Deep Deuce
Encyclopedia
Deep Deuce historic neighborhood is a district in Downtown Oklahoma City
, Oklahoma
. It consists mostly of low-rise apartment buildings (built primarily in the 2000s) and formerly vacant mixed-use buildings and shops.
Located a few blocks north of Bricktown
, Deep Deuce was the largest African American
downtown neighborhood in Oklahoma City in the 1940s and 1950s, and was a regional center of jazz music and black culture and commerce. After the civil rights movement of the 1960s, much of the city's African-American community dispersed to other areas within Oklahoma City. Much of the neighborhood was bulldozed to make way for I-235
in the 1960s, but the current downtown boom and renaissance has made the area attractive to developers once again. As a result, little of the neighborhood's original character remains today.
African American
writer Ralph Ellison
, author of Invisible Man, wrote a poem in tribute to the Deep Deuce (incidentally he held a great passion for it as it housed his first job) in 1953. The poem is entitled "Deep Second" and can be found in the posthumous book Trading Twelves.
Downtown Oklahoma City
Downtown Oklahoma City is located at the geographic center of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and is the principal business district of the city. With 115 city blocks and around of office space, downtown Oklahoma City also is the economic, financial, and entertainment center of the city...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. It consists mostly of low-rise apartment buildings (built primarily in the 2000s) and formerly vacant mixed-use buildings and shops.
Located a few blocks north of Bricktown
Bricktown (Oklahoma City)
Bricktown is an entertainment district just east of downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma . It was formerly a major warehouse district. The major attractions of the district are the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark, the navigable Bricktown Canal, and the 16-screen Harkins movie theatre...
, Deep Deuce was the largest African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
downtown neighborhood in Oklahoma City in the 1940s and 1950s, and was a regional center of jazz music and black culture and commerce. After the civil rights movement of the 1960s, much of the city's African-American community dispersed to other areas within Oklahoma City. Much of the neighborhood was bulldozed to make way for I-235
Interstate 235 (Oklahoma)
Interstate 235 in Oklahoma is also known as the Centennial Expressway. The spur route of Interstate 35 is a 5.4-mile-long north–south spur route in central and north-central Oklahoma City. It connects northbound to U.S. Highway 77 on to suburban Edmond and southbound at Interstate 44 on to...
in the 1960s, but the current downtown boom and renaissance has made the area attractive to developers once again. As a result, little of the neighborhood's original character remains today.
African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
writer Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Waldo Ellison was an American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Ellison is best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953...
, author of Invisible Man, wrote a poem in tribute to the Deep Deuce (incidentally he held a great passion for it as it housed his first job) in 1953. The poem is entitled "Deep Second" and can be found in the posthumous book Trading Twelves.