Bios.Tulsa,OK CLINTON, Charles and Louise ======================================================================= USGenWeb NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free Information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ======================================================================= Posted by Pam Roland on 18 Apr 2001 After 75 years of existence, Clinton Middle School is like a large community, with family connections that run deep. Located at 2224 W. 41st St., Clinton Middle School plans to celebrate its diamond anniversary at an open house from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday and invites the Tulsa community to come. During the event, which ends a weeklong celebration, students will perform and the school will show videotapes of former students and school activities, Principal Laura Undernehr said. Noting the rich family ties at Clinton, Undernehr said it's difficult to find a student who didn't have a family member who attended the school. Families attending Clinton represent a tradition that's passed from generation to generation, Undernehr said. The people share a bond because of the closeness of the community. One example of the strong family connection comes from K. Holland and her family. Holland, who teaches seventh-grade geography and social studies, represents the 10th member of her family to attend Clinton. Holland, 41, said she attended school with the parents of many of her students. In 1998, Holland began teaching the classes that her former teacher Jerry Cadion taught. One of Holland's students, John Autry, also has a long family history at Clinton. His parents, grandparents, a great-grandparent and a host of other relatives attended the school. Holland said Autry's mother, as a teenager, participated in her church youth group and Autry's grandfather taught her math and his great-grandmother taught her piano lessons."You can't get away from anything," Holland said, noting the close connections at the school. "This is a village, and if you're a Westsider and have been here for a number of years, you have connection because everybody knows everybody," she said. Many of the past graduates are parents, grandparents and great-grandparents of students who now attend the school. Built in 1925, Clinton initially served as a high school. Clinton has since housed nearly every grade level, Undernehr said. In 1938, Clinton High School converted to a junior high school, and high school students went onto graduate from Webster High School. The change sparked a controversy that continues even today. Who was Webster's first graduating class -- the class of 1938 or the class of 1939? "That's a big deal around here -- whether the first graduating class was that of 1938 or 1939, Undernehr said. She said Clinton High School graduated its last class in 1937. While the class of 1938 attended school at Clinton, they graduated with diplomas printed with the emblem of the newly constructed Webster High School. The 1938 class also received Webster rings. In addition to serving as a junior high school, Clinton even housed elementary grades during the building of Pleasant Porter School, Undernehr said. Undernehr attended the junior high school from 1959 to 1962 and graduated from Webster in 1965, she said. Clinton Middle School was named after a Westside couple who donated the school in the late 1800s. The school occupies the land where the home of Charles and Louise Atkins Clinton once stood. The couple lived on the Half Circle S. Ranch, built with Louise Atkins Clinton's Indian rights money, Undernehr said. The ranch later became known as the Last Chance Ranch. Born on a farm in Georgia, Charles Clinton came to Oklahoma as a cowboy. His wife, Louise Atkins Clinton, was a Creek Indian. Born in Texas, she came to Indian Territory at an early age with her parents. The Rev. Samuel Choecote married Charles and Louise Atkins Clinton on July 27, 1873. They had four children: Fred, Lee, Vera and Paul. It was Louise Clinton who rode horseback and collected money from the cowboys to build the first church and school in Red Fork, according to historical information provided by the school. The legacy of Charles and Louise Clinton lives on, preserved in several buildings that bear the Clinton name. One is Celia Clinton Elementary School. Initially located at what is now Southwest Boulevard, the school now stands at 1740 N. Harvard Ave. It's named in honor of Celia Louise Clinton who was born Nov. 26, 1899, and died of scarlet fever in 1904. Her parents were Lee and Susan Clinton. McBirney Elementary School was located at 1012 W. 36th Place and named after Charles and Louise Clinton's married daughter, Vera, according to Clinton's history. Clinton Middle School, Celia Clinton School and McBirney Elementary Schools were located on the original Charles and Louise Clinton family estate, along with Daniel Webster High School, the old Red Fork Library and Pleasant Porter Elementary School, named in honor of a Creek Indian chief. I came across this article the other day.The school is in Tulsa County.I thought I would share with anyone interested in it. I do have the pictures of Charles and Louise if any one wants to write to me at misteshado@aol.com I will be glad to send them to you. One more note there is a Clinton Oaks Cemetery directly behind the new school and I will be posting those markers sometime this summer but if there is a certain one you want me to look for I would be glad to do so.