Edmond Mayor Approves Removal Of Racist Language From Town Covenant

The mayor of Edmond signed a document on Tuesday approving the amendment of discriminatory language from existing historical property documents. 

History is not always pretty, the city council acknowledged. 

“The truth about Edmond being a sundown town, about having an active Ku Klux Klan chapter, and about how Edmond was promoted as all white from the 1920s to the 1960s,” detailed Amy Stephens, Executive Director of the Edmond History Museum. 

The City of Edmond said it is vowing to do better after a longtime resident made the city council aware of an illegal, discriminatory, restrictive covenant from an existing plat document. 

"A businessman in Edmond, OK, who happened to be African American, wanted to expand his business, and he looks at the plat and they have this language there -- that if you were of African American descent, you couldn't live here," Mayor Darrell Davis recalled. 

Restrictive covenants “were used all throughout the country, essentially, to keep certain people from living in certain areas,” shared another speaker at the ceremony. 

House Bill 2288 passed in 2023 allows Oklahoma Property Owners to reject discriminatory language within land records by filing a declaration with their county clerk. 

Citing that law, Mayor Davis proceeded to sign the amendment. 

"Change is certainly possible, but change will not come in and of itself. Someone has to be a mover. Someone has to say something. Someone has to initiate something,” said Dr. Paul Lehman, an Edmond resident. 

That someone, in this case, was Wayne Frost. 

“I needed some help to try to change this,” Frost shared, regarding his attempt to expand his business. 

Frost said he has lived in Edmond for more than 30 years and has been in business at Frost Auto Accessories & Design for 38 years. 

“To see this happen today, it's going to be a catalyst of what can happen in the future, not only in Edmond, but hopefully it'll spread to other suburbs, hopefully for the whole state of Oklahoma and other states,” Frost elaborated. 

Mayor Davis said Tuesday’s signature for removal marked the first of 19 other removals expected to take place in his final 112 days in office. 

In a press release, the City of Edmond stated: 

"Over the last two years, the City of Edmond has been working with partners to change state laws related to the removal of illegal, discriminatory language from historical property documents still in use today.

Mayor Darrell Davis signed the first removal of an illegal discriminatory restrictive covenant from an existing plat document during a brief ceremony on Jan. 14 at the Edmond Chamber of Commerce office. This brief, but historic event, is the first official removal in Oklahoma after a new state law took effect on November 1, 2024. 

Over the last two years, the City of Edmond has been working with partners to change the state laws related to removal of illegal, discriminatory language from historical property documents still in use today. This language was deemed unconstitutional and unenforceable many decades ago and has no legal standing even though it can be found in communities across the country. 

In 2023, in partnership with the Oklahoma Association of Realtors, city representatives worked with Rep. John Pfeiffer and other lawmakers to make the first change with HB2288. This change allowed property owners to repudiate discriminatory language within land records by filing a declaration with their county clerk. Rep. Pfeiffer was motivated to act after a well-publicized land use case in Edmond brought the discriminatory language to the forefront. 

In 2024, the City of Edmond worked with Sen. Kristen Thompson, Rep. Pfeiffer and other lawmakers to make an additional change to the law with SB1617. This change extended to municipalities the ability to remove discriminatory language from existing plat documents previously filed with the county clerk. 

This Highland Park Addition plat was chosen as the first plat to be amended as it was the first to include discriminatory language in 1909. The original plat area includes a mixture of housing, commercial properties, medical facilities, places of worship, a fire station, portions of the University of Central Oklahoma, and the Edmond Chamber of Commerce. There are an additional 19 plat documents with similar language in Edmond that will be brought forward for amendment in the coming months. 

Numerous people have been involved in this effort and deserve thanks including the Mayor and Council, city staff, CSS Partners, the Edmond Historical Society and Museum and many state legislators."

Understanding Sundown Towns

Sundown towns were communities that maintained all-white populations either through ordinances or by indirect intimidation, specifically targeting African Americans. 

Often, these towns were named after signs warning African Americans not to remain in town after dark.

Was Edmond a Sundown Town?

One of the most common inquiries received by the Edmond History Museum is whether Edmond was a sundown town.

The museum says that a review of Edmond ordinances from the 1920s and 1940s and early City Council meeting minutes revealed "no explicit laws prohibiting African Americans from living in Edmond".

Personal Accounts of Discrimination

In the book “A Route 66 Companion,” Edmond Threatt, an African American from nearby Luther, recalled seeing a sign in Edmond warning African Americans not to stay after dark, cited by the Edmond History Museum.

After attempting to order food at a café, Threatt was stopped by police for "stirring up a little peace" and told to leave town, according to the museum.

The Edmond History Museum noted that Threatt also recounted threats against African American property owners in Edmond, including arson and false health code violations used to force them to vacate.

James “Buzz” Forsythe, a longtime Edmond resident, remembered in his memoir that Edmond had a “sundown law” in the early 1950s, the museum reports.

Forsythe, the Edmond History Museum adds, witnessed police escorting a young African American man out of Edmond after he entered the Gem Theater to escape the heat while waiting for a bus.

Historical Documentation

Stella Barton Fordice’s 1927 thesis, “History of Edmond, Oklahoma,” documented an ordinance that forbade additional African Americans from settling in Edmond, according to the Edmond History Museum.

Based on an interview with I.W. Rodkey, Fordice described how Edmond residents petitioned for the last two African American families to leave town without incident, the museum notes.

Community Promotion and Racial Exclusion

From the 1920s to the 1940s, Edmond business owners, Central State College students, and the Chamber of Commerce actively promoted the town as all-white, the Edmond History Museum reports.

Racially restrictive covenants, the museum explains, prevented African Americans and most people of color from owning property in Edmond during that period.

The Edmond History Museum states that the establishment of a Ku Klux Klan chapter in Edmond in 1922 further contributed to the town's all-white status until the 1970s.