Spencer Academy

Historical marker location:

Sawyer, Oklahoma

( Marker is on U.S. 70 east of N4310 Road (State Route 147), on the right when traveling west.)

Marker installed: 1995

A noted school for boys, Spencer Academy was established by the Choctaw Nation in 1841 and named for Secretary of War John C. Spencer. Students who became Choctaw leaders included Allen Wright, Jackson McCurtain, and Jefferson Gardner. Two elderly African American slaves, Uncle Wallace and his wife Aunt Minerva, hired out by their Choctaw owner to work for missionaries at the academy, first sang "Swing Low Sweet Chariot," "Roll, Jordan, Roll," and other spirituals composed nearby.

In the early 1900s, a group of African American settlers founded the town of Boley, Oklahoma. The town became a center of Black entrepreneurship and culture, with businesses ranging from banks to newspapers to theaters. Today, Boley is a small town but continues to celebrate its rich history.