Conclusion

While Oklahomans struggled with a range of issues in the 1960s and 1970s, many longed for the idea of stability and a return to something more normal. But what exactly that normal would look like was less clear. State corruption scandals did not suddenly go away. In fact, between 1998 and 2007, 107 public officials in Oklahoma were convicted of crimes. The counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s largely faded away. So did much of the student activism, though it would increase again in the twenty-first century. The OIC was abolished, but surveillance did not go away. It just became more advanced with new technologies and new fears. One important lesson from Bartlett’s OIC was how easy it was for all sorts of people and groups to come under suspicion and have files created about them. Some individuals like David Hall and Stephen Jones had simply been critical of the sitting governor. Others were targeted because of their work on racial issues, even without evidence of any wrongdoing. Indigenous rights leader LaDonna Harris had a file, despite having no connection to radical groups.

Student activism and the criticism of American society that came with it unsettled many Oklahomans. So too did the corruption scandals of the 1970s and early 1980s. The public backlash against the counterculture movement and disillusionment caused by corruption set the stage for a more conservative shift in Oklahoma politics in the decades ahead. But much of what occurred during this period also set the stage for a growing push by Indigenous nations in Oklahoma to begin regaining control over their tribal governments, schools, healthcare facilities, and policing. Leaders like LaDonna Harris would play an important role in making these changes possible. In the next chapter, we will explore the effort to restore Indigenous rights.