Oklahoma School for the Blind honors founder Lura Lowrey with headstone dedication

MUSKOGEE – A woman who brought light into the lives of Oklahomans who are blind or have visual impairments was honored 102 years after her death with a headstone dedication on the previously unmarked grave.

Students and staff at the Oklahoma School for the Blind honored Lura A. Lowrey during the ceremony on May 7 in Greenhill Cemetery. The event began in the OSB auditorium with a video highlighting Lowrey’s life. The video was created using historical documents collected by OSB Librarian Susana Jackman.

A formal dedication followed at the gravesite, where Lowrey is buried next to her family. OSB’s choir performed the school anthem and placed a floral arrangement on the headstone. The headstone dedication was made possible through the efforts of the Oklahoma School for the Blind Alumni Association, OSB staff members and the OSB Student Council.

“It is important for all of us to honor this woman who changed the lives of so many people, for the better,” OSB Superintendent Brent Pearce said. “Because of her fight to make an education accessible to people who are blind or have visual impairments, this headstone project felt so important to do. It is our way to say thank you.” 

Lowrey, who was blind since childhood, began raising funds to establish a school in Indian Territory for blind children. She was granted use of the former barracks building at Fort Gibson, where the school officially opened in January 1898 with 10 students.

Lowrey operated the school without government support for the next decade. It was sustained through contributions from both residents of Indian Territory and supporters in surrounding states. She resigned her post in 1907, and the First Oklahoma Legislature appropriated $5,000 in May 1908 for the maintenance of “The Lura A. Lowrey School for the Blind.”

The Oklahoma State Board of Education renamed the school the Oklahoma School for the Blind in 1911, and after several relocations, OSB moved to its present location in accordance with an act of Oklahoma’s Fourth Legislature in 1913.

Lowrey married William Lowrey, a blind man, on July 15, 1902, and the couple had one child who was not visually impaired.

The Oklahoma School for the Blind offers is a division of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services. For more information, phone 877-229-7136 toll free or visit http://osb.k12.ok.us/.

OSB offers free comprehensive academic, extracurricular and outreach programs to blind or visually impaired students who live on campus four days each week, commute from home or attend summer school programs. Academic programs for OSB students meet state-mandated education requirements. Specialized instruction includes Braille, orientation and mobility training, optimum use of low-vision adaptive equipment, assistive technology graphic skills not readily available at other public schools in Oklahoma. Students may participate in sports, leadership programs and award-winning OSB Jazz Band. OSB provides free evaluations and outreach services to students attending local public schools, their families and educators. OSB had a 100% graduation rate in 2024-2025.

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