THE CHRONICLES OF OKLAHOMA

Unforgotten Trailblazer:
Nancy O. Randolph Davis

I

By Gloria J Pollard*

When one hears the words "civil rights" in Oklahoma
City, images of Clara Luper with her select group of youths sitting at Katz
Drug Store immediately come to mind.1 The youngsters being loaded into
paddy wagons and taken to jail for "sitting in" at businesses that refused
to serve them is also a part of that collection of mental pictures. One can
hardly forget the violence waged against those brave souls, violence that
is also included among the images. By visiting the Oklahoma History
Center located in Oklahoma City, a person may learn of Nancy Ola Ran-
dolph Davis's role in the civil rights movement.2 Her actions present her
in a different setting from Luper's. Davis's stand did not result in extreme
violence but in a relatively smooth transition for minorities into one of
Oklahoma's higher education institutions.
One isolated, historical event may propel an individual into a public
sphere that deprives that person of the total privacy needed to lead a
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