01/27/2026
Who is A.R.? Adah Matilda Robinson, the trained artist and educator whose design vision helped shape Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, one of the most recognized Art Deco ecclesiastical buildings in the United States. A 1932 letter from Bruce Goff sparked a long-running authorship debate, but the fuller historical record points to Robinson’s design vision and artistic program, with Goff and the architectural firm providing the technical ex*****on needed to build it. Robinson arrived in Tulsa in late 1916, became the first art teacher at Central High School and Bruce Goff’s high school art teacher, then founded the University of Tulsa Art Department as its first chair. Through Alpha Rho Tau and national arts organizations, she helped establish Tulsa’s cultural credibility during the city’s Art Deco era.
