Norman school board member Joe Coleman, left, Dr. George Henderson, center, and lawyer Dan Gibbens, debating a school busing issue. Photo by Joe Aker, August 31, 1972. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.

George Henderson

Dr. George Henderson is a trailblazing university educator known for advocating interracial understanding, diversity, and equality in academia. Born in Hurtsboro, Alabama, he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology at Wayne State University in Michigan. Henderson first came to Norman, Oklahoma in 1967, when the University of Oklahoma (OU) hired him as an associate professor of sociology and education. When he and his wife, Barbara, purchased their house, they became the first Black home-owning couple in Norman. 

Dr. George Henderson hosting a seminar at the University of Oklahoma. 1968. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.

At the start of his OU career, Henderson became an important mentor to students and faculty of color during OU's Civil Rights Movement. He helped pave the way for future Black scholars when he established OU's Human Relations Department in 1969, becoming the first African American in Oklahoma to create a degree-granting department. He was then the first African American professor in Oklahoma to be appointed Sylvan N. Goldman Professor of Human Relations.

Dr. George Henderson. 1969. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.

Mr. and Mrs. Henderson have long been community leaders in Norman, promoting civil rights initiatives even today. During his career, Henderson wrote a total of thirty-five books and received countless awards, including the Trail Blazer Award by the Oklahoma Alliance for Affirmative Action and the Black Heritage Lifetime Achievement Award from the State of Oklahoma.