Will Rogers High School
3909 East 5th Place
Built: 1938
GPS
N 36 09.161
W 95 56.030
This school was designed by Leon B. Senter and Joseph R.
Koberling, Jr. Typical of PWA period Art Deco, this school was featured in a
Time magazine article "outlining the high school pattern of the future" in which
it was called "a model progressive high school" in "one of the most progressive
school systems in the study."
The elaborate buff brick school features two large towers at the front corners
of a large main block of classrooms. The towers are supported by stepped
pilasters with ornate details in terra cotta "capitals". Panels above the double
doors feature Will Roger’s life in two phases. One depicts his cowboy days with
a horse, roped steer, and the prairie, and the other his movie days with a reel
camera, airplane, and polo rider. The school has an auditorium designed to serve
1,500 students.
the short description was prepared by the Tulsa Preservation Commission
Henry Frnka Jr. Memorial Field