Oklahoma History Center Celebrates 15th Anniversary

OKLAHOMA CITY — November 16, 2020, marks 15 years since the Oklahoma History Center (OHC) opened its doors at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City. To celebrate this milestone, the OHC will offer five days of free admission to the public beginning Tuesday, November 17, through Saturday, November 21, sponsored by the Inasmuch Foundation.

In conjunction with this celebration, the OHC will open its newest permanent exhibit, “Launch to Landing: Oklahomans and Space” on Tuesday, November 17. This exhibit will offer patrons the opportunity to see Oklahoma’s contributions to the history of aviation and space exploration, and features the Skylab CM-118 command module as the gallery’s centerpiece.

The Oklahoma History Center houses the administrative offices, as well as the bulk of the artifact collections and research archives, of the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). From 1930 to 2005, the OHS occupied what is now the Oklahoma Judicial Center, the home of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.

The OHC was designed by Beck Associates of Oklahoma City, in collaboration with the award-winning firm Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum (HOK) of St. Louis, Missouri. Among their many architectural masterpieces, HOK designed the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and, as of 2018, was the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering firm. Haley Sharpe Design Limited of Washington, D.C., and Leicester, Great Britain, designed the original exhibits.

The Oklahoma History Center is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please visit www.okhistory.org/historycenter or call 405-522-0765 for more information.

The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.