Oklahoma History

Zelia Page Breaux Builder of People and State - Podcast

10/14/2023

Zelia Page Breaux

As a TEENAGER in the 1890s, Oklahoma pioneer Zelia Page Breaux helped create the academic curriculum at Langston University, then built the musical program and band at Oklahoma City Douglass High School into among the best in the southwest, and taught and mentored some of the greatest American artistic talent of the 20th Century, including author Ralph Ellison, guitarist Charlie Christian, and singer Jimmy Rushing. Count Basie and Duke Ellington attended her funeral.

Join John and KTOK/iHeartRadio star Gwin Faulconer-Lippert and learn about one of Oklahoma’s greatest pioneers, creators, and champions of the young. This is the 94th episode of our original OKLAHOMA GOLD! radio program! Thank you Atwoods Stores for making it possible! Go HERE to listen to them all! Future episodes explore more great heroes, events, and movements of Oklahoma History. Thank you Atwoods Stores for making it possible!

https://youtu.be/WN7t4XelCdI

The legendary Aldridge Theater on Northeast 2nd Street in Oklahoma City, the original “Deep Deuce.” Zelia Breaux utilized the Aldridge as a stage on which to nurture the musical talents of generations of young African Americans, as well as a top-flight movie theater for Oklahoma’s black community.

RALPH ELLISON/CHARLIE CHRISTIAN/JIMMIE RUSHING

Three of Zelia Breaux’s greatest pupils—author Ralph Ellison, guitarist Charlie Christian, and Jimmie Rushing.

The Oklahoma City Douglass High School of 1934-1954, here identified as “High Street School,” and located at N.E. 6th and High Street. Many of Zelia Breaux’s greatest accomplishments took place in this building.

Many thanks to Atwoods Stores, a farm and ranch supply company based in Enid, Oklahoma, for their support of the Red River Institute of History and OKLAHOMA GOLD! Please support them as you are able! Wherever you are, you can order online from thousands of quality products on their terrific website HERE. Atwoods also has 66 stores in 5 states: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. In addition to farm and ranch supplies, Atwoods stores sell clothing, lawn and garden items, tools, hardware, automotive supplies, sporting goods, pet supplies, firearms, and seasonal items.

Read the full story at Zelia Page Breaux – Builder of People and State - Podcast,
from Oklahoma History, with John Dwyer

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author John J Dwyer

John Dwyer's Oklahoma History

Author John Dwyer takes us on a voyage through time, to discover Oklahoma is ways we've never fully understood.

The hardbound pictorial of volume 1 is available for a limited time at up to 40% off, using this link.

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Novelist and Oklahoma native Ralph Ellison said, "You have to leave home to find home", an apt description of the journey of John Dwyer, author and general editor of The Oklahomans. The Dwyer family roots were firmly transplanted from Ireland to Oklahoma by John's great-grandfather and grandfather, the latter who settled in Oklahoma City in 1909, just two years after Oklahoma achieved statehood. Although born in Dallas, TX, John was relocated to Oklahoma when his widowed mother returned to her home when he was two years old.
It would be on Oklahoma soil that his mother instilled in him his love for history, and coupled with his unusually creative imagination, it soon became apparent that John not only liked to hear great stories of legend and history, but to make up his own as well. It would be out of a sense of divine purpose that he would use that creativity in response to a higher calling in the years to come.
John began a career in journalism during his high school days when he served in a variety of roles, including news and sports reporter, for the Duncan Banner, a daily newspaper in his small Oklahoma hometown. He was the youngest sports editor in the newspaper's history by the time he attended the University of Oklahoma on a journalism scholarship. He graduated in 1978 with a bachelor of arts and sciences degree in journalism.
Dwyer further developed his journalistic skills in radio as a play‐by‐play football and basketball announcer for several radio stations. He won the coveted position of sports director for the University of Oklahoma's 100,000 watt KGOU‐FM radio station. For seven years, he provided live, on‐air reports to America's largest radio networks of University of Oklahoma college football games.
Except for a year in England during 6th grade, John lived in the Sooner State for 28 years before returning to Dallas in 1986 to attend Dallas Theological Seminary where he earned his Master of Biblical Studies. While there, Dwyer worked part time on the sports staff of The Dallas Times Herald, which at the time owned one of the five largest circulations of any daily newspaper in Texas. It was in Texas that he also met and married his wife Grace in 1988 and settled down to start his family.
In the spring of 1992, Dwyer and his wife founded the Dallas‐Fort Worth Heritage newspaper, which would grow to a circulation of 50,000 per month at the time of its sale, after nearly a decade, to new owners. The Heritage pioneered innovative features such as full color photography and graphics, an expansive web site, a cluster of informative daily radio programs, and an aggressive, uncompromising brand of investigative news reporting unprecedented for contemporary news publications holding an
orthodox Christian worldview.
In 2006, at the urging of his family and the Oklahoma Historical Society, John returned to Oklahoma to tackle the colossal task of writing "The Oklahomans," which was endorsed as an official project of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission. He has completed volume 1 (Ancient‐Statehood) and a portion of volume 2 (Statehood‐Present), which releases in November 2018.
He is now an Adjunct Professor of History and Ethics at Southern Nazarene University. He is former history chair at Coram Deo Academy, near Dallas, Texas. His books include the non‐fiction historical narrative "The War Between the States: America's Uncivil War" (Western Conservatory), the novel "When the Bluebonnets Come" (Bluebonnet Press), the historical novels "Stonewall" and "Robert E. Lee" (Broadman & Holman Publishers), and the upcoming historical novels "Shortgrass" and "Mustang" (Oghma Creative Media).
John and Grace have one daughter and one grandson and live in Norman, Oklahoma. They are members of the First Baptist Church of Norman, where they serve in a variety of teaching, mission, and other ministry roles.

Zelia Page Breaux Builder of People and State - Podcast

Zelia Page Breaux

The Oklahoma City Douglass High School of 1934-1954, here identified as “High Street School,” and located at N.E. 6th and High Street. Many of Zelia Breaux’s greatest accomplishments took place in this building.

John Dwyer's Oklahoma History

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