November 2023 Archives

What was here? Who owned it? What did it look like? There are a number of resources available for reconstructing Oklahoma's geographical past, and they're easier to use than ever. These are my go-tos when researching the history of a neighborhood or answering questions about the past. This is an encyclopedic article, so if you're on the home page, you'll have to click the "Continue reading" link to see all of it.

These links will take you to specific sections of this article:

• Oklahoma Historical Aerial Digitization Project: Geotagged historical aerial photos going back to the 1930s
• Oklahoma Aerial Photo Inventory: A broader collection of imagery, including some not yet geotagged
• EarthExplorer: US Geological Survey aerial imagery: Higher resoution aerial photos from the 1950s through the 1970s, plus satellite and other imagery
• topoView: US Geological Survey historical topographical maps: Maps for Oklahoma from 1901
• US Bureau of Land Management Land Records: Township survey plats of Indian Territory from the 1890s, with field notes from the surveyors
• Oklahoma State University McCasland Maps Collection: Includes historical county highway maps as early as 1937, plus USGS topo quads not in the topoView collection
• WPA 1936 land ownership and valuation maps: Interactive statewide browser
• Tulsa Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps at Library of Congress: Building-by-building detail from Tulsa's earliest days through 1915, 1939, and 1962
• Tulsa Census Enumeration District and Census Tract Maps: Base street maps and boundaries of statistical neighborhoods
• Tulsa County Clerk Subdivision Plats and Deed Indexes
• Tulsa County Assessor Static Section Maps
• Miscellaneous Maps of Tulsa

Note: I started on this back on August 20, 2023, meant for it to be a quick blog post, but got bogged down trying to locate some of the places mentioned. It's November 19, 2023, and chilly and rainy outside, but I took a few minutes to finish this up and publish it.

What did Tulsans do 100 years ago to escape the summer heat? Some answers can be found in a little clipping I saved during some research on Tulsa's streetcars and electric interurban railroads, from the June 25, 1923, Tulsa Tribune:

Picknickers Flock To Woodsy Places As Sol Hits High

MANY BEAUTY SPOTS NEAR CITY ARE POPULAR

The old picnic basket has been taken off the shelf and dusted in the last few days. New sets of paper plates and napkins have been procured, and a supply of tin cups to be tied on the basket handle.

For summer has come, with Old Sol himself emphasizing the fact every day, and the urge of the cooling breeze, sought in woods and by streams, is stirring the populace.

Every paved road leading out of Tulsa is lined with motor cars and picnic crowds in the afternoons and in almost every direction, a good spot for supper grounds can be found.

If swimming is to be combined with sandwiches, as is generally the case, "Katy" lake, near Alsuma, which is reached by driving out the Broken Arrow road to the big brick house, which is about half way, and then driving down the dirt road for several miles, is one of the most popular.

Owasso lake, which can be reached by pavement as far as the town itself, has always been an attractive place for swimmers, and Hominy Falls has occasionally been selected by those who do not mind a long drive.

Fishing parties generally choose the Verdigris river, and a stream two miles south of Leonard is drawing groups of boys and men for week-end trips. Shell creek dam, beyond Sand Springs, offers the best nearby fishing opportunities.

At Parthenia park is a swimming hole not far from town. It is reached by driving out the Sapulpa road to Oakhurst, then going across the O. U. R. tracks to the lake. Parthenia, and the Oakhurst Country clubs grounds, are usually chosen by picnic parties, too.

A pleasant spot for weiner roasts, and parties who like to climb, is at Lost City, which can be reached by driving out the Sand Springs road, across the bridge to Fisher, then climbing up the hill. Turkey Mountain, out the Red Fork road, is also good for climbing parties.

Mingo Creek is a spot easily reached by driving out Admiral to Lewis avenue, then going north two miles, then east to the creek. Sapulpa lake, on the other side of that city, is good for both swimming and picnicking.

Among places which can be easily reached by those who do not have cars, are Sand Springs park, which the Sand Springs interurban reaches and Sunset and Electric parks, on the Sapulpa interurban line. All three places have swimming pools, concessions, and other amusements.

So where were these places? I could easily do a deep dive on each place mentioned, but I'll limit myself to locating each:

Katy Lake: A classified item in the October 10, 1923, Tulsa World announcing that hunting at the lake was not allowed provides a better description of its location: S 1/2 SE 1/4 S23 T19N R13E. That's an 80 acre tract bounded today by 38th Street, 41st Street, 73rd East Ave, and Memorial. As you'd guess by the name, the lake abutted the old MK&T ("Katy") railroad between Tulsa and Broken Arrow. A story from April of that year announced that it would be renamed Rose Lake and expanded with a 90-foot dam impounding 18 acres, surrounded by pecan groves. News items from later in the year suggest that the Rose Lake name never caught on. A miniature brewery located near the lake was raided and destroyed in a July 1923 raid, but the Katy Lake owner, J. O. Whitman, wanted it known that it was not at his lake. (The accused brewer was named J. H. Stout.)

