Press Release
February 28, 2019
Contact: Sara Werneke
State Historic Preservation Office, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-4478
Fax: 405-522-0816
swerneke@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org/shpo
New Oklahoma National Register Listing
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office is pleased to announce the newest National Register of Historic Places listing for Oklahoma. The National Register of Historic Places is our nation’s official list of properties significant in our past.
The Dr. W. H. Slaughter House, erected in 1937 at 3101 NE 50th St. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, is significant under Criterion B for its association with Dr. Wyatt Hardy Slaughter, Oklahoma City’s first nonwhite doctor and one of the African American community’s most prominent and influential medical, business and civic leaders. As a physician, Slaughter established various medical offices, a hospital and founded the state’s African American medical association. As a businessman, he erected numerous buildings in the Deep Deuce/Northeast Second Street segregated area of Oklahoma City and helped found the Negro Business League. As a civic leader, he campaigned for World War II bonds, public amenities such as the YMCA and a new high school for African Americans. As an entrepreneur, he developed several residential plats in northeast Oklahoma City. He was also a trustee of Meharry University. Slaughter’s house and associated resources retain a high degree of integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling and association and still transmit appropriate information about Slaughter, a significant person in Oklahoma City’s history. The property is eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion B, Ethnic Heritage/Black History, for its association with Dr. W. H. Slaughter during the period of significance from 1937 to 1952.
The State Historic Preservation Office is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society. 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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Editor’s Note: Photographs to accompany the story can be acquired by contacting Sara Werneke at the Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office at 405-522-4478.
