Okemah Community Historic Foundation 

Click on image to see Bio’s

James Boozer
Spokesperson

Steven L. Johnson
Marketing & Communications Director, Webmaster

Chief Okemah

These transplanted blacks and migrating blacks mostly came from Okemah and Boley, Oklahoma to settle on the Bartlett-Heard Ranch.  The people from Okemah and Boley had great respect and admiration for an Indian chief named Chief Okemah.  He was from the Kickapoo Tribe and lived on the reservation in Oklahoma.

Chief Okemah would come down once a year to Boley, to sell his wares and tell stories.  The people thought of him as a wise and intelligent man.  Okemah means “High Intelligence”.  The blacks named their small community Okemah in honor of Chief Okemah.

A Special Tribute

William E. Burt
Okemah Community Historian
6/2/1939 – 2/2/2005

William E. Burt was born in Mineral Springs, Arkansas.  He was five years old when he came to Arizona.  His parents, Winford and Ozaree Davis Burt and grandparents, Edgar and Classie May Davis migrated to Scottsdale Arizona in 1945. They later moved to Phoenix Arizona and settled in the Okemah Community. William attended 40th Street School in the Okemah Community. After completing the sixth grade, he attended and graduated from Percy L. Julian High. He also attended and graduated from South Mountain High School in 1958. William attended Phoenix Automotive School and received a two-year degree in 1960.  He was the first black mechanic technician employee at Standard Oil Service Station in Arizona.  William was drafted in the US Army in 1963 and served two honorable years.  He married an Okemah Girl, Doris Lee Lamkin in 1965.  They had three adorable children, Jamal, Safiyyah, and Hanif Burt. William worked for the United States Post Office in management.  He retired in 1992 from Building Equipment Maintenance after 30 years.

William passed away in 2005 but before his departure William left behind some rich history for us to enjoy.  It became one of his greatest legacies. He wrote a book titled Arizona History, The Okemah Community.  It focuses on a small African American Community which no longer exists in the way he once knew. His only hope was to provide insight on a Community filled with richness and beauty, so we could possess the pride of knowing, understanding and appreciating our grandparents contribution to the Okemah Community and beyond. William hoped his research would be further researched on the remaining rich culture from 32nd Street to 24th Street, South to Roeser Road and North to the Salt River.

Click Here or on the image to hear a very special interview with William E. Burt, in his own words he explains the journey of his grandfather Edgar Davis and  his contribution to The Okemah Community.

Video interview by Jean Reynolds – Chandler Museum
Narrated by Safiyyah Burt-Johnson