Claver College

Claver College was a Black Catholic university in Guthrie, Oklahoma, founded 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), 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.