Noted historian Dr. Marvin Kroeker, retired chair of the History Department at East Central University, will be honored Nov. 6 [THURSDAY] for his longtime service to ECU and the community.
ECU's Department of History and Native American Studies will host a reception for Kroeker at 4 p.m. in Danley Hall. Following the reception, a bench will be dedicated in his name on the Tom Crabtree Honor Plaza on the east side of Science Hall.
Kennedy Brown of the Chickasaw Nation, Dr. Bob Blackburn of the Oklahoma Historical Society and retired ECU faculty members Dr. Davis Joyce and Dr. Ray Quiett are scheduled to speak.
Kroeker taught at ECU for 27 years, retiring in 1993. He has said he dedicated his life to frontier history because it was part of his family's heritage. He has written many publications, including several books, about American Indian and Oklahoma history.
He and Guy Logsdon are co-authors of the 1998 book "Ada, Oklahoma: Queen City of the Chickasaw Nation."
Kroeker also was a major force in saving Wintersmith Park's deteriorating amphitheater which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. His efforts to have the amphitheatre nominated for designation on the National Register of Historic Places resulted in the entire park area being nominated then accepted for the Register in 2000.
He also helped get the amphitheatre designated as Ada's Oklahoma Centennial project and successfully applied for funding from the Centennial Commission which awarded $150,000 to the city to begin restoration work.
Kroeker was appointed by the governor to the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Historical Society and was president of the board that selected the architects to design the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City.
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