11-4-2025
Clara Luper Plaza: Honoring the Katz Drug Sit-in
Ms. Marilyn Luper Hildreth is a graduate of Douglass High School and a lifelong advocate for civil rights. She was just ten years old when she joined her mother, Clara Luper, in the historic Katz Drug Store sit-in, igniting a movement that would ripple across the nation. Her commitment to justice, equity, and education has never wavered. Today, she continues to champion her mother’s legacy and inspire future generations throughout Oklahoma.
Joyce Henderson was a Dunjee High School student in the mid-1960s. She served as the song leader on Saturday mornings at Calvary Baptist Church when the city’s civil rights giants gathered to plan marches and protests across Oklahoma City. Her early work with the NAACP was helped by her relationship with one of her high school teachers, Clara Luper, who led thirteen children into Katz Drug store in Oklahoma for the nation’s !rst lunch counter sit-in demonstration. She also chaperoned Joyce and a large group of black students who attended the 1963 March on Washington where they heard Martin Luther King Jr., deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech. Clara became Joyce’s teacher, mentor, and personal guidance counselor. Joyce is featured in the “Children of the Civil Rights” Documentary Film along with others who participated in the sit-in movement in
Oklahoma City. She serves (or served) on the Board of Trustees for the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, Clara Luper Legacy Committee, OKC Clara Luper Plaza Committee, and the OKC Freedom Center/Clara Luper Civil Rights Center. She previously served as a board member for Youth Services of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, Oklahoma City Leadership Alumni Association, the Oklahoma African American Educational Hall of Fame, Sunbeam Family Services and YWCA. Henderson is a longtime member of the NAACP; Alpha Kappa Alpha; Langston University Alumni Association and the UCO Alumni Association.
Her many honors include induction into the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation’s Wall of Fame, Oklahoma African American Educators Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame, and Langston University Education Hall of Fame; the Women of Color Expo Educator of the Year; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Black History Award Recipient; John F. Kennedy Foundation’s Performing Arts Administrator Award; St. John CME Church’s Outstanding
Black Woman Award; and the church’s Minister of Music Emeritus and pianist.
Henderson earned a bachelor’s degree from Langston University in 1968, a master’s degree from UCO in 1972 and a secondary school administration certificate from the University of Oklahoma in 1973.
A former student said, “Mrs. Henderson is more than an administrator – she is a true inspiration. 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 young people to strive for excellence and be the very best versions of themselves
Joyce Jackson started her career in television at KOCO-TV in 1970, moving from clerical assistant to producer/talk show host and news reporter. Jackson is the first Black female journalist on Oklahoma television. She hosted several weekly shows including, “What’s Happening” and “Saturday Review”, concentrating on the Black community. Jackson graduated from Central State University (the University of Central Oklahoma) in 1982. She also worked in radio as a talk show host and in print as Editor of Capital City Courier, a regional publication (in Springfield, Illinois).
After more than a decade in the news, she joined the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in 1982 as Public Information Officer. Jackson moved to Illinois in 1997, where she served as the Communications Director for the Illinois Department of Corrections. She returned to Oklahoma and the Department of Corrections in 2005, as Executive Communications Administrator. Jackson served as a media consultant for the National Institute of Corrections, from 1988 to 2009. She retired from corrections in 2014 and published Shades of Oklahoma magazine, in 2015. Jackson is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including AP, UPI and inducted into the Oklahoma Association of Black Journalist Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2023, Joyce Jackson was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame and the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Chair & Moderator: John Kennedy
John Kennedy
received a bachelors degree from Oklahoma City University in History and Political Science and a masters degree from Harvard University in Public Administration. He received a Tulsa Community Service Council “Dreamcatcher Award” for his efforts in helping create the Oklahoma Office of Volunteerism. Preservation Oklahoma recognized him for “Individual Contribution to Historic Preservation” for his work on the First National Center. Kennedy was a 2015 Heartline Festival of Hope Honoree. He received the 2023 JFK Lifetime Achievement Award from the Santa Fe Family Life Center.
Kennedy was appointed Oklahoma Secretary of State on January 14, 1991 and served for three years. Kennedy serves on the board of the Adaptive Leadership Network in Cambridge. Kennedy was a founding director of Cristo Rey School and has served on many non profit boards. He is the immediate past chair of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and is the co-chair of the Clara Luper Sit-In Plaza. Kennedy is a past board chair of Heritage Hall School, Westminster School, and deadCenter Film. He currently serves as Vice-Chair for the Oklahoma State Arts Council.
Kennedy is a native of Oklahoma City and has five sons. He coached little league baseball for over 20 years.
There are no comments published yet.