My list of Oklahoma genealogical resources has some interesting databases linked on it, but, overall, the records are not terribly plentiful.
Today, while looking for Stufflebean records, I came across a new-to-me collection on FamilySearch, Oklahoma School Records 1895-1936, which are digitized online! It appears they went online on 3 February 2017, so it is a recent addition and I haven’t just been overlooking it for years!
The collection description:
This collection includes school records, primarily annual censuses, of pupils who attended schools in Oklahoma counties between 1895 and 1936. This collection will be published as records and images become available. The Woodward County records were indexed by the Northwest Oklahoma Genealogical Society. The records are generally arranged by years and then in numerical order by school district; many of them list the name of each pupil and include the pupil’s date of birth and the names of parents or guardians.
Notice that it mentions Woodward County records and says the collection will be published as images become available. The records that I found were from Cleveland County, Oklahoma, which is where Norman and Noble are. Those are the two cities where the Stufflebeans lived in the first half of the 20th century.
What information is found on the records? Although data is recorded on index cards, it appears the information collected was standardized:
Nation Family on Left
The name of each school aged child is recorded, along with their dates of birth and parent’s name. A street address is listed, if there was one. If the family was Native American, there was a spot to record the tribe to which they belonged. It doesn’t look like the parent signed the cards, though. I know Clay Nation was unable to write his name. The two places where C.C. Nation is written in looks like the enumerator wrote them both. The cards are also dated, so you know when the child was in school.
There are multiple years listed for many of the counties so it’s possible to develop a range of years in which the child was enrolled.
This is a fabulous addition to the Oklahoma state genealogical resources. If you have family in Oklahoma, be sure to look at this collection.