Boley Oklahoma Another Thriving Black Community to know about

Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Radio

In this episode, I talk about Boley Oklahoma, John Dolphin, and Uniondale, Alabama which is featured in the documentary "The Contradiction of Fairhope" As we celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth, we shouldn't repeat the same stories always told. Black Wall St. wasn't the only thriving Black Community, there were many others. n the early twentieth century Boley, Oklahoma was the largest predominantly black town in the United States. Boley was officially opened for settlement in 1903 in Creek Nation, Indian Territory along with the Fort Smith and Western Railroad. The interracial group that founded Boley included Lake Moore, a white attorney, John Boley, a white manager for the Fort Smith and Western Railroad, and Thomas M. Haynes, a black farmer, and entrepreneur from Texas. The trio worked together with James Barnett, a Creek Freedman, to purchase the land of Barnett’s daughter Abigail, to form Boley’s nucleus. Southern migrants in search of better opportunities flocked to Boley and the town experienced rapid growth over the years.

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Bringing Hollywood to Central Avenue, John Dolphin cut records in the back of his store, then broke the record on his radio station that broadcasted in the front window of his store. John’s efforts platformed black music and artists who wouldn’t have had a chance to be heard on a large level. It also broke the color barriers as his record store had Black, White and Chicano patrons who partied together in and around the record store.

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HEAR THE STORY OF JOHN DOLPHIN PODCAST https://jackdappabluesradio.tv/dolphins-of-hollywood-the-john-dolphin-story/

THE CONTRADICTION OF FAIR HOPE Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, composed by Christian McBride and executive Produced/Co-Directed by S. Epatha Merkerson “The Contradictions of Fair Hope” is about the 4 million freed slaves roaming the antebellum, many of them are ill-prepared and unable to cope with the realities of their newfound freedom in 1865 rural Alabama. The film traces the development, struggles, contributions, and gradual loss of the tradition of one of the last remaining African American benevolent societies, known as “The Fair Hope Benevolent Society” in Uniontown, Alabama.

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