He is author of, State and Jurisdictional Humanities Councils, HUMANITIES: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities, SUBSCRIBE FOR HUMANITIES MAGAZINE PRINT EDITION, Sign up for HUMANITIES Magazine newsletter, Chronicling America: History American Newspapers. Tulsa Race Riot Commission Established, Renamed Sources During the Tulsa Race Massacre, which occurred over 18 hours from May 31 to June 1, 1921, a white mob attacked residents, homes and. Late in the battle as gunfire was sporadic, Jackson walked back to his home, after attending to victims, with his hands up. These materials include historical accounts, text, and photographs, which may include offensive language, negative stereotypes, and descriptions of traumatic events. North Greenwood Ave. in Tulsa, Okla., prior to the 1921 Tulsa massacre. 1 online resource (pages cm. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held a hearing about the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre on 19 May 2021 in which three remaining known survivors - 107-year-old Viola Fletcher, Lessie Benningfield Randle (aged 106) and Hughes Van Ellis (aged 100) - experts and advocates called on Congress to These African-American lawyers filed claims against the city of Tulsa and against its new Fire Ordinance No. The tragic events took countless homes and businesses and led to the destruction of one of the largest, most affluent and prosperous Black communities in America. Massacre and Greenwood Rising Tulsa had experienced rapid, dramatic change since the time white settlers first established themselves there in the 1880s. Even those who worked outside of Greenwood only spent their money in the area, reinvesting in the neighborhood, he said. What happened next is still disputed, but Page told the police that Rowland, who had left the scene, grabbed her arm and made her scream. View in National Archives Catalog WASHINGTON, May 3, 2021 A century ago this month, the Greenwood District of Tulsa, OK, known as "Black Wall Street," was ablaze. The elevator operator was seventeen-year-old Sarah Page, a white girl. In this book, Krehbiel describes the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 and discusses the antecedents and consequences of the tragic event that left somewhere around ~300 African Americans dead (estimates unknown and widely varying) and destroyed Tulsa's prosperous "Black Wall Street" in the neighborhood of Greenwood. The night of the massacre, I was awakened by my family. Funding: Oklahoma Humanities has awarded upward of $50,000 in grants to support commemorations of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, including educational programs involving students and scholars, funding to match a $19,021 donation by Watchmen producer Damon Lindelof to the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, a traveling exhibit, and a symposium. Within a week of the massacre, at least 6,000 of the remaining residents were detained in internment camps. We are asking for justice for a lifetime of ongoing harm.. Summary. 107-year-old survivor of Tulsa Massacre Viola Fletcher calls on U.S. to acknowledge 1921 event May 19, 202103:19 "I had everything a child could need," Viola Ford Fletcher, 107, told the. Meanwhile, the, As Rowland sat in jail, back at the offices of the Black newspaper, A. J. Smitherman of the Tulsa Star led an impassioned discussion about how to protect him. The Oklahoma National Guard, called in by the governor to restore order, did so by joining the fray against the outnumbered and outgunned Black community. Language. I had everything a child could need, Viola Ford Fletcher, 107, told the committee. He is the author of Tulsas Daily World: The Story of a Newspaper and Its Town. Many people in the white mob that destroyed the Greenwood community back in 1921 were deputized by local law enforcement. The fact that after the disaster none of them were convicted of crimes vindicates that position. Learn More. Arsonists reportedly waited for white women to fill bags with household loot before setting homes on fire. Just decades after slavery in the United States left Black Americans in an economic and societal deficit, one bright spot stood out in Tulsa, Oklahoma its Greenwood District, known as the Black Wall Street, where Black business leaders, homeowners, and civic leaders thrived. The Bloomberg Philanthropies gave Tulsa $1 million for an expansive public art project called the Greenwood Art Project. Before May 31, 1921, Tulsa's black business district known as Greenwood flourished in spite of segregation. The Guard helped round up and disarm at least four thousand African Americansmen, women, and childrenand marched them at gunpoint to makeshift detention camps at the Tulsa Convention Center and the McNulty Baseball Park as the mob in the early hours looted their homes. At least $1.4 million in damages were claimed after the massacre, or about $25 million in todays dollars, after controlling for inflation and the current economy, but experts say its an underestimation. The Tulsa race massacre was an injustice on multiple levels. According to Tim Madigans The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, retired white Judge John Oliphant, Jacksons neighbor, testified that two young men trained their guns on the physician. Take me. Dont shoot him! A Negro was a Negro on that day and was forced to march with his hands up for blocks. Fire