“She was tenacious,” said Rolfe of Luper. “She always expected us to do our best. She taught us to speak well, she included prayer in what we did, she did not mind speaking up and speaking out. She was very brave.” Rolfe wasn’t afraid during the sit-ins, mostly because the students traveled in a group and were trained in responding non-violently when words or actions escalated among staff or patrons. When the sit-ins became intense, the group sang freedom songs, which kept them grounded and focused and gave an outlet for their anxiety. The Oklahoma City group was not subjected to as much violence as they witnessed in other parts of the country, where youth protesters were met with water hoses and dogs. But the work was not without repercussions. “I was arrested, oh, a couple of times,” Rolfe recalls. “We were not put behind bars but taken to the police station and kept in a group.” Rolfe’s father, along with an attorney and other leaders from the NAACP, would arrive to get the students and leaders released. One of Rolfe’s favorite parts of her work with the group of youth was the opportunity to travel to the NAACP national conventions, for which the organization and Luper chartered a bus. For some students, it was their first trip away from home. Rolfe attended conventions in Indianapolis and Atlanta and participated in the March on Washington in 1963. Rolfe relished traveling to new places, witnessing presentations by leaders in the Civil Rights Movement and hearing those leaders discuss strategy in various meetings. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. signed Rolfe’s high school yearbook in Atlanta in 1962. Over the course of Rolfe’s three years participating in sit-ins, she witnessed some restaurants changing their policies and opening to Black community members. As more restaurants desegregated, the group also focused on gaining access to amusement parks and pools.
Come in your best Steampunk or Halloween get-up. Enjoy hands-on Steampunk crafts and activities for the whole family. Free for Museum members or with Museum admission. While supplies last. SteampunK fall CelebratioN October 24 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
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ROLFE (STANDING ON THE FAR RIGHT) PARTICIPATES IN A SIT-IN AT BISHOP'S RESTAURANT IN OKLAHOMA CITY IN 1963.
nationalcowboymuseum.org/kids 1700 Northeast 63rd Street Oklahoma City, OK 73111
METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / OCTOBER 2020 27
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