that gave their nickels and dimes and quarters to help in the struggle for freedom, the civil rights movement and the struggle for social justice, we say thanks. Clara Luper was a powerful voice for the civil rights movement in Oklahoma City and throughout our country. As a strong advocate to end segregation, she broke barriers in Oklahoma- launching one of our nation's first civil rights sit-ins at a downtown drug store,saidCongressman Lucas (OK-03).After becoming the first African American to be admitted to the graduate history program at the University of Oklahoma, she began her career as an distinguished educator teaching history to Oklahoma's youth. Her spirit, persistence, and endless fight for civil rights is an important part of Oklahoma's history and our nation's struggle for equality. I am proud to support the naming of the United States Postal Service facility located at 305 Northwest 5thStreet in Oklahoma City in honor of the mother of the civil rights movement in Oklahoma City, Clara Luper. Clara Luper's pivotal role in the fight for equality for African Americans is certainly one that should be recognized, saidCongressman Tom Cole (OK-04). As the organizer of one of our state's first peaceful sit-ins, a persistent advocate against segregation and a devoted educator, Clara Luper is rightly remembered as the mother of the civil rights movement in Oklahoma. While segregation and other practices represent a dark period in our nation's past, renaming the downtown Oklahoma City post office after Clara Luper certainly demonstrates how far we have come because of Americans like her. Clara Luper is known as the Mother of the Oklahoma Civil Rights Movement' and the peaceful sit-ins she organized, along with the NAACP Youth Council in Oklahoma City, led to the desegregation of lunch counters and other establishments throughout the South, saidCongressman Markywane Mullin (OK-02). Naming the Post Office near the site of the sit-ins she organized in her honor will help her legacy live on for future generations. I am proud to support this legislation and I look forward to seeing the Clara Luper Post Office in Downtown Oklahoma City soon. Clara Luper holds a significant place in Oklahoma's civil rights history, saidCongressman Kevin Hern (OK-01).She broke barriers and defied expectations, dedicating her life to the significant pursuit of equality and education. I am proud to join my colleagues today in naming an Oklahoma City Post Office after her, ensuring her legacy will live on and her story told to future generations. Thirteen children participated in the first protest at Katz Drug Store with Luper's guidance. Recently, OklahomaCity celebrated the 60thanniversaryof the 1958 sit ins which integrated the city. The Downtown Oklahoma City Post Office is near the location of the 1958 sit in at Katz Drug Store. The post office is also near the epicenter of the sanitation workers strike that Luper led in 1969. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |