’75 Years of Television in Oklahoma’ exhibit opens at OK History Center

OKLAHOMA CITY ( KFOR ) – A new exhibit opened at the Oklahoma History Center Museum Thursday.

“75 Years of Television in Oklahoma” is its name. It details the history of our very own station, KFOR , throughout the decades.

The exhibit tells the history in 25 pictures all along a wall in the museum. Twists and turns were all along the way before evolving into what we know today as Oklahoma’s News 4.

“History is a matter of knowing where you’ve come from so that you can decide where you’re going to,” Oklahoma History Center Museum Director Leon Natker said.

The pioneers who paved the way for television in the Sooner State may not have known exactly where they were going 75 years ago.

“But look what it’s become in all of that time,” Natker said.

Curators for the exhibit whittled down the 25-picture TV chronology from about 250.

“It was a great deal of research,” Natker added.

The first TV station license dates back to around 1939. It took another decade for WKY-TV to introduce the “modern miracle” of television to Oklahoma audiences.

“75 years ago, most people thought it was going to be just an elitist thing,” Natker said. “Only a few people were going to own TVs.”

Instead, the medium became wildly popular, despite its growing pains. Older Oklahomans can enjoy seeing the Circle 4 Ranch’s Woody the Birthday Horse and DDD Danny along with a parade of TV newscasts and personalities. KFOR’s changing names over the years and history is nostalgic in the exhibit, but definitely forward looking.

“This was a natural home for this exhibit,” said Natker. “It was a natural place to, you know, bring forward the history of this important part of Oklahoma’s history and economy.”

A free reception was held Thursday night to celebrate the opening of the exhibit. More information can be found at okhistory.org/historycenter/television .

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