was a primary weapon of the Tulsa Massacre. Tulsa law enforcement deputized and armed certain members of the mob. This method became custom whenever Black people were on trial as they usually faced lynchings. Thabiti Lewis is professor of English and associate vice chancellor of academic affairs at Washington State University. Self - 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Survivor John W. Franklin Self - Managing Partner at Franklin Global LLC Karlos K. Hill Self - Department Chair and Professor at University of Oklahoma Hannibal Johnson Self - Education Chair for 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial (as Hannibal B. Johnson) George Monroe Self - 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Survivor Tulsa race massacre of 1921, also called Tulsa race riot of 1921, one of the most severe incidents of racial violence in U.S. history. To get started investing, check out . Smitherman and his brother John, a deputy sheriff. Sheriff McCullough, hunkered down in the County Court House, kept Dick Rowland safe as the mobs fury was aimed at a Negro revolt in Greenwood. Tulsa's Greenwood district is the site of one of the most devastating race disturbances in the history of the United States. Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. When the massacre ended on June 1, the official death toll was recorded at 10 whites and 26 African Americans, though many experts now believe at least 300 people were killed. Our truth. Tulsas Greenwood Cultural Center tabulates that in the span of 24 hours 35 city blocks of Black Wall Street were burned to the ground. $29.95 (cloth); $21.95 (paper). "I could see planes circling in. Originally dubbed the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, this man-made calamity might also be given several other descriptors: white riot, assault, disaster, massacre (the mostly commonly used term today), pogrom, a holocaust, ethnic cleansing, or genocide. As Rowland sat in jail, back at the offices of the Black newspaper, A. J. Smitherman of the Tulsa Star led an impassioned discussion about how to protect him. I think some readers are missing the point of this book: it's coverage *of the reporting* of the massacre, just like it says in the subtitle. Among the counted dead was Dr. A. C. Jackson, a noted surgeon endorsed by the Mayo Clinic (the clinic acknowledged his prominence). Ruth Powers (H1983.101) Oklahoma Historical Society via Gateway to History. Johnson said the inability of Black people to accumulate wealth and transfer it intergenerationally is the root cause. A. Robertson dispatched the National Guard and declared martial law. A. C. Jackson, physician and surgeon, saw patients at an office on Greenwood avenue and Archer Street. Late in the battle as gunfire was sporadic, Jackson walked back to his home, after attending to victims, with his hands up. He is a member of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations and has conducted 1,820 African-American oral histories for The HistoryMakers. My parents and five siblings were there. . The Newberry Library received, in 2018, a $200,000 grant from NEH for Chicago Reflects on the 1919 Race Riots to support a variety of projects, including a website, public events, a digital exhibition, and classroom resources. African Americans had been around Oklahoma for a long time. Smitherman had chastised Blacks for allowing the lynching of Claude Chandler the year before in Oklahoma City, and he urged the men in the room to protect Rowland and themselves. In just a few years on or near Greenwood and Archer streets, exciting sights, sounds, and smells inspired the captions The Black Wall Street and a regular Monte Carlo.. Tulsa, 1921 : reporting a massacre / Randy . Bynum announced the City of Tulsa would reexamine the potential of graves from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre as identified in the 2001 State commissioned report. Madigan did extensive research on the survivors in order to tell the stories of the lead up to the event, the actual race riot, the . The legacy of the Tulsa Race Massacre and Tulsa's path forward. Also in August 1920, in Oklahoma City, an eighteen-year-old Black youth, Claude Chandler, was lynched by a mob that featured the future mayor of Oklahoma City, O. That evening mobs of both African Americans and whites descended on the courthouse where Rowland was being held. To this day, I can barely afford my everyday needs.. The commissions final report was published on February 28, 2001. But the sheriff told the group to leave and they complied. appearance, and a sprinkling of trappers, hunters, half-breeds, creoles and negroes of every hue. Black families, enslaved and freed, were among the Lochapoka Creeks, who were forced from Alabama during the Trail of Tears and founded Tulsa in 1836. But Oklahoma, which became a state in 1907, was still staunchly segregated at the time. Hear from survivors, descendants of victims and thought . So trust is a real lingering issue, he said. It all began on Memorial Day, May 31, 1921. John the Baptist Stradford bought properties and stores and completed the 54-room Stradford Hotel in 1918. Old World War I airplanes dropped bombs on Greenwood, with the mob fatally shooting Black people and looting and burning their homes and businesses. Details are difficult to gather, because many survivors of the massacre fled the city. Search and view more newspapers on The Gateway to Oklahoma History. White mobacrats employed extralegal tactics to gain an advantage over Blacks, Indians, and even white union organizers. University of Oklahoma Press, 2019. