OCHS Highlights from 2024
Members of the OCHS Board of Directors with Congressman Frank Lucas in April at the 75th Anniversary celebration of Cloud Creek No. 1, the nation’s first upstream watershed dam built under the authority of the 1944 Flood Control Act (P.L. 534)
The Oklahoma Conservation Historical Society completed its seventh year of operation in 2024. Our mission is “to collect, preserve and share Oklahoma’s rich conservation history.” Here are the highlights of the work accomplished in 2024.
A Photographic Exhibit of the History of Soil and Water Conservation in Oklahoma
The year began with the unveiling of our new museum quality exhibit featuring photographs of Oklahoma’s conservation history. The exhibit features photographs from our collection at the Oklahoma Historical Society and describes Oklahoma’s conservation history from statehood up to the 1980s. We are pleased to report the exhibit was on display around the state most of the year. Here are the places the exhibit has been on display this year:
The State Agriculture Building in Oklahoma City
The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts state meeting
In the spring, the exhibit travelled to Nowata and then to El Reno for the National Land and Range Judging Contest.
In the summer the exhibit had a six week stay in Woodward at the Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum. The museum hosted a community event where our board had the opportunity to discuss the importance of conservation in the history of our state.*
The exhibit ended its 2024 tour with stops in Sayre and Guthrie.
The exhibit is designed to be easily transported for use by conservation districts and regional museums around the state. We are indebted to the Oklahoma Historical Society for funding the development of the exhibit through their Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program.
The exhibit is available for use by the public at events and exhibitions. For more information contact OCHS by email at okconservationhistory@gmail.com
Celebration of the 75th Anniversary of Cloud Creek No.1
In April we partnered with the Washita County Conservation District to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first upstream flood control structure completed in the United States—Cloud Creek No.1. The event took place in Cordell and featured Congressman Frank Lucas who is a long-time champion of the watershed program in the United States. The event highlighted the benefits of the watershed program and the continuing need for operation, maintenance, and repair of this important infrastructure in our state. You can see photos and a write up about the 75th anniversary of Cloud Creek on our website.
Website Update, Rebranding and New Logo
Thanks to a 2024 grant from the Oklahoma Historical Society, our board, working with Siren Media of Oklahoma City, completed a comprehensive update of our website. We invite you to visit it at: https://www.oklahomaconservationhistory.org. As part of this project, we now have a new organizational logo (see above). The board also worked with Siren on an organizational rebranding effort to better focus our messaging and outreach. This also included a strategy to improve our use of social media. Through this project it is our hope to better tell the story of conservation in Oklahoma.
NRCS Conservation History Agreement
Over the past six years in partnership with NRCS and OACD we have worked on three significant projects.
Oral History Collection — in cooperation with Oklahoma State University’s Oral History Research Program, 54 oral histories of Oklahoma conservationists have been completed. In 2024, we added four new oral histories to the project. These oral histories are archived and can be accessed on the OSU Library’s website: https://library.okstate.edu/search-and-find/collections/digital-collections/oklahoma-conservation-heritage-oral-history-collection
Oklahoma Conservation History Photography Collection - working with the Oklahoma Historical Society, a conservation history photo collection was established on their Gateway to Oklahoma History website. The collection is made up of black and white conservation photos primarily from the 1930s through the 1960s. Photos were provided by Conservation Districts and the NRCS. The photos are digitized and labeled and posted to the website. The original photos are permanently archived at the Oklahoma History Center. To date around 10,000 photos are in the collection. The Oklahoma Historical Society continues digitizing the remaining photos we collected. Photos may be accessed at: http://gateway.okhistory.org/explore/collections/OKCHS.
Professional Training — Our agreement with NRCS supports our effort to provide training and education about Oklahoma’s conservation history. In July, several of our board members provided a two-hour training session on Oklahoma’s conservation history at a workshop for 30 new NRCS employees. OCHS is proud to offer training session to conservation professionals on a variety of topics. For inquiries please contact by email at okconservationhistory@gmail.com
New Projects
90th Anniversary of Black Sunday — In August, the board voted to pursue a project in 2025 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Black Sunday (April 14, 1935) and to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Soil Conservation Service (April 27, 1935). A grant application was submitted to the Oklahoma Historical Society to fund three events in April 2025. We are pleased to report that the project has been funded. This is the fourth project our organization has had funded by the Oklahoma Historical Society in our seven years of operation.
Preservation of Aerial Photographs — We have also initiated an effort to coordinate the preservation of the large-scale black and white aerial photographs of Oklahoma taken by USDA since the 1930s. These photographs are important records of Oklahoma land use. We are working with NRCS, the Conservation Commission, Corporation Commission, Department of Libraries, Geological Survey, as well as OSU libraries to identify, preserve, digitize, and make publicly available these important records.
The Passing of Board Member Patti Christian
Our board and Oklahoma’s conservation community was saddened by the death of Patti Christian in June of 2024. At the time of her death, Patti was the District Manager of the McClain County Conservation District. She had served on the Oklahoma Conservation Historical Society board since February 2020 helping represent the interests of Oklahoma’s Conservation District employees. Patti will be missed.
Larry Wright Appointed to the Board
In August the board voted to appoint Larry Wright to the unexpired term of Patti Christian’s board position. Larry brings a wealth of experience to the board. Larry currently serves on the board of the Deer Creek Conservation District. He has been active in the leadership of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts including serving a two-year term as OACD President. He was a career NRCS employee serving as a District Conservationist and RC&D Coordinator among other positions. We welcome Larry to the board and the experience he brings.
Organization and Membership
The Oklahoma Conservation Historical Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. We have a nine-member board of directors. Our 2024 board members were:
Ben Pollard, President Ed Casey, Member
Stan Rice, Vice President Renee Mungle, Member
Larry Caldwell, Secretary-Treasurer Larry Wright, Member
Kim Farber, Member Harry Fritzler, Member
Sam Stalcup, Member
Joins Us — Our organization is dependent on funding from our annual memberships and from grant funds. We do not employ a staff. So, our projects are managed by our volunteers. We are proud of the work we have done in our seven years of operation “to collect, preserve and share Oklahoma’s rich conservation history.” We invite you to join in 2025 to continue our mission. You may join by mailing the membership form or joining on-line through our website: https://www.oklahomaconservationhistory.org/join-donate