U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo to be the keynote speaker for virtual Oklahoma History Conference
The 2021 Oklahoma History Conference is going virtual April 22–23 as scholars, students, historian, and authors from across the state and country share the history and culture of Oklahoma. This year’s lineup will include 11 live sessions, two programs, and 11 on-demand sessions.
The entire conference will be online, including a special tribute to the late legendary Oklahoma musician Steve Ripley by the beloved Payne County band the Red Dirt Rangers, a conversation about this spring's 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony.
The keynote speaker will be U.S. Poet Laureate and Tulsa native Joy Harjo, who is Muscogee (Creek). As previously reported, Harjo – the first Native American named Poet Laureate of the United States – also preparing this week to release her first new recording in a decade, "I Pray for My Enemies," to be released Friday on Sunyata Records/Sony Orchard Distribution.
The 2021 conference, which will have the theme "Perspectives in History," will be free to the public, but preregistration is required. To preregister or get more information, go to www.okhistory.org/about/conference.
