The image is a photograph that was part of a collection donated to Gilcrease in 2020 by the family of Eddie Faye Gates, a Tulsa educator, community activist and archivist. It depicts one of Gates’ ancestors, Willie Peevyhouse Davis, in a white dress lounging on the shore of a pond or lake near the Davises’ Okmulgee farm. The photograph was taken sometime between 1904 and 1912.
Reproductions of the image have been set up at the five partner locations of Gilcrease in Your Neighborhood: The Gathering Place, 2650 S. John Williams Way; the Oxley Nature Center, 6700 Mohawk Blvd.; Turkey Mountain, 6800 S.
Elwood Ave.; the Ray Harrel Nature Center, 7101 E. Third St.
, Broken Arrow; and the Keystone Ancient Forest, 160 Ancient Forest Drive, Sand Springs. The image will be on display until Dec. 31, 2024.
Family activity guides keyed to each location can be found at each location, as well as at gilcrease.org/gilcrease-in-your-neighborhood . “From the beginning, our goal was to bring Gilcrease artwork to Tulsans and to engage and delight the public when they encounter art in unexpected places,” said Alison Rossi, Gilcrease’s Ann and Henry Zarrow Director of Learning and Community Engagement.
“Public responses to Gilcrease in Your Neighborhood demonstrate how connecting with Gilcrease art, particularly in nature, has fostered individual and collective well-being — from providing opportunities for community connectivity to sparking creativity and curiosity.” Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack Public records and documentation by Gates reveal limited information about the trajectory of Peevyhouse Davis’ life. She briefly resided in Tulsa as a young woman and relocated to Denver in late 1920, months before the Tulsa Race Massacre.
For the rest of her life, she lived in Denver with her husband, Walter Davis, a barber in the historic Five Points and Whittier neighborhood, a longtime sanctuary for the city’s African American community. “This final installation of Gilcrease in Your Neighborhood aims to tell Willie Peevyhouse Davis’ story, to shed light on Black history in Oklahoma and to explore the role of photography in the shifting racial landscapes of the early 20th century United States,” Rossi said. “Visitors to Gilcrease in Your Neighborhood sites today can take a lesson from Ms.
Peevyhouse Davis: relax and take in the view.” Fall programs planned in conjunction with this cycle of Gilcrease in Your Neighborhood include a film screening in partnership with Circle Cinema, an adults-only photography workshop, a free family festival and art show at Greenwood Cultural Center, and a teen poetry workshop inspired by the featured artwork at Rudisill Library. Registration and details can be found at gilcrease.
org . Gilcrease in Your Neighborhood is made possible with support provided by Arts Alliance Tulsa, Dan E. and Neva L.
Brannin Charitable Foundation, Frank and Carol Mulhern, William S. Smith Charitable Trust, Charles and Marion Weber Foundation, Kathleen P. Westby Foundation and Windgate Charitable Foundation Endowment.
The Tulsa World is where your story lives.
