HISTORY IN PROGRESS © [H I P © ] is a compelling and exciting website about African-American Heritage that went into development in August of 2008 and is yet ‘under construction’. Perhaps you are wondering why this name was selected – We do embrace our history! We began searching for our own stories after the movie “ROOTS” appeared on the scene. There is so much richness that we have yet to discover about our families and their stories, if we but try; if we look around in our attics, in Mom’s basement, in family Bibles, in stacks of boxes; search for pictures, papers, files, etc.
We would actually be pleased to post these items and their stories on our website if you’d like. Share with us your family research – Be a part of History In Progress©

HIP FILMS © (History In Progress). We are currently in the process of developing a documentary entitled “Vision of Black Towns”. The trailer for the documentary has been completed and was recently premiered at The 8th Annual West Coast African American Genealogy Summit. Titled “Family History: Putting the Pieces Together,” the Summit attracted approximately 350 genealogists, and we received great reviews!

The first featured town in the trailer is ‘The Crown Jewel of Black Towns’. All about Boley, Oklahoma, located in Okfuskee County, Boley is one of 80 plus Oklahoma All-Black Towns. Between 1900 and 1920, this ‘booming’ locale populated the area with 24,000 people from 24 surrounding All-Black communities and a population of 7,000 actually in the town.

Allow me to share a bit more history with you -- Did you know that Boley was and still is the largest African-American town in this country? Did you also know that Boley has the largest all-Black Rodeo in an All-Black Town? What about the Boley Bank robbery; the Lynching of Laura and Lawrence Nelson? These are but a sprinkling of the many interesting components of its rich history and one of the reasons that I chose Boley as the first feature within the “Visions of Black Towns” series

Additional links on this topic:

Boley Rodeo