USGS maps from the early 20th century show a lake straddling the tracks at that spot; the Jenks quadrangle from 1953 shows a string of lakes running all the way to Memorial. Today there's a large, dry stormwater detention area with a channelized Fulton Creek running along its northern edge. As recently as 2003, there was still a lake in the area. The "Broken Arrow road" probably referred to Harvard Ave, which would later be part of Oklahoma Highway 51 and US 64, which ran from 15th to Harvard to 51st Street to Memorial. Traffic for Broken Arrow would head east on 71st from Memorial.

The "big brick house" is probably the two-story house with the green tile roof that sat on a rise northeast of 41st and Harvard. A convenience store was built in front of it, it served as a day care or school for many years, and it was demolished after New Life Center moved to Broken Arrow and sold its building to Freeman Harris Funeral Home in 2001; Cornerstone Church is now located there. Newspapers say the home was built by an unnamed oil millionaire and was later an orphanage. Its final use was as Christian Day Care Center. The house was the original home of and then parsonage and classroom space for Bethany Lutheran Church in 1954, which built a Blaine Imel-designed sanctuary, which was sold to Bethel Temple in 1962. There is a news story from December 19, 1971, that brings together several fascinating threads of demographic displacement. The history of that plot of land and the churches connected with it deserves its own article.

An appropriations amendment by Oklahoma 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern to prevent federal funding for Confucius Classrooms in K-12 was approved by voice vote by the U. S. House of Representatives on November 14, 2023. The one-sentence provision would amend H.R. 5894, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024: "None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to fund a Confucius Classroom."

Tulsa Public Schools is one of seven school districts in the US that hosts a Confucius Classrooms. At the July 10, 2023, board meeting, the TPS board approved the contract for what the agenda said was Booker T. Washington High School's 14th year of participation in the Confucius Classroom program. The 2022 renewal of the Confucius Classroom was one of several items pulled from the board's consent agenda for additional scrutiny thanks to the absence of a board member.

Here are Mr. Hern's remarks on the floor of the House:

Madam Chair, through the Belt and Road Initiative, the BRI, the Chinese Communist Party has been spreading its malign influence over the last decade. This initiative has one goal: to increase China's economic and political dominance over the United States and the world.

Disguised as harmless global infrastructure, transportation, and production networks, the Belt and Road Initiative, or the BRI, is anything but harmless.

Education is one of the primary targets of the BRI. They are succeeding in their mission to indoctrinate American students with their Communist ideals. Chinese state media even brags about the success of Confucius Institutes and other educational initiatives in spreading the CCP's influence.

This doesn't stop on our college campuses. Right now, China is invading our K-12 schools through Confucius Classrooms. Over the last decade or more, the CCP has infiltrated our public school system, setting up Chinese language and cultural programs in primary and secondary schools.

These Confucius Classrooms are funded by the Chinese Government, both directly and through Confucius Institutes and other third parties. Make no mistake, this is not through the kindness of their hearts. The CCP is not interested at all in helping American students learn Mandarin. They want to brainwash our children, plain and simple.

Since 2013, the authoritarian Government of the People's Republic of China has sent curriculum and PRC-trained teachers into hundreds of K- 12 schools across America as an unofficial component of its global influence campaign.

The CCP has committed countless violations of human rights, and its authoritarian agenda is antithetical to the democratic principles our country was founded on. Chinese propaganda has no place in our education system.

We have taken important steps toward mitigating Chinese influence at American universities by cracking down on Confucius Institutes. Now that the Chinese Government has directed its attention toward elementary and secondary schools, it is time we do the same and protect our children from the malign influence of the CCP.

My amendment would prevent Federal funding for these Confucius Classrooms.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Blue-haired Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro gave a weak speech in opposition, claiming that the proposal would create fear and would cause harm and violence to Asian-American teachers and students. DeLauro claimed the amendment was not being offered in good faith because the numbers of Confucius Institutes (Communist China's initiative on college campuses) had plummeted.

Hern offered a second amendment to fund enforcement of a provision of the No Surprises Act which requires a cost estimate for medical services to be provided to patients prior to treatment. The provision was passed nearly three years ago, but the Biden Administration has not enforced it. This Hern amendment also was approved by voice vote, but Rep. DeLauro demanded a recorded vote, which means that the vote on this amendment will be postponed under clause 6 of rule XVIII. It's curious that DeLauro did not use the same method to block the Confucius Classroom amendment.

While I appreciate Congressman Hern's attention to this issue, I do wonder how enforceable his proposal is. It appears not to prohibit schools from taking funding from other sources, such as a Chinese Communist Party-backed non-profit, for a Confucius Classroom, and it does not prohibit the idea from returning under another name.

