Black Theater of Ardmore

The Black Theater Building is historically significant because: (1) it is the oldest all-black commercial structure of its type in Ardmore and one of the oldest still intact in Oklahoma, and (2) it is one of the few remaining all-black commercial buildings still standing in Ardmore which was associated with its black business district.

Ardmore was established in 1887 as a rail outlet for agricultural products when the Santa Fe extended its tracks across the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. With the coming of the railroad, this largely undeveloped area was soon occupied by ranches and farms where cotton and cattle were preeminent activities. The Chickasaws, like the other four nations of the Five Civilized Tribes, had brought to Indian Territory their black slaves from the southeastern United States. Hence most of the ranches and farms were operated by Chikasaw owners, but farmed by their black slaves. Following the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation, black slaves of the Chickasaws were given their freedom and most were allotted acreage in Indian Territory.

Ardmore's population grew slowly from 1887 to 1910 when it reached 8,618. It was the principal trading center for south central Oklahoma and had developed a thriving cotton processing and storage industry. During the early 1900s blacks from the rural areas had migrated to Ardmore seeking employment and a sizeable black community of 1,628 population (18.9 percent of Ardmore's total) had emerged by 1910. Associated with the growth of Ardmore's black population was the establishment of several black-owned and operated businesses.

According to Franklin's 1982 history of blacks in Oklahoma, Ardmore was one of four towns outside Oklahoma City and Tulsa which developed its own black business district which included a barber shop, cafe, a grocery, a blacksmith shop, a rooming house, and a variety of other businesses. By 1920 Ardmore's black population had increased to 2,008, or roughly 14.2 percent of Ardmore's 14,181 total population.

To serve the social and entertainment needs of Ardmore's black community of more than 2,000, an all-black theater (movie-house) was built in ca. 1922. It was located in the 500 block of East Main in the area of other black businesses and near the black residential area.

Within the next twenty years, migration from the state, especially in the Depression era years of the 1930s, and movement to larger urban centers such as Oklahoma City took its toll on the all-black community of Ardmore. Most of the black businesses ceased operations and were either destroyed or allowed to stand vacant and deteriorate.

The All-Black Theater Building survived until ca. 1944 when it was purchased by one of the all-black churches, the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal.

For approximately twenty years, the Ardmore Black Theater served an important role in the ethnic history of the community. During a period of racial separatism, the property provided a valuable service to those excluded from white establishments of similar function and it stands as a significant monument to the once-thriving black business district of Ardmore--the only commercial building of its type which remains intact.