Oklahoma, the 46th state to join the United States, was established in 1907. The word Oklahoma comes from the language of the Choctaw. It literally means, “land of the red people.” Many people of African descent formed towns in Oklahoma early on in the state’s formative years.
On December 18, 1907, a month after Oklahoma was founded, the state’s legislature passed its first Jim Crow law, calling for segregation on all forms of public transportation.