Editing Blackwell, Oklahoma (section)

==History==

===Founding===
[[Image:"Boomers Camp. Arkansas City, Kan. Waiting For the Strip To Open Mar. 1st, 1893." - NARA - 516453.jpg|thumb|left|Boomer camp at Arkansas City, Kansas waiting for Land Run of 1893]]Blackwell came into existence during the [[Cherokee Outlet]] Opening on September 16, 1893, in the run known as the [[Cherokee Strip Land Run]]. The town is named for [[A. J. Blackwell]], who was the dominant force in its founding. Andrew Blackwell had settled in the area in 1882,<ref name="Herringshaw" /> having married the former Rosa Vaught who was of Cherokee descent, he was eligible to found the city. Blackwell served as Justice of the Peace and Mayor of Blackwell.<ref name="Herringshaw">"Blackwell, Andrew Jackson," ''Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century''. Chicago, IL, USA: American Publishers Association, p 117, 1902.</ref>

Blackwell's first school opened in September 1893 in a small, frame building with fifty-two students in attendance. A gradual enrollment increase created a need for ten teachers by 1899.<ref name="founding">[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/B/BL007.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216220814/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/B/BL007.html|date=December 16, 2009}}</ref>

A post office was established on December 1, 1893. Due to a struggle for regional prominence between Blackwell and nearby Parker, the post office was named Parker from April 2, 1894, to February 4, 1895. After that, the name reverted to Blackwell.<ref name="founding" />

Prior to the [[Civil Rights Movement]] Blackwell had a reputation as a [[sundown town]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/sundowntowns.php |title=Sundown Towns by James W. Loewen |access-date=2014-07-24 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304125502/http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/sundowntowns.php |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Loewen, James W. ''Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.'</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Race War Threatened|work=Marietta Daily Leader|location=Marietta, Ohio|date=February 12, 1898|page=1|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87075213/1898-02-12/ed-1/seq-1/|via=Chronicling America|quote=Blackwell, a town 30 miles north of here not located on railroad, is on the verge of a race war. The people of Blackwell have never allowed a Negro to live in the town. Some days ago Col. Blackwell, founder of the town, procured a colony of Negroes to settle in Blackwell and gave each family a residence lot. The Negro families have commenced arriving at Blackwell and the whites declare they shall not live there, and the Negroes say they will stay in the town in spite of the whites. Trouble is expected.}}</ref> having kept out African Americans through violent expulsion and the display of a sign warning them to leave town by sunset. Blackwell's expulsion of its African-American residents around 1893<ref name="segregation">[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/S/SE006.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805114730/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/S/SE006.html |date=2011-08-05 }}</ref> is described in the 1967 book ''From Slavery to Freedom'' by [[John Hope Franklin]].

