Calls for the Renaming of Two Buildings on the Campus of Oklahoma State University That Honor the Architect of Jim Crow Segregation in the State

Two buildings on the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater are named after former Governor “Alfalfa” Bill Murray. Murray served as Oklahoma governor from 1931 to 1935 during the height of the Great Depression. Murray was a race-baiting politician and is generally considered the architect of Jim Crow in Oklahoma. He pushed through the infamous grandfather clause which effectively disenfranchised black voters in the state.

Earl Mitchell, a professor emeritus at Oklahoma State who is African American, is calling for the university to change the name of the buildings.

Copyright © 2007. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.