OKC Black Alumni Coalition seeks preservation site for historic Walnut Grove neighborhood

The OKC Black Alumni Coalition is hosting an open meeting to hear how the community would like to preserve and recognize a former southeast Oklahoma City neighborhood.

Where is Walnut Grove?

From the early 1900s until around 2005, Walnut Grove, also known as simply "The Grove," was located in the same area where OKC Riversport now stands

The neighborhood was home to prominent Oklahomans such as civil rights leader Leslie Brown, Willa D. Johnson, the city's first black female city council member, and former Oklahoma NAACP president Cecile L. Williams.

The BAC says due to city redevelopment in the early 2000s, families living in the Walnut Grove neighborhood were displaced to make way for new developments.

How does the Black Alumni Coalition get involved?

Since 2022, the BAC hosts the River Bowl Classic in August each year to bring together the community in the area where Walnut Grove once stood.

According to event organizers, the event brings together alumni, students, and community members in watersport competitions including rowing, dragon boating, and kayaking.

"The first few years of planning and organizing the River Bowl, I became curious [about] what it had been, Black Alumni Coalition executive director Shawntay Alexander said. "You couldn't find [anything] online about Walnut Grove ... We want to deepen the connection [of] the space by bringing up awareness for the historic Walnut Grove."

Now, the organization is seeking help with creating ideas for a preservation site to show the history of the area.

How can I get involved?

The BAC is hosting an open forum Thursday night for people to voice their concerns, ideas, and resources for the effort.

After ideas are compiled, the organization says it will work with the OU Institute of Quality Communities to create a proposal for the city.

Thursday's meeting will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at OKC Riversport's Devon Boathouse.