Black History Tour of Oklahoma 2024

Depart on your overnight flight from New York  to Oklahoma

Airline: Delta Airlines

New York to Oklahoma

Date: 04 October 2024
Flight #: DL 4900
Depart: 9:30 AM (LGA)
Arrive: 12:34 PM (OKC)
 

Depart on your morning flight from New York City to Oklahoma City. Upon arrival at Oklahoma City Will Rogers airport you will collect your luggage and head to the Arrivals Hall where you will be met by your Tour Guide. Your Tour Guide will escort you to your private coach and then you will start your amazing tour!

The first stop on your tour will be a visit to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. See art and exhibits celebrating the West and cowboys of all backgrounds.  Hear how Bill Pickett, an African American cowboy, started the rodeo event: bulldogging at the 101 Ranch; learn about legendary lawman, Bass Reeves, and see exhibits that feature the Buffalo Soldiers and their role in protecting the West.

Next, stop at The Oklahoma Land Run Monument. The Centennial Land Run Monument commemorates the opening of the Unassigned Land in Oklahoma Territory with the Land Run of 1889. The frenzied energy and emotion from one instant during the run is captured in bronze by artist Paul Moore. It is one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures featuring 45 heroic figures of land run participants, frozen in motion as they race to claim new homesteads.

Enjoy a Welcome Champagne Cocktail while cruising down the water on your Narrated Canal Ride Tour of Historic Bricktown, in the heart of the entertainment district. Industrial-chic Bricktown is a lively entertainment district, with repurposed warehouse spaces home to restaurants, piano lounges, and chic wine bars. An eclectic mix of shops sell clothing, home decor and specialty food items like gourmet condiments and handmade chocolate.

Enjoy a Welcome Dinner at Charleston's Restaurant. Located on the historic Bricktown Canal, Charleston’s Bricktown is the perfect place to begin your evening of fun! Featuring outdoor seating overlooking the canal, the menu includes scratch made dishes and crafted cocktails. Situated within  walking distance of the entertainment district and the new convention center, you won’t find a more  central location to enjoy the best in casual dining.

Check in to the Hyatt Place Oklahoma City/Bricktown

Hotel: Hyatt Place Oklahoma City/Bricktown or similar
Meals: Dinner

Enjoy included breakfast at hotel before departing.

Visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum where you’ll experience their Survivor Tour - wander the Outdoor Symbolic Memorial commemorating victims of the 1995 bombing. Witness memorials such as the Survivor Wall, where on the east end of the Memorial stands the only remaining walls from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. These walls remind us of those who survived the attack – many with serious injuries. Today, more than 600 names are inscribed on salvaged pieces of granite from the Federal Building lobby. See the Survivor Tree, an American elm, bore witness to the violence of April 19, 1995, and withstood the full force of the attack. Years later, it continues to stand as a living symbol of resilience. The circular promontory surrounding the tree offers a place for gathering and viewing the Memorial.

Arrive for lunch on your own at Hunny Bunny Biscuit Company.

Proceed to the Oklahoma History Center to meet Bruce Fisher, son of civil rights hero Ada Sipuel Fisher, who will guide you on the tour. His mother was a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement, and she challenged the University of Oklahoma, and the case made it to the United States Supreme Court. At the museum, see the African American exhibit delving into individual stories of important figures in Oklahoma’s Civil Rights Movement. Learn about everyday life and people of the time and the more than 50 All-Black towns in Oklahoma.

Stop at the Black Liberated Arts Center of Oklahoma City for a brief tour of the gallery. Meet your local historian who will join as a Step-on Guide through the Deep Deuce area, the African American business and cultural district of Oklahoma City.

Enjoy dinner included this evening at the famous Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in historic Stockyards City. Cattlemen’s opened its doors in 1910 in Stockyards City and has been serving up the best steaks around since and even being featured in multiple Food Network shows, Southern Living and Bon Appetit Magazine.

Stop at the Oklahoma City National Memorial enroute to the hotel to see it illuminated at night.

Arrive at the hotel for the evening.

Hotel: Hyatt Place Oklahoma City/Bricktown or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Enjoy an included breakfast at the hotel before departing.

Make a stop in Tatums, one of the more than 50 original black towns in the state of Oklahoma and enjoy a Guided City Tour. Tatums was founded in 1895 by Lee Tatum who was the first postmaster, ran a grocery store, and was a US Marshall. In the 1920’s oil wells were drilled all over town and some of the town’s residents profited greatly.

