Editing Langston, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
Langston was founded on April 22, 1890, by [[Edward P. McCabe]], a Black American political figure from [[Kansas]]. McCabe helped lead a migration of black settlers from southern U.S. states who hoped to escape discrimination by creating a majority-black state in what was then the [[Oklahoma Territory|Territory of Oklahoma]].{{efn|McCabe founded of the ''[[Langston City Herald]]'' newspaper in October 1890.<ref name="EOHC-Langston"/>}} He named the town for [[John Mercer Langston]], a black member of the [[51st United States Congress]] from Virginia.<ref name="EOHC-Langston">[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=LA020 Larry O'Dell, "Langston," ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.] Accessed May 30, 2015.</ref>{{efn|The townsite was actually owned by a white man, Charles Robbins, who surveyed and filed a plat in 1891. The ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'' asserts that the two men collaborated in promoting the town.<ref name="EOHC-Langston"/>}} McCabe used traveling salesmen and African-American newspapers to advertise lots for sale in Langston, and the deeds which accompanied the sale of these lots stipulated that their re-sale could only be to other African-Americans.<ref name="Rummel">{{cite book
 | last = Rummel
 | first = Jack
 | title = African-American Social Leaders and Activists
 | publisher = Jack Rummel
 | year = 2003
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Uw40_NncqkMC&q=Langston%2C%20Oklahoma&pg=PP1
 | isbn = 9781438107820
 }}
</ref>

Langston was an [[List of Freedmen's towns#Oklahoma|all black town]], one of fifty identifiable black towns and settlements created in Oklahoma between 1865 and 1920.<ref>[https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entryname=ALL-BLACK%20TOWNS Oklahoma Historical Society. "All Black Towns" retrieved May 29, 2021.]</ref>

By 1891, Langston had a population of 200, which included a preacher, doctor, and schoolteacher.<ref name="Rummel"/> By 1892, the town had 25 businesses, with a bank and a public school. A Roman Catholic mission was established in 1893 by Bishop [[Theophile Meerschaert]] and the Benedictine Sisters. The town had a telephone system in service in 1895. In 1897, the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature passed a law creating the Colored Agricultural and Normal University at Langston (which later became [[Langston University]]).<ref name="EOHC-Langston"/>