When NASA needed physicists and engineers in the 1950s and 1960s, 26 graduates from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford answered the call. This week on LoyalTV, we honor their contributions during the golden age of space flight.
Pioneer William Weatherford was drawn to the western plains of the Oklahoma Territory to stake a claim in the Cheyenne-Arapaho Land Opening and form a community of his own. William nurtured this burgeoning settlement into a town that embraced factory and manufacturing early, as well as using ranching and agriculture as an economic driver. The Works Progress Administration (WPA), which built the still-standing Weatherford National Guard Armory, helped reinvigorate the area during the Great Depression. Today, Weatherford has emerged as a vibrant, modern powerhouse in the wind energy industry and is home to Southwestern Oklahoma State University.