School board may name center for Oklahoma NAACP leader

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Oklahoma City Public Schools is considering naming its new headquarters after a woman who organized civil rights sit-ins to integrate city businesses.

Naming the future administrative building after the late Clara Luper is on a school board meeting agenda for later this month. Luper was a teacher and activist who led 13 youths in peaceful protests against segregation in drug stores. The 1958 sit-ins preceded the 1960 demonstration in Greensboro, North Carolina, which is often considered the start of the civil rights movement.

The state has honored the Oklahoma City NAACP Youth Council this year for the 60th anniversary of the local demonstration, including the Tulsa-based Woody Guthrie Center awarding Luper and the surviving members of the group its Changing World Prize for 2018.