===Zinc smelter===
[[Image:Blackwell Oklahoma Zinc Smelter 1958.jpg|thumb|Blackwell Zinc Smelter (Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper, September 23, 1958. Caption: 'The Blackwell Zinc Co. smelter employs upward of 1,000 persons in Blackwell and contributes an annual industrial payroll to the city estimated at $4 millions.')]]
The Blackwell Zinc Company smelter first began operations in 1917.<ref name="BL007"/> In 1974, the 80-acre<ref name=Welch>Welch, Judy, "[http://www.newscow.net/story.php?StoryID=1744 Oklahoma town suing over contamination] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530232939/http://www.newscow.net/story.php?StoryID=1744 |date=2008-05-30 }}", ''News Cow'', April 17, 2008</ref> Blackwell Zinc Smelter facility ceased operations.<ref>[http://blackwelluncovered.com/uploads/Operational_History.pdf Blackwell Zinc Co. Operational History Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708012637/http://blackwelluncovered.com/uploads/Operational_History.pdf |date=July 8, 2011 }}, ''United States Environmental Protection Agency''</ref> At the time, it was the city's largest employer, employing 800 people in 1972, and over 1,000 at its peak.<ref name=BL007 /> It also was one of the largest zinc smelter facilities in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20100208006210/en |title=City of Blackwell, Oklahoma Receives Major Settlement in Environmental Case |access-date=2010-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708105116/http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20100208006210/en |archive-date=2011-07-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref> After its closure the land was donated to the Blackwell Industrial Authority (BIA).<ref name=Deed>"[http://blackwelluncovered.com/uploads/Blackwell_Zinc_to_BIA_March_1978.pdf Warranty Deed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708012728/http://blackwelluncovered.com/uploads/Blackwell_Zinc_to_BIA_March_1978.pdf |date=July 8, 2011 }}" December 30, 1974</ref> Soil from the land was repurposed throughout the city, leading to widespread contamination of air and water, including the [[Chikaskia River]].<ref name=Welch/>  [[Corliss Steam Engine (Pawnee, Oklahoma)|One of the plant's two Corliss stationary steam engines]] was moved to Pawnee Oklahoma and preserved; this engine is run for viewing by the public on the first weekend of May.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality has been overseeing remediation of contamination at the industrial park, groundwater, and soil throughout parts of the city since 1992.<ref name=ODEQ>[http://www.deq.state.ok.us/factsheets/land/bwz.pdf Fact Sheet: Blackwell Zinc Smelter Site In Blackwell Oklahoma] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923200449/http://www.deq.state.ok.us/factsheets/land/bwz.pdf |date=September 23, 2010 }}, ''Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality'', June 2007</ref> [[Phelps Dodge|Phelps Dodge Corporation]], a subsidiary of [[Freeport-McMoRan|Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc]], has owned the site since 1999.<ref name=AP>"[https://archive.today/20130127160821/http://www.joplinglobe.com/statenews/x212128724/Lawsuit-claims-Blackwell-polluted-from-old-zinc-smelter Lawsuit claims Blackwell polluted from old zinc smelter]" April 14, 2008</ref> On October 15, 2009, the City of Blackwell filed suit against Freeport-McMoRan calling the contamination a nuisance, and alleging that 58 million pounds of toxic waste remained in the city, causing illness within its 7,200 residents.<ref name=Welch /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://blackwelluncovered.com/uploads/CJ200915_City_of_Blackwell_vs._Freeport.pdf |title=CJ200915 City of Blackwell vs. Freeport |access-date=December 23, 2012 |archive-date=August 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812130930/http://blackwelluncovered.com/uploads/CJ200915_City_of_Blackwell_vs._Freeport.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following several changes of venue between Federal court and Kay County courts, the City of Blackwell and Freeport settled for 54-million dollars on February 4, 2010.<ref name=Rowen>Rowen, Sharon, "[http://www.poncacitynews.com/templates/27621177374725.bsp Public Hearing Held On Blackwell Lawsuit] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719164850/http://www.poncacitynews.com/templates/27621177374725.bsp |date=July 19, 2011 }}", ''The Ponca City News'', February 19, 2010</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://blackwelluncovered.com/uploads/54M_Settlement_for_the_City_of_Blackwell_2-4-10.pdf |title=Settlement Agreement |access-date=December 23, 2012 |archive-date=July 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708013910/http://www.blackwelluncovered.com/uploads/54M_Settlement_for_the_City_of_Blackwell_2-4-10.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===1955 F5 tornado===
{{Main|1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak#Blackwell, Oklahoma}}
Blackwell was a victim of the [[1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak]], a deadly [[tornado outbreak]] that struck the southern and central [[contiguous United States|U.S]] [[Great Plains]] States on May&nbsp;25–26, 1955. It produced at least 46 tornadoes across seven states including two F5 tornadoes in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and [[Udall, Kansas]]. The outbreak killed 102 from three tornadoes while injuring hundreds more. Unusual [[Electromagnetism|electromagnetic]] activity was observed, including [[St. Elmo's fire]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.weather.gov/oun/events-19550525 | title=The Great Plains Tornado Outbreak and Blackwell Tornado of 25-26 May 1955 }}</ref>

The Blackwell tornado formed in [[Noble County, Oklahoma|Noble County]] at around 9:00{{nbsp}}pm CDT before crossing through the eastern portions of the [[Kay County, Oklahoma|Kay County]] town of Blackwell as an [[List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes|F5]] [[wedge tornado]]. Then about {{convert|400|yd|mi|abbr=on}} wide (Grazulis 1991), It claimed the lives of 20 people in Blackwell and injured over 200 before crossing into and dissipating over [[Cowley County, Kansas]]. Along with destroying nearly 200 homes,<ref name="Grazulis">{{cite book | last = Grazulis | first = Thomas P | title = Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991 |date=July 1993 | publisher = The Tornado Project of Environmental Films | location = St. Johnsbury, VT | isbn = 1-879362-03-1 }}</ref> the tornado demolished two of the town's main employers, the Acme Foundry and the Hazel Atlas Glass plant. Four hundred homes were destroyed or swept away, and 500 other homes were damaged.<ref name="Grazulis"/> Sixty businesses were also destroyed and the local [[hospital]] sustained major damage. Most of the western half of the town was spared the worst of the damage.<ref name="Grazulis"/>

To commemorate the 1955 tornado, the Top of Oklahoma Historical Society Museum housed in the 1912 Electric Park Pavilion in Blackwell put on a special exhibition "F5 in 1955" which included a  ‘tornado room’ which displayed artifacts, information, and photographs of the event. Over a year in the making, the exhibit occupied an entire room and was made possible with financial support from the city of Blackwell. “Working with the wonderful people at the Top of Oklahoma Museum and the Udall Historical Society was the best part of the creation of the “F5 in 1955” exhibit," said Dianne Braden, tornado survivor. "To commemorate the event and the loss of 107 people was important to all of us. There’s something for every age in the exhibit.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poncacitynews.com/news/exhibit-opens-1955-tornado-blackwell|title=Exhibit opens on 1955 tornado in Blackwell|date=August 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oml.org/municipal-messenger/2020/2/18/city-of-blackwell-invests-in-its-history-restoring-the-top-of-oklahoma-historical-society-museum|title=City of Blackwell invests in its history by restoring the Top of Oklahoma Historical Society Museum|date=February 18, 2020|website=Oklahoma Municipal League}}</ref>

<gallery>
1955 F5 Blackwell and Udall tornado tracks.gif|1955 tornado tracks map
Blackwelldamage.gif|1955 tornado destruction map of Blackwell
Tornado damage. Blackwell, Oklahoma - NARA - 283884.jpg|1955 tornado damage of Blackwell
</gallery>