Boley, Oklahoma

Boley is a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,091 at the 2020 Census. Boley was incorporated in 1905 as a predominantly Black pioneer town with persons having Native American ancestry among its citizens. Of the 50 identifiable Black towns established in Oklahoma between 1865 to 1920, Boley is one of only 13 still in existence.

Boley is currently home to barbeque equipment maker, Smokaroma, Inc, and the John Lilley Correctional Center. The Boley Public School District closed the high school in 2007 and the elementary in 2010 due to declining enrollment. The Boley Historic District is a National Historic Landmark.

Currently Boley hosts The Annual Boley Rodeo & Bar-B-Que Festival.

History

Background

Creek Freedmen in the Indian Territory, who were the descendants of Black slaves held by the Creek tribe and allotted 160 acres of land each as a result of the Dawes Commission, set up independent townships, of which Boley was one. The town was established on land owned by Abigail Barnett, the daughter of a Creek Freedman.

Town founding

thumb|Boley town council . Thomas Haynes, wearing the light colored jacket, is in the first row, third from the right. Standing beside Haynes, with his hands in his pockets, is David Turner.

thumb|Photograph of J. B. Boley .

The principal founder of Boley was Thomas M. Haynes. Lake Moore, a white speculator, contributed the initial $500 investment needed to lease Barnett's land for five years. Another influential figure was the town's namesake, J. B. Boley, a white official of the Fort Smith & Western Railroad who oversaw the development of a depot in the middle of Boley. After being approved for a post office two months prior in July, the town officially opened for settlement on September 26, 1903.

One of the most influential early settlers in Boley was David J. Turner, a businessman who would, besides serving as town mayor and councilman on multiple occasions, also work as a bank president and pharmacist. including the first nationally-chartered Black-owned bank, three cotton gins, a movie theater, hotels, and multiple legal and dentistry practices. An annual subscription initially cost $1.

Under the editorship of Oniel H. Bradley, the motto of the Progress was "All Men Up, Not Some Down." Bradley promoted an "emancipationist vision" of Boley, portraying the town as a place where Black southerners could escape discrimination and finally enjoy a real freedom to serve as "business men, farmers, merchants, and wage workers," free from the antagonism of hostile white mobs. However, he also worried that separation from whites, if carried to the extreme, would be detrimental to black communities in the long-run. George Washington Carver once called Boley "the most progressive black town in the U.S." The sign was removed by federal agents in 1924.

Disenfranchisement and racial tensions

Upon becoming the 46th U.S. state on November 16, 1907, Jim Crow segregation laws were added to Oklahoma's state constitution, largely due to the efforts of white Democrat William H. Murray Shortly after statehood came disenfranchisement, most significantly through the passing of a "grandfather clause" which stipulated that anyone whose ancestors lacked the right to vote prior to 1866 (i.e. slaves) would be subject to a literacy test.]]

In November 1932, three members belonging to the gang of the notorious outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd attempted to rob Boley's Farmers and Merchants Bank, but were thwarted by the town's citizens. Floyd had previously warned his men not to attack Boley due to its residents being well-armed, but the interracial trio ignored the message. While Birdwell and Patterson emptied the register of all cash, the bank's president, David Turner, who was on duty at the time, sounded the alarm to alert the townspeople.

Patterson shuffled out of the bank and attempted to flee to the getaway vehicle, but he had now come face-to-face with Boley's armed citizenry, who had grabbed whatever weapons they could find, including guns, screwdrivers, and tools. So far the New Great Migration has not benefited Boley. However, Boley remains one of the state's few remaining historic African-American towns and its 2020 population of 1,091 is a 258% improvement compared to its population of 423 just four decades prior.

1903 Founding
1925, State Training School for Incorrigible Black Boys was located in Boley; it would become the John Lilley Correctional Center.
1926 The Boley Progress ceases publication.
1932 Armed citizens of Boley thwart a bank robbery attempt by members of Pretty Boy Floyd's gang.
1939 Fort Smith & Western Railroad and Boley go bankrupt.
1975 Boley Historic District given landmark status.

Inscription on Oklahoma Historical Society plaque honoring Boley

Boley, Oklahoma

Est. August 1903 - Inc. May 1905

Boley, Creek Nation, I.T., Established as all black town on land of Creek Indian Freedwoman Abigail Barnett. Organized by T.M. Haynes first townsite manager. Named for J.B. Boley, white roadmaster, who convinced Fort Smith & Western Railroad that blacks could govern themselves. This concept soon boosted population to 4,200. Declared National Historic Landmark District by Congress May 15, 1975. Oklahoma Historical Society

thumb|Antioch Baptist Church, originally built in 1903.

Geography

Boley is located approximately 13 miles east of Prague and 11 miles west of Okemah on US Highway 62.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Boley town, Oklahoma – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!% 2000

!% 2010

|White alone (NH)

|393

|518

|style='background: #ffffe6; |581

|34.90%

|43.75%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |53.25%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|615

|463

|style='background: #ffffe6; |317

|54.62%

|39.10%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |29.06%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|49

|70

|style='background: #ffffe6; |101

|4.35%

|5.91%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |9.26%

|Asian alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |9

|0.09%

|0.08%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.82%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0

|0.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%

|Other race alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |12

|0.09%

|0.08%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.10%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|32

|60

|style='background: #ffffe6; |12

|2.84%

|5.07%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.10%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|35

|71

|style='background: #ffffe6; |59

|3.11%

|6.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.41%

|Total

|1,126

|1,184

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,091

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Boley had a population of 1,091. The median age was 43.7 years. 2.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 9.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 891.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 1016.8 males age 18 and over.

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 82 households in Boley, of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 30.5% were married-couple households, 25.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 39.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 37.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.]]

Boley Rodeo

A tradition since 1903, the Boley Rodeo is the longest-running Black rodeo in the United States.

In film

Rodeo legend Bill Pickett, credited as the inventor or bulldogging, shot his film The Bull-Dogger, as well as his film The Crimson Skull, at Boley in 1922.

thumb|Boley City Council sponsors motorcycle street drag races in downtown Boley several times each year. Racers line up near the city park, and drag race 1/4 mile to the finish line in downtown Boley.

Government

In the 2016 presidential election, the city gave over 78% of the vote to the Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton.

Notable people

Cardell Camper, major league baseball player
Pumpsie Green - baseball player, first African American to play for the Boston Red Sox
Zenobia Powell Perry - composer

In popular culture

The Oklahoma Historical Society created the touring exhibition "Thirteen All-Black Towns of Oklahoma," highlighting Boley and 12 additional towns that have survived into the 21st century. Preview materials note: "When E. P. McCabe came to Oklahoma in the 1889 Land Run his vision was to create an All-Black state. Although that never materialized, McCabe and others succeeded in establishing All-Black towns. Nowhere else, neither in the Deep South nor the Far West, did so many African American men and women come together to create, occupy, and govern their own communities. Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Red Bird, Rentiesville, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee, Summit, and Vernon are the towns highlighted in this exhibit."

Quotations about Boley from Booker T. Washington

In a 2017 interview, historian Currie Ballard told The Oklahoman: “Boley was once the crown jewel of all the black towns in Oklahoma...Booker T. Washington came to Boley … twice and deemed it the finest black town in the world — and Booker T. Washington had literally been all around the world. Boley, its significance in commerce, its significance in education, parallels no other black town in the nation.”

Quotes about Boley attributed to Washington include:

"They have recovered something of the knack for trade that their fore-parents in Africa were famous for".