By JANICE FRANCIS-SMITH
Managing Editor
OKLAHOMA CITY — A five-ton bronze sculpture of the lunch counter where Clara Luper’s students staged a sit-in in Oklahoma City in 1958 was crane-lifted into place at its downtown Oklahoma City home, at the Clara Luper National Sit-In Plaza, on Monday.
The event was an emotional experience both for those who participated in the sit-ins – and who are depicted in the lifelike sculpture – as well as for those who have worked to make the tribute a reality.
“It’s an overwhelming story, and it started right here – the sit-in movement started right here in Oklahoma City, and its time that we recognize that in Oklahoma City, and it’s something that our entire community can be proud of, I’m proud of,” said John Kennedy, co-chair of the committee that created the new work of art.
The meticulously detailed sculpture was based on a historical photograph of Luper’s students waiting to be served at the lunch counter of Katz Drugstore in Oklahoma City. The sculpture is located at the corner of Robinson and Main in downtown Oklahoma City, right across the street from where the drugstore used to be.
On Aug. 19, 1958 Oklahoma City schoolteacher Clara Luper led student members of the NAACP Youth Council in a peaceful protest, sitting at the lunch counter and asking to be served at a time when restaurants and other establishments were segregated, only serving white customers. The students, ages 7 to 17, were yelled at and spit upon, but they remained seated from opening to closing. Katz corporate management eventually desegregated lunch counters at its businesses in Oklahoma City and in a few other states where the company operated.
The Oklahoma City sit-in was the first of its kind, occurring at the start of the Civil Rights Movement – about a year and half before more well-publicized sit-ins occurred in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The idea of the sit-in had been suggested by Luper’s then eight-year-old daughter, Marilyn.
On Monday, Marilyn Luper-Hildreth stared in disbelief at the sculpture of herself as a child, seated next to the sculpture of Barbara Posey from the NAACP advisory group.
“My heart is just full of joy,” Luper-Hildreth said. “I hope it will motivate young people throughout our community to know that a child can do it. We were all between the ages of seven and 17 years old. I’m really happy.
“It took 67 years, but we hung in there,” Luper-Hildreth continued. “We keep telling our story, because I am so proud of the fact that we sat down against injustice, segregation, bigotry here in Oklahoma City. So we encourage other young people throughout the country – not just throughout Oklahoma, but throughout this country – to stand up against injustice.”
“This is amazing, this is beautiful,” said Joyce Jackson, who joined in the sit-in movement as a child – after two weeks of begging her parents to allow her to do it. “Sixty-seven years ago, no one would ever think that here we would be standing in front of a legacy that Ms. Luper started with all of us.
“It gives me goosepimples because at the time we were involved we had no idea the impact,” said Jackson. “We were mostly concerned about just being wherever Ms. Luper said we’re gonna make a difference, and we did we made a difference.
In this day and time, we need that. I hate to think we have to start all over again.”
“I’m overwhelmed, it’s so beautiful, and thanks to Marilyn, it’s authentic,” said Kennedy. “We’re just stepping back in history 67 years, and you can really feel that day. And thanks to her, thanks to the 12 other courageous young people. They changed America.”
Elliot Schwartz, StudioEIS Founder/Artist, said the artists started with a photograph of the students at the sit-in, and used that as a guide to reconstruct the scene.
“We did a photoshoot here in Oklahoma City about three years ago, we created a mockup of the lunch counter in foam core and shipped it out to the Prospect Church run by Pastor Cooper who brought in a group of students to stand in as actors,” said Schwartz. “We reconstructed the photograph during this photoshoot and then we used that as well to provide supporting material for our sculptors to create the sculpture.”
The finished product includes salt and pepper shakers, plates, a frosted cake and many other small, perfectly executed details that bring the scene to life. It took about two years to create the sculpture, he said.
But the installation is not yet complete – in about two weeks, seven more standing figures – including one of Luper and a waitress – will be installed as well. The total weight of the bronze for the project comes to 6,200 pounds, said BJ Ervick, StudioEIS Director of Production.
Luper-Hildreth said she only wished her mother was there to see it. Jackson said she believes Luper was watching over the scene.
“Mrs. Luper always said we had angels watching over us,” Jackson said, then paused as the lump in her throat silenced her for a moment. “As a child, I didn’t know where the money came from to bail us out of jail and to feed us when we got out. She had people – black, white, Native American – who donated to the cause. She never told us who they were, our angels. She had a relationship with the Chief of Police, to make sure we weren’t hurt.
“And I know she is now looking down on all of us,” Jackson.
Cutline: luper installation
A five-ton bronze sculpture of the lunch counter where Clara Luper’s students staged a sit-in in Oklahoma City in 1958 was crane-lifted into place at its downtown Oklahoma City home, at the Clara Luper National Sit-In Plaza, on Monday.
