Redbird is a town in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, Redbird had a population of 89. Founded at the turn of the 20th century, it was one of more than fifty all-black towns in Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory and is one of thirteen surviving black communities in Oklahoma.
History
Redbird, also called Red Bird, originated with the settlement by the family of E. L. Barber, who founded the First Baptist Church in 1889. Other families soon moved into the area. By 1902, Red Bird had obtained a post office.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.
Lane v. Wilson
I.W. Lane was denied the ability to vote in 1934, after becoming a resident of Redbird, Oklahoma in 1908. In the case Lane v. Wilson, the United States Supreme Court found a 12-day one-time voter registration window to be discriminatory for black citizens and repugnant to the Fifteenth Amendment.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Redbird town, Oklahoma – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!
!% 2000
!% 2010
!
|-
|White alone (NH)
|5
|21
|style='background: #ffffe6; |21
|3.27%
|15.33%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |23.60%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|134
|93
|style='background: #ffffe6; |41
|87.58%
|67.88%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |46.07%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|9
|2
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5
|5.88%
|1.46%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.62%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|0
|1
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|0.73%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.12%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|2
|12
|style='background: #ffffe6; |15
|1.31%
|8.76%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |16.85%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|3
|8
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6
|1.96%
|5.84%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.74%
|-
|Total
|153
|137
|style='background: #ffffe6; |89
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Redbird had a population of 89. The median age was 54.5 years. 27.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 24.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 102.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 109.7 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 32 households in Redbird, of which 46.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 37.5% were married-couple households, 12.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 46.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The students travel to the nearest schools since Porter Consolidated does not operate any schools in Redbird. Redbird was previously served by Red Bird Public Schools.
See also
- Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee, and Vernon, other "All-Black" settlements that were part of the Land Run of 1889.
References
External links
- All-Black Towns of Oklahoma