LAWTON ? Two years and two days after President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, blacks in Lawton still were denied access to a highly popular swimming park.
The act outlawing segregation in schools, public places and employment had no effect on Doe Doe Recreation Park, a Lawton destination on a hot summer day. It was a private operation that had the right, legally at least, to deny entrance to anyone the owners chose.
On July 4, 1966, 42 years ago today, about 200 mostly black protesters descended on the park's gates carrying American flags, posters and singing religious and national hymns. Fifty-five were arrested for trespassing.
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