American Originals
Activists and Trailblazers
OK Famous
Hall of Americans
Eureka!
100
The namesake of this Elementary school, he is one of the most celebrated American poets - incorporating both realism and transcendentalism into his works.
Walt whitman
100
Born into slavery and the namesake of a prominent Tulsa Highschool- this orator, educator, and author led the Tuskegee institute and found himself at odds with contemporary W.E.B. Du Bois on the best methods of uplifting Black Americans.
Booker T. Washington
100
Arborists rejoice! While not a person, this local landmark is significant to the Creek Nation and the namesake of one of our Elementary schools.
Council Oak
100
The namesake of this Elementary, this depression era president also had shanty "-villes" derisively named after him, before being defeated by on the campaign trail by FDR.
Herbert Hoover
100
Widely regarded as the most prolific American inventor in history, the namesake of these Middle and High schools is credited with the development of the modern lightbulb, the motion picture camera, and the phonograph.
Thomas Edison
200
The namesake of this TPS Middle School - you might find this thrice named poet, philosopher, naturalist, and essayist at "Walden Pond"
Henry David Thoreau
200
A Puerto Rican Civil Rights activist whose landmark supreme court case set a meaningful precedent in the history of school integration, contributing to the end of de jure segregation in the US. Oh yeah - and we named an Elementary school after her!
Felicitez Mendez
200
The first and only Oklahoma congresswoman until the election of Mary Fallin in 2006, this Elementary school namesake was also the first postmistress appointed by the president.
Alice Robertson
200
In an address before leaving the office of the presidency, this former Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe and Elementary school namesake warned of the emerging threat of the power of the newly-coined "military industrial complex".
Dwight D. Eisenhower
200
This man with a noise-making surname invented another noisemaker - the first patented telephone (and got an Elementary school named after him).
Alexander Graham Bell
300
Known as Oklahoma's favorite son - we went ahead and named both a High School and Middle School after this rope artist who made 50 silent films and 21 "talkies" by the end of his life.
Will Rogers
300
Co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, the activist and labor leader namesake of this Elementary school is also credited with inventing the United Farmworkers slogan - "Sí se puede " (Yes you can)
Dolores Huerta
300
Not being satisfied with being a professional basketball player in the NBA, this Tulsa native was an accomplished smooth jazz musician before his untimely passing in 2009 - nine years before we would vote to rename an Elementary school in his honor.
Wayman Tisdale
300
Who lives who dies who tells your story? We named an Elementary school after this non-presidential Founding Father who gained renewed public attention in recent years for dropping sick apocryphal rhymes.
Alexander Hamilton
300
Ah nuts! This founding father-named agricultural scientist promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil-depletion- improving the lives of farmers and becoming the namesake of a TPS middle school. Oh yeah, he also invented peanut butter.
George Washington Carver
400
Don't fall asleep on your desk! While this House of Seven Gables author is best known for his works that show up on Highschool English syllabi, we named an Elementary School after him.
Nathanial Hawthorne
400
Sharing naming honors of this Elementary school with fellow legal figure in American history, his name John, this barrier-breaking supreme court justice was named to the court by LBJ - but Robert Caro hasn't gotten to that section yet.
Thurgood Marshall
400
A graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, the namesake of this Elementary school was a famed historian most known for “From Slavery to Freedom,” an influential study of the Black experience in America.
John Hope Franklin
400
"Give me liberty or give me death" proclaimed this American Revolutionary leader, orator, and statesman who got a TPS Elementary school named after him.
Patrick Henry
400
This mononymous Native American polymath invented Cherokee syllabary, enabling reading and writing in the language, and is the namesake for this Elementary site (but don't mix him up for the tree).
Sequoyah
500
While not every Pre-K through 5th grader wandering the halls would think of it as a "magic kingdom"- their school nevertheless shares a name with this animator-turned-amusement park empresario.
Walt Disney
500
Bravo! This notable contralto of the early 20th century paved the way for African American performers playing to integrated audiences and the school she's named after is our lowest-numbered palindrome (as well as our lowest repdigit for the true nerds out there).
Marian Anderson
500
Boring! This Tulsa area philanthropist believed that he should “give back to the community”, and his long list of good deeds eventually got his name on this "international school".
Henry Zarrow
500
This third president in US history to be assassinated, leading during a period of American expansionism and the prosecution of the Spanish-American war, is the namesake of an Elementary school in TPS.
William Mckinley
500
Afraid of needles? Stay away from this hero virologist namesake of a TPS Elementary school: he might try to give you a polio vaccine.
Jonas Salk