Claver College

Claver College was a Black Catholic institution of higher education in Guthrie, Oklahoma, founded in 1933 by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Joseph's Monastery in Tulsa.

History

Claver College was founded in 1933 by Sr Joseph O'Connor, a Benedictine religious sister from St. Joseph's Monastery in Tulsa, to serve the African American population of Guthrie, Oklahoma.[1][2] The college was supported with funding from Katharine Drexel (who had founded Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation's only Catholic HBCU, in 1925).[3] The college was named after Peter Claver, a Jesuit missionary and the patron saint of African-American ministry.[4]

The college, a night school, operated out of a building that also hosted a grocery store.[5] It ceased operations in 1944, and its former place of operation, the floodplain neighborhood of "Little Africa", was later destroyed. It has since experienced sustained restoration efforts.[6] The school is scheduled to be included in an upcoming book from Dr. Katrina Sanders, “The Rise and Fall of Black Catholic Education in a Changing South, 1886-1976”.[7]

References

1. "St. Joseph Monastery | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". www.okhistory.org. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
2. Tinner-Williams, Nate (26 November 2021). "Remembering Claver College—the nation's second Black Catholic college". Black Catholic Messenger.
3. Stories of the Ages: Endangered Black History - Guthrie (2012-01-26), 2 January 2018, retrieved 2022-09-20
4. O'Dell, Larry. "Colleges, African American". The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.
5. Spaulding, Cathy (1989). "A century of care // Benedictine nuns have had a significant impact on state". Tulsa World.
6. "Planning of The Elbow renovation receives a $26,000 boost". Guthrie News Page. 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
7. "The Rise and Fall of Black Catholic Education in a Changing South, 1886-1976". Louisville Institute. Retrieved 2022-09-20.