Harold C. Aldridge Sr. was born November 17, 1917, in the small Arbeka community outside of Boley, Oklahoma to Lovie Aldridge and Alita Menser Aldridge. In 1942, he married Captoria Wells from Taft. Both of his parents, all of his six siblings, and his wife preceded him in death. Mr. and Mrs. Aldridge resided in Taft, Oklahoma, where the reared their three children following his honorable discharge from the United States Army during World War II in 1946. He earned Bachelor's degree in Industrial Arts and Math from Langston University and his Master's degree in Industrial Arts from Northeastern State University. Mr. Aldridge had 37 years as an educator. He spent most of his educational career in the Moton School System in Taft, Oklahoma. He worked in many positions that included classroom teaching for 15 years, vocational technical coordinator for 15 years, principal for 7 years, and coaching for 19 years. His areas of teaching were in math and industrial arts. Students under his tutelage have gone on to receive high honors and launch successful careers. Although his education career was noteworthy, he garnered an impressive high school basketball coaching record where he won numerous district and regional tournaments and four state championships. The first state championship was in 1953-54, when Oklahoma was segregated and the other three were after desegregation in 1960, 1961 and 1962. These accomplishments led to his 1981 induction into the Oklahoma Coaches Hall of Fame. For his success as a two-time-All-American football player at Langston University in 1940's, he received membership into the Jim Thorpe All-American Greats in Oklahoma in 1975, and induction into Langston University's first Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2012, Mr. Aldridge was inducted into the Oklahoma African American Educators Hall of Fame. Mr. Aldridge strongly believed in supporting his community. While in the position as a vocational educator, he developed the talents of his students by assigning them practical jobs such as construction on church buildings and homes. The citizens of Taft elected Mr. Aldridge to serve on the Taft City Council where he focused on important issues such as quality education for students, for which he received the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for Outstanding Community Involvement in 2007. This commitment extended into other civic organizations including the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., where he was initiated into the Alpha Pi Chapter at Langston University in 1941. He was a Charter member of the Muskogee Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi in 1946 and in 1988 became a life member. He was a member of the Masonic Trinity Lodge #84, and a devoted member of Flipper Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Taft, Oklahoma since 1946, where he was Trustee Emeritus and a member of the Sons of Allen.