Cherokee Nation, Vinita Community Celebrates Attucks School Cafeteria Remodel

VINITA, Okla. -The Cherokee Nation gathered with Vinita community members on Wednesday to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly remodeled Attucks School cafeteria.

Vinita Public Schools donated the property to the tribe's housing authority in 2019 under Oklahoma House Bill 1334.

The historic building now houses the Boys and Girls Club of Vinita and received a $3.5 million preliminary investment from the tribe to rehabilitate the structure which includes a commercial kitchen on site. The original hardwood floors in the gymnasium were restored during the remodel. The tribe reopened the facility after the initial $3.5 million remodel at a ceremony on January 11, 2022.

An additional $1.5 million investment was made to recently renovate the cafeteria with commercial-grade equipment while renovating drainage infrastructure on the property to include culverts and a new sidewalk.

"This investment represents the the power of partnerships and priorities to help restore a rural community, as we have often done at Cherokee Nation," said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. "In many communities across Cherokee Nation, community infrastructure falls into disrepair and once great buildings become memories. We are fortunate to have acquired this property at no cost to the tribe years ago thanks to former Okla. State Rep. Chuck Hoskin, my father. He led a movement to help this community utilize this space for the betterment of Vinita. This space was saved and people will remember the history of Attucks School and use this facility for many more generations to come."

During the 2022 dedication the tribe earmarked the building to be used by the Boys and Girls Club. The program has provided nutrition and a safe place for dozens of children to exercise and learn after school.

"This cafeteria is much more than just a building or a dollar amount, it's a place to gather and practice the good medicine of visiting and learning with one another," said Cherokee Nation Deputy Principal Chief Bryan Warner.

Former Okla. State Rep. Chuck Hoskin sponsored HB 1334, which allowed public school systems to transfer surplus properties, which allowed Vinita Public Schools to transfer the property to the Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nation at no cost to the tribe.

"This is a special place with its historic value and the connection that the community has with it," said former state representative Hoskin, who also serves Cherokee Nation Businesses' public affairs matters. "When I attended Attucks School, we didn't have a cafeteria, we just had sack lunches. When you see a child sitting down with a plate and laughing its worth any cost. As Cherokees, we will always look out for the children."

The school building was constructed in the 1910s as a segregated school in Craig County and served as the only secondary school in the area for black students to graduate from until desegregation. The Work Progress Administration (WPA) added a gymnasium to the property under the New Deal, stirring economic development in the area during the Great Depression.

Attucks was desegregated in 1939 and thereafter used as a school in the VPS system. It became a surplus property in the early 2000s.

Attucks School was entered into the National Historic Register of Places in 2009.