Enjoy lunch on your own at Rib Crib. Try their signature dry rub that made them famous! Visit the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center to learn about the trail and the roles African Americans played in this historic cattle trail. Enjoy a short film where you’ll experience the closest thing to a real stampede you will find anywhere.

Visit the Verden Separate School. The school was built in 1915 and served as a school for Verden’s African American students under the separate but equal doctrine. Hear from a local historian and learn about the history of the school as well as what life was like in pre-Civil Rights Oklahoma. More than 25% of cowboys in the Old West were African Americans.

Return to the hotel.

Enjoy dinner on your own this evening in downtown Oklahoma City – your evening is free. There are many restaurants within walking distance of the hotel in the Bricktown area.

Hotel: Hyatt Place Oklahoma City/Bricktown or similar
Meals: Breakfast

Enjoy included breakfast at hotel prior to checking out and departing.

Depart for Langston University. Founded in 1897 as a school for African Americans, Langston University is the only historically black university still in operation in OK. Clara Luper is among the notable graduates of Langston University. Luper, a teacher, was a Civil Right leader who staged peaceful protests including a sit-in at the segregated Katz’s Drug Store in Oklahoma City. Luper and her students arrived at the Katz’s when the store opened, were refused service, and stayed until close. The police were called, they received threats, but they stayed and were not arrested. Two days later, from the direction of Katz corporate offices, all Katz locations were desegregated. A student-led tour will be requested but is not guaranteed. Lunch on your own in the school cafeteria.

Visit Greenwood Rising the Tulsa Historical Society to see their Tulsa Race Massacre Exhibit. A guide will take you through the terrible events that destroyed hundreds of lives in such a short time. The Tulsa Historical Society is located inside the beautiful former home of Tulsa oil baron, Sam Travis.

Take a Guided Tour at the Mabel B. Little Heritage House. The 1920’s era home belonging to Sam and Lucy Mackey. Sam and Lucy lived in a modest wood-framed structure that was burned down during the massacre of 1921. They vowed to rebuild, and in 1926 they built a two story, brick home. This home is one of the few buildings from the 1920’s left standing in the Greenwood district.

See the Historic Vernon A.M.E Church. It is the only standing black-owned structure on Historic Greenwood Ave from the Black Wall Street era and one of the only edifices that remain from the worst race massacres in American history.

Enjoy a walking tour with your GUIDE of John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park. The John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, which features Hope Plaza and the Tower of Reconciliation, memorializes the history of African Americans in Oklahoma, including the lives lost to racial violence, with the goal of transforming years of racial division into a hopeful future of reconciliation and cooperation for Tulsa and the Nation. The Park is named for distinguished historian, educator, and civil rights advocate Dr. John Hope Franklin who irrevocably transformed our understanding of American history through his scholarship and activism, while advancing the cause of the African American civil rights movement during the twentieth century.

Arrive and check in to Hotel Indigo

Head out to a local restaurant for your included dinner at Fixins Soul Kitchen.

Return to hotel for the remainder of the evening.

Hotel: Hotel Indigo or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Enjoy an included breakfast at hotel prior to checking out and departing.

Meet your Tours of Tulsa guide in the lobby of the hotel. Start your day of touring with a Guided City Tour of Underground Tulsa. First built in the 1900s, Tulsa’s tunnel network expanded, becoming a means of pedestrian transportation during rough weather and for moving securely and quietly between downtown buildings. In addition, you’ll visit stunning architectural sights and explore some of the most iconic sites throughout the city. Throughout our time at each special location, your expert tour guides will walk you through the incredible history and the stories of the people who contributed to the rich history of Tulsa.

Enjoy lunch on your own at the Mother Road Market. This food hall located on historic Route 66 offers more than 20 food and retail concepts.

On the way, drive through several historic black towns such as: Redbird (Red Bird, located in Wagoner County five miles southeast of Coweta, is one of more than fifty All-Black towns of Oklahoma and one of only thirteen still existing) and Tullahassee (It was the location of Tullahassee Mission, an Indian boarding school that burned in 1880)

Arrive at Fort Gibson Historic Site where a Guide will meet the bus dressed in military apparel used during the Fort’s existence. Fort Gibson was once home to the well-known African American regiment, The First Kansas Infantry which helped clear Indian Territory of the Confederacy. This regiment of African American Soldiers was pivotal in the Union’s victory at the battle of Honey Springs and many other victories.

