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| Greenwood Cultural Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | Greenwood Cultural Center |
| Established | 1990 |
| Location | Greenwood District, Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Type | Cultural center |
| Director | N/A |
| Website | N/A |
Greenwood Cultural Center The Greenwood Cultural Center is a cultural institution located in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, dedicated to preserving and promoting the history and heritage of the Greenwood community. It serves as a hub for exhibitions, archives, performances, and educational programs related to the history of the Greenwood District, the Tulsa Race Massacre, African American arts, and regional heritage. The center functions alongside local, state, and national organizations to interpret historical events and foster community revitalization.
The center was founded in response to historical memory movements following work by organizations such as the Tulsa Race Massacre commission, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and scholars from institutions like the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa. Early supporters included civic actors from the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce (Tulsa), preservationists affiliated with the National Park Service, and activists connected to the NAACP and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Funding and advocacy drew on grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and private philanthropy from families associated with the Annenberg Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The center’s creation involved collaboration with municipal entities such as the City of Tulsa and state agencies including the Oklahoma Historical Society. Its founding board consulted curators from the Smithsonian Institution and historians from the African American Civil Rights Movement archives at Howard University. Over time, partnerships expanded to include cultural institutions like the Philbrook Museum of Art, the Gilcrease Museum, and national networks such as the Association of African American Museums.
The center occupies a site near landmarks like the Black Wall Street historic area and is adjacent to sites referenced by the Tulsa Race Massacre National Historic Landmark designations. Its design incorporated principles advocated by preservationists associated with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and consulted architects who previously worked on projects for the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park. Facilities include galleries modeled after exhibition spaces at the National Portrait Gallery, archival repositories comparable to the Library of Congress reading rooms, a performance hall inspired by venues like the Avery Fisher Hall and community rooms similar to those at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Support spaces were designed with input from engineers and planners who have worked on projects for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and municipal redevelopment initiatives tied to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Permanent and rotating exhibitions address topics connected to the Tulsa Race Massacre, entrepreneurship in the Greenwood District, and African American cultural production linked to figures such as O.W. Gurley, J.B. Stradford, and artists in the tradition of Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden. Collaborative exhibitions have featured loans from the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and collections affiliated with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Brooklyn Museum. Traveling programs have been coordinated with curators from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Walker Art Center, and academic partners at Tulane University and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Educational outreach aligns with curricula created by educators at the Oklahoma State Department of Education and scholars from the University of Oklahoma Tulsa campus. Workshops and youth programming have been developed in partnership with organizations such as the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and the National Coalition for the Homeless for service-oriented initiatives. The center has hosted lectures featuring historians from Howard University, the Library of Congress, the Newberry Library, and researchers associated with the Digital Public Library of America. Community convenings invoked civic leaders from the City of Tulsa mayoral office, representatives of the Oklahoma Legislature, and policy advisors who have worked with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on heritage preservation.
Collections emphasize primary source materials including business records from Greenwood enterprises, oral histories collected in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution and the Oklahoma Historical Society, and photographs archived in systems interoperable with the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress. Archival practices follow standards promoted by the Society of American Archivists and conservation protocols consistent with guidance from the American Institute for Conservation. The center’s holdings have been cited in scholarship by researchers at Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, and regional studies programs at the University of Tulsa.
Programming has included performances by artists and ensembles connected to the National Black Theatre, touring companies from the American Conservatory Theater, and musical acts in the lineage of Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, and modern performers represented by the National Endowment for the Arts networks. Festivals and commemorations have been scheduled around anniversaries observed by organizations like the Tulsa Historical Society and coordinated with civic ceremonies involving representatives from the United States Congress and state officials from the Office of the Governor of Oklahoma.
Governance is overseen by a board with members drawn from local stakeholders, scholars from universities such as University of Oklahoma and University of Tulsa, representatives of nonprofit partners like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and associations including the American Alliance of Museums. Funding streams have combined municipal appropriations from the City of Tulsa, grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, philanthropic gifts from foundations such as the Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and earned revenue modeled on practices used by institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.