Press Release
October 14, 2019
Contact: Steve Hawkins
Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-0754
shawkins@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org/historycenter
Oklahoma History Center to Host Screening and Discussion of “LaDonna Harris: Indian 101”
OKLAHOMA CITY — On Saturday, November 2, from 1 to 3 p.m. the Oklahoma History Center will host a film screening and discussion of “LaDonna Harris: Indian 101.” This program is included with paid admission to the museum. The Oklahoma History Center is located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City.
In “LaDonna Harris: Indian 101,” Comanche filmmaker Julianna Brannum chronicles the life of Comanche activist and national civil rights leader LaDonna Harris in this film. Brannum, the great-niece of Harris, celebrates her life and details the personal struggles that led her to become a voice for Native people. The film also describes her contemporary work to strengthen and rebuild indigenous communities, and to train emerging Native leaders around the world.
Harris’s activism began in Oklahoma, fighting segregation and assisting grassroots Native and women’s groups. In Washington, D.C., she introduced landmark programs and legislation returning territory to tribes, improving education and healthcare for American Indians, ending job discrimination against women, and targeting other pressing issues of the time. For more than three decades, “Indian 101,” her course for legislators, combatted ignorance about Native communities. Using interviews, archival footage and photographs, this film justly celebrates one of the most important female leaders in history.
The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.
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