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This past spring the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) worked with twenty-one students in the Environmental Design Practicum class in order to collaborate with community leaders of Tullahassee, Oklahoma and develop a plan for revitalization and growth.
The town of Tullahassee has a population of just over 100 residents. While small, the town has a large history; it is considered to be Oklahoma’s oldest surviving Black township. Tullahassee is also well known for its history of providing educational opportunities to Black Oklahomans. Flipper Davis College, the only private education institution for Black students in Oklahoma at the time, was established by community leaders in 1916.
Tullahassee also housed the Carter G. Woodson school for younger Black students. When designing a vision for the town’s future, Tullahassee community leaders, the IQC, and OU’s Environmental Design Students made sure to take the town’s cultural heritage and history into account. IQC project leaders also toured Tullahassee with community leaders.
Pictured during town tour from left: Charity Marcus, strategic consultant to Tullahassee; Cymone Davis, city manager of Tullahasse; Vanessa Morrison, associate director of OU IQC.
The student team was divided into five working groups that focused on individual themes of revitalization and growth. Within these themes the students developed pathways from the town’s current state to their eventual goals. You can explore these themes and the students’ work below.
Developing pathways for Tullahassee’s growth allowed the students to learn how built environment professionals like themselves can better serve and support Black rural communities like Tullahassee. By doing research on Black communities and on Tullahassee’s specific history as well as engaging consistently with community members, students were able to approach the town’s goals with the context needed to understand the specific needs of the town. The town of Tullahassee now has a clear set of goals for growth and revitalization as well as the pathways necessary to reach those goals.
Watch a typographic video on the project below.
View the full “Pathways to Hope – Tullahassee, Oklahoma” report below.
Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Petya Stefanoff, who is pursuing her doctorate in the Planning, Design & Construction (PDC) program, has been appointed the new role of Director of Community Development for the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. She joined the city in 2024.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design and director of the Institute for Quality Communities, has received national recognition for her book Model Schools in the Model City. The book has been named a finalist for the 2026 the PROSE Awards.
Gibbs College of Architecture Regional + City Planning Professor of Practice Vanessa Morrison and Associate Professor of Architecture Deborah Richards’ Open Design Collective received top honors at the inaugural BlackSpace Urbanist Collective Studio KIN Pitch Night Competition, held last month in Brooklyn, New York City.
