JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Lincoln University of Missouri celebrated passion for preservation in honoring prominent Missouri preservationist Crockett Oaks III by conferring an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters on him at Lincoln’s May 9 commencement ceremony. The award is in recognition of Oaks’ commitment to preserving history while continuing to shape the present and the future.
Lincoln University President John Moseley noted that Lincoln “presents honorary degrees to highly accomplished citizens of the nation and world.” Oaks, who serves as executive director and founder of the Lincoln School Project in West Plains, Missouri, fills the bill.
Oaks recently left his post as associate vice chancellor of business support services at Missouri State University–West Plains to focus on the restoration of Lincoln School, a one-room schoolhouse built for Black children in 1926 that closed in 1954 after the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional. Oaks’ father was one of the last students at Lincoln School. The community made use of the building as a meeting place, VFW post and 4-H center until Oaks and his wife purchased it in 2023. The nationally recognized public historian, preservationist and community leader has led the preservation effort of the schoolhouse, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Under Oaks’ leadership, Lincoln School has become known as a space for dialogue, education and cultural preservation.
A native of West Plains, Oaks holds an associate degree in general studies from Kemper Military College in Boonville, Missouri, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminology from the University of Central Oklahoma, and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University. He spent 34 years in the U.S. Army Reserve, specializing in emergency management, leadership development and international coordination. He retired as a colonel in 2022. His career also includes service as an Oklahoma City police officer, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, regional security manager for Shell Oil Co. overseeing operations across the Americas, and chief of investigations for the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office. He recently won election to the West Plains City Council.
This is a landmark year for Lincoln University as it celebrates the 160th anniversary of its founding by Black soldiers at the end of the Civil War. The university awarded associate, bachelor’s, master’s and specialist degrees during the weekend’s commencement events.
Alma Adams, U.S. Representative from North Carolina, was also honored with a Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the 9 a.m. ceremony and gave the commencement keynote address.