UPDATE 2023/11/20: Michael DelGiorno posted on his Facebook page: "Many have asked, so here's the specifics: "Your Morning Show" is now on iHeart app and Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC in Nashville. Starting Monday, December 4th on 1300 The Patriot in Tulsa. And, starting on Monday, January 8th on NewsRadio 1000 KTOK in Oklahoma City. More markets coming!"

iHeartMedia has announced that talk radio host Michael DelGiorno will return to the Tulsa airwaves in the near future. DelGiorno will be on KAKC 1300 The Patriot in Tulsa, KTOK Newsradio 1000 in Oklahoma City, and WLAC 1510/98.3 in Nashville. DelGiorno will begin broadcasting on WLAC on Monday, November 6, from 5 am to 8 am. Oklahoma City and Tulsa will "follow later" according to a RadioInsight story.

DelGiorno spent 17 years in the Tulsa market, serving as an afternoon host and program director at KRMG and operations manager for Clear Channel's Tulsa radio stations and KTBZ 1430 morning host. In 2002, DelGiorno turned legendary 50,000-watt country station KVOO, then owned by Journal Broadcast Group, into Talk Radio 1170 KFAQ, starting out in an afternoon talk slot, then moving to mornings for most of his five-year stay. He gave me the opportunity for a weekly guest slot that started with discussion of the Vision 2025 tax and grew to include local politics generally. In 2007, Cumulus Media hired DelGiorno as afternoon host at WWTN in Nashville, and he continued in that timeslot through March 2023.

After leaving WWTN, DelGiorno launched the 1850 Main Street podcast with David Zanotti, which will continue alongside the new morning show. As described about midway through the initial episode, 1850 in the name refers to a critical year in resolving America's divisions -- "you have 10 years to solve the conflicts that led to the Civil War." Earlier in that episode, DelGiorno discusses some of the formative experiences that shaped him as a political talk show host -- his involvement in Scott Pruitt's 2001 run for Congress, the slander and media bias that killed Steve Largent's political career in the 2002 gubernatorial election.

Tulsa has been starved for local talk since the illness and death of KFAQ's Pat Campbell. Rather than fill Pat's seat in 2021, KFAQ changed call letters and changed formats to sports talk. iHeartMedia saw an opportunity, and KAKC 1300 reformatted as The Patriot, picked up a number of national shows, and added Tulsa to Lee Matthews's 5 pm to 7 pm evening drive broadcast on KTOK.

That move turned out not to be the answer that we'd hoped for Tulsa talk radio. Matthews, based in OKC, has been focused on local discussion of national and state issues, with very little time to get into Tulsa-specific issues. If Matthews was taking a day off, he didn't have a substitute fill in; the local drive slot was simply eliminated and the following national show moved 2 hours earlier to fill the gap.

Michael DelGiorno will have some catching up to do after 16 1/2 years away, but he has the benefit of nearly two decades in Tulsa and family and friends in the city.

When Michael announced his departure from KFAQ in 2007, I summed up his impact on Tulsa's political conversation at that time:

When other stations were becoming more automated and homogenized, DelGiorno gave Tulsa talk radio about local issues. When other news-talk stations were cramming local content into ever tinier segments, DelGiorno provided time to cover an issue in depth.

DelGiorno provided a bypass around local media dominated by a few narrow interests. He gave politicians and activists the chance to get their side of the story out to the public.

Michael gave me a platform that I wouldn't otherwise have had. The exposure I got on his show brought more readers to this blog and ultimately led to the opportunity to write for Urban Tulsa Weekly.

DelGiorno brought concerned Tulsans, who otherwise wouldn't have met, together as allies. He helped them see the big picture, bigger than the specific problems that awakened their interest in local government.

Michael often expressed frustration that the same old issues kept recurring, and it seemed as if no progress was made. But as someone who has lived here most of my life and who has been involved politically for twenty years, I know that things are much different, and much better, for his work at KFAQ. Important issues that used to be under the radar are now front and center in the public dialogue.

In the UTW column I wrote later that month, I noted that it was during DelGiorno's time at KFAQ that Tulsa, for the first two times ever, elected a majority of city councilors who were not endorsed by the local power-brokers. DelGiorno's morning show made it possible for councilors like Jim Mautino, Roscoe Turner, and Chris Medlock to get elected, for the issues they raised at City Hall to get fair coverage and full discussion, and, in Mautino and Medlock's case, for their ability to rally support to survive a recall election.

I wonder what a three-city, two-state simulcast will be like. I'm sure there will be significant differences with 2007 in Michael's approach to covering Tulsa, but whatever form that takes, I'm excited to have Michael DelGiorno's voice back on local Tulsa talk radio.