Jack and Steve's latest book, "Skirvin" hit stores with a launch party December 9, at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel at 1 Park Avenue, downtown Oklahoma City. The book is on sale at the Skirvin Hilton, at Oklahoma's Red Dirt Emporium in Bricktown and at Full Circle Books at 50 Penn Place.
"Skirvin" is brought to you by the same team behind the award-winning 2006 book "OKC Second Time Around," which was designed by Carl Brune (who won best design for the title in 2007 Oklahoma Book Awards) and published by Full Circle Books.
As with "OKC Second Time Around," Jack and Steve use a narative novel-style approach to telling the history of the 99-year-old hotel. Their story, fully foot-noted and sourced, addresses mysterious deaths of key hotel figures, family controversies that cost W.B. Skirvin control of the hotel in his later life, the turmoil of the civil rights era, and the often misunderstood efforts by owners in the 1970s and 1980s to keep the legend alive in a downtown that was on the verge of itself going dark.
"Skirvin" is a story of perseverence, glamour and grit. The book tells how a city collectively refused to let the hotel go dark forever, and how bad it got before finally reopening in 2007.
Last Updated on Sunday, 13 December 2009 01:29
Groovy Tunes with Ronnie Kaye and The Scene
Written by Administrator
Wednesday, 02 September 2009 02:19
From Michael Dean at the Oklahoma History Center:
The Oklahoma History Center presents a tribute to Ronnie Kaye and The Scene TV Show this Friday night from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The tribute will include music from four bands including: The Five Americans, Jim Edgar & the Roadrunners, Uptown Syndicate, and Brewer and Brewer. In addition a number of former WKY DJs will also be present including Danny Williams, Don Wallace and Dale Wehba. To set the scene for "The Scene" a group of dancers from the Oklahoma City Thunder and UCO will be performing as Go-Go dancers. This event is part of the ongoing programming related to "Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock and Roll Exhibit."
The Scene ran on WKY-TV from 1966 to 1974. The show was unique in that Ronnie Kaye was able to feature many national recording acts that were appearing in Oklahoma City. The list includes Ray Charles, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ike and Tina Turner, and Smokey Robinson among others.
Some of the local bands who appeared on the show included the Innkeepers, Centuries, Midnight Rebels, and Chosen Few.
Tickets for the event are $15 each and must be purchased before 5:00 p.m. Friday. No tickets will sold at the door. Tickets are available at the admission desk at the Oklahoma History Center, 2401 N. Laird. They are also available at the two Thrifty Pharmacy locations at May and Hefner and 15th and Santa Fe in Edmond. For ticket information, please call the Oklahoma History Center admission desk at (405) 522-0765.
My good friend Doug Loudenback, meanwhile, has posted photos of our visit to Union Station at www.dougdawg.blogspot.com and also has given the city a birthday gift - a full scan of the out-of-print book "The Story of Oklahoma City" by Angelo Scott.
I can't begin to keep up with the amount of videos and photo essays being posted by the guys at www.abandonedok.com. I would direct your attention to a couple, however, that Jack and I will be soon updating with our own insights soon. They include a look Lincoln Plaza, Lonestar School and the Walcourt Apartments.
Finally, our friend Dennis Church has launched a great photo website, www.iconoklahoma.blogspot.com, that is definitely worth a look.
Great History Website
Written by Administrator
Sunday, 07 June 2009 02:12
To date we've enjoyed an alliance with Doug Loudenback, who has the excellent history blog www.dougdawg.blogspot.com and with Larry "Buddy" Johnson, who runs the archives division and writes a monthly feature in the library system's "Info" magazine.
Now we're adding yet another llink - www.abandonedok.com. This site has some excellent videos and essays on old buildings in OKC including the Walcourt building (one of the best undiscovered historic treasures left untouched downtown - someone save this building!) and pre-renovation footage of the Skirvin.
Shane Takes Us for a Ride on the Streetcars
Written by Administrator
Monday, 16 March 2009 03:49
Believe it or not, you're looking at what was the downtown hub of the Oklahoma City Railway Company. For more, visit Shane Hampton's www.rezoneokc.com.
History in the News
