| Address: | 3909 E. 5th Place Tulsa, OK 74112 | County: | Tulsa |
| Started: | Completed: | 1939 | |
| Agencies: | WPA | NRHP: | September 6, 2007 |
Current Usage:
Description:
“Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma is a fine example of Public Works Administration (PWA) Art Deco architecture.
PWA was established under U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to boost public building programs during the 1930s depression.
Architects Joseph R. Koberling jr, Leon B. Senter and A.M. Atkinson collaborated to design the Will Rogers High School which was opened in 1939.
The school consists of a two story brick building with two large square towers marking the entrances. There is a large amount of detailed decoration on the building facade.
Under the classroom windows there are blue-grey panels with intricate decoration. Above the windows and the tops of the towers are decorated in a light pick colour. The decoration continues down the towers to the doorways which have two large black lamps standing on either side.
The slightly more decorative tower has a white panel directly above the doors and then two octagonal medallions featuring Will Rogers, one in a cowboy scene and the other with a movie camera, plane and rodeo rider. “Will Rogers High School” is inscribed in gold below these medallions.
The plainer of the towers has a simple row of windows directly above the doors with two similar octagonal medallions this time featuring representations of a male and female student.
Will Rogers High School was one of the many highlights of the 6th World Congress on Art Deco hosted by the Tulsa Historical Society in 2001.” (https://artdecobuildings.blogspot.com)
Copied from the Summary of National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Section 8, Page 56.
Will Rogers High School is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C, as one of the best examples of Art Deco school architecture (New Deal Public Works Administration Grant OKLA-1062-1- DS) in the United States. It is significant under Criteria A & C educationally as well, for its significance as a model “progressive school” whose physical form reflects the educational philosophy of the movement. Designed by Oklahoma architects, Leon B. Senter, and Joseph R. Koberling, its architecture is also associated with well-known craftsmen and designers from Chicago including Karl Kolstad and John Sand, artists and craftsmen with Northwestern Terra Cotta company, Percy Prossor designer with Ornamental Plaster Company; and Alexander C. Rindskopft, interior decorator and artist with a Chicago business. The school’s overall design is specifically significant because it is a direct result of the “progressive” educational movement, which educators in the 1920s and ‘30s promoted to perpetuate democratic ideals and better citizens through real-life educational experiences. Progressive educational values, which evolved from the rapid urbanization of the nation from the 1880s to the 1930s, were the nation’s first attempt to transform common schools into ones that met the needs of a highly diverse and increasingly urban student population. These new educational objectives, which moved from traditional teacher-centered and content-driven education to progressive or learner-centered and process-driven education, created new school plant designs. Nickolaus Louis Englehardt, nationally recognized school planner, construction consultant, and professor at Columbia Teacher’s College in New York City, advised the Tulsa School Board on integrating a progressive school program with the school plant design. Once completed, the school was nationally recognized for integrating progressive education’s goals into a high school building. Will Rogers High School was featured as an ideal school in a major educational study, and promoted as a model school in Time and Life Magazines. Today, the school’s architecture is featured in books on the Art Deco period. It is an especially fine example of this architectural style which resulted from a New Deal Public Works Administration grant. The levels of significance chosen are national and state. It is nationally significant under Criterion C, for its educational and stylistic design merit. Its form represents cutting edge progressive educational philosophy and was so noted in periodicals of the time. Its style. Art Deco, has achieved its own notoriety over the years. Will Rogers High School is consistently recognized as one of the nation’s best examples of Art Deco stylization and ornament. It is also significant statewide as a model progressive school.
Sources:
- Oklahoma Landmarks Inventory Nomination
- The Living New Deal
- Art Deco Buildings.com
- Will Rogers High School Community Foundation
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