Arrive and check in to Hampton Inn Muskogee

Enjoy an included dinner at Colton’s Steakhouse

Depart and return to hotel for the remainder of evening.

Hotel: Hampton Inn Muskogee or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Enjoy included breakfast at hotel prior to checking out and departing.

Visit the Three Rivers Museum and be greeted by the famous Bass Reeves himself. Learn about the life and career of the first US Marshall west of the Mississippi. Arrive in Rentiesville, one of the remaining 13 historic black towns in Oklahoma. Here, you’ll meet Selby Minner, wife of the late Blues artist, D.C. Minner. Selby will guide your group through the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame Museum and, if you’re lucky, you might catch some live Blues during your visit.

Head just a short distance across the street to the Honey Springs Battlefield and the newly built Honey Springs Battlefield Visitors Center. Take a guided tour through the exhibits and learn about the First Kansas Volunteer Regiment, the first African American regiment of the Union army, and of the Cherokee and Creek soldiers that fought on both sides of the battle. This was the largest conflict of the Civil War in Indian Territory and a major turning point in the removal of Confederate soldiers from the area.

Enjoy a boxed lunch on the way to your next destination.

Arrive in Boley, Oklahoma. Boley, one of the remaining 13 black towns of Oklahoma, is located in Okfuskee County. Established in 1903, Boley is of national historical significance because it is representative of the many Black Settlements who migrated from the South to northern and western communities after slavery. Today it is landmark to Oklahoma’s multicultural history, embracing its African-American and Native Indian heritage. Originally built as a independent township by Creek Freedman, Boley was the most enterprising of all black towns and a center of agriculture, industry, and education.  Take a tour of 14 historical landmarks on a hayride with the town historian.

Enjoy an included dinner at Florence’s Restaurant.

Check in to Holiday Inn Oklahoma City Airport

Hotel: Holiday Inn Oklahoma City Airport or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Enjoy included breakfast at hotel prior to checking out and departing. Visit the First American’s Museum Explore the American Banjo Museum and enjoy a Live performance. The American Banjo Museum is a world-class facility dedicated to preserving and promoting the music and heritage of "America's instrument"

Arrive Oklahoma City Will Rogers airport - have lunch on own. The guide and motorcoach will depart.

Depart Oklahoma and arrive in New York this evening.

Meals: Breakfast

Airline: Delta Airlines

Oklahoma to New York

Date: 10 October 2024
Flight #: DL 4900
Depart: 2:00 PM (OKC)
Arrive: 6:23 PM  (LGA)

Full Package Price

$3,699 per person
(double occupancy)

$4,199 per person 
(single occupancy)

Land Only Package 
(flights and transfers NOT included)

$3,199 per person
(double occupancy)

$3,699 per person 
(single occupancy)

Note: In the Land Only package you will make your own flight arrangements and transportation to/from the hotel upon arrival and departure. Overton Travel can assist you with these arrangements upon request.

Payment Schedule

• Deposit: Due at time of booking: $500 (non-refundable)
• Installment #1: April 30, 2024 $800
• Installment #2: May 31, 2024 $800
• Installment #3: June 30, 2024 $800
• Installment #4: Final Payment: July 31, 2024 Remaining Balance

Airline: Delta Airlines

New York to Oklahoma

• Date: 04 October 2024
• Flight #: DL 4900
• Depart: 9:30 AM (LGA)
• Arrive: 12:34 PM (OKC)

Oklahoma to New York

• Date: 10 October 2024
• Flight #: DL 4900
• Depart: 2:00 PM (OKC)
• Arrive: 6:23 PM  (LGA)

Note on flights and seats in the Full Package

• The Full Package includes flights
• All seats on the flights in the Full Package are in Economy Class.
• The seats are booked as a group
• Seats are assigned by the airlines for group bookings.
• You will not be able to pre-select your seats
• Specific seats on the flight cannot be guaranteed.
• If you would like a specific seat (window or aisle seat), you should book your seats as an individual booking and not part of the group booking.

Upgrades

Please contact Overton Travel at the time of booking if you would like to upgrade your seat.

Upgrades to Business Class seats can be done, based on availability at the time of booking.

We encourage all travelers to purchase a travel protection plan at the time of initial trip deposit. 

Overton Travel uses Travel Insured International. Click here to review and purchase a travel protection plan from them: Travel Protection.

You can purchase travel protection through the supplier used by Overton Travel or any other supplier you choose.