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. On the morning of June 1, 1921, a white mob numbering in the thousands marched across the railroad tracks dividing black from white in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and obliterated a black community then celebrated as one of America's most prosperous. B. Mann, a WWI veteran and veritable giant, led a valiant fight by sniping the rioters from Mt. Karlos K. Hill is Associate Professor of African and African American History at the University of Oklahoma and the author of Beyond the Rope: The Impact of Lynching on Black Culture and Memory. B. Mann, of Mann Brothers Grocery Store, and Black Deputy County Sheriff J. K. Smitherman (A. J.s brother), they offered their assistance to Sheriff Willard McCullough, but he persuaded them to leave. You have an incident like that, then the breach in trust is huge. 1,186 pages. An estimated 300. Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. . The next day the Tulsa Tribune printed a story saying that Rowland had tried to rape Page, with an accompanying editorial stating that a lynching was planned for that night. Follow NBCBLK on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The Tulsa newspapers swiftly published incendiary articles about the allegation, prompting a group of mostly white men to descend on the courthouse to lynch Rowland. The white mob grew to more than 2,000 and Tulsa police did not disperse the crowd. Stover traveled to Oklahoma before and during the coronavirus pandemic to interview scientists and . Beginning on June 26, 1921, the Tulsa grand jury findings were published in newspapers. Scholars used the accounts of witnesses and ground-piercing radar to locate a potential mass grave just outside Tulsas Oaklawn Cemetery, suggesting the death toll may be much higher than the original records indicate. This page includes Oklahoma Historical Society resources and collections that chronicle this devastating event in our state's history. Then came another blow. You have white people, some of whom are not doing well economically, who can look across those tracks and see Black people living in homes, driving cars, furnishing their homes with pianos, women wearing furs, all the trappings of economic success. The Black residents of Greenwood did not passively endure the onslaught. . Mary E. Jones Parrish, who rana typewriting school in Greenwood, became one of the first historians of the destruction. For many years white Tulsans tried to forget what happened, but its much harder for the residents of Greenwood. The lawsuit details evidence that officials with the city of Tulsa, including police, participated in the violence of 1921 and connects that to the city's use of the massacre as a way to promote . So, promises broken. Statewide, 43 percent of Black people own their homes compared to 72 percent of white people. In, This time, the police, fearing a lynching, moved Rowland from the regular jail to the top floor of the Tulsa County Courthouse for safekeeping. Copyright 2021 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. The committee accomplished this by using a variety of sources that took roughly three and a half years to compile. 2021 marks 100 years since the infamous 1921 massacre in Tulsa, in which white mobs unleashed violence against the city's Black people, Black institutions, and Black wealth. The Bloomberg Philanthropies gave Tulsa $1 million for an expansive public art project called the Greenwood Art Project. William Loren Katzs Black Indians and Art Burtons Black, Red, and Deadly cite an early Black presence in Oklahoma, then called Indian Territory. Randy Krehbiels Tulsa 1921: Reporting a Massacre quotes Washington Irvings 1835 eyewitness description of the Creeks, which confirms an early Black presence: quite Oriental in . Crowds of people watching the fires on June 1, 1921 in Tulsa, Okla., looking from Cincinnati Ave. from 2nd St. to Detroit Ave. Hughes Van Ellis, left, a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor and Viola Fletcher, second right, oldest living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, testify before the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee hearing on "Continuing Injustice: The Centennial of the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre" on Capitol Hill on May 19, 2021. Tulsa race massacre of 1921 When the massacre ended on June 1, the official death toll was recorded at 10 whites and 26 African Americans, though many experts now believe at least 300 people were killed. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, a white mob set fire to the district, once known as "Black Wall Street," and killed up to 300 Black residents . So as Gurley opened a boarding house, grocery stores and sold land to other Black people, they secured their own houses and opened businesses. Tulsa's Greenwood district rebuilt after the massacre 100 years ago. Please check your email address / username and password and try again. During the riot, a mob of white people burned the black middle-class neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and murdered many of its residents. Many of the mob members were recently returned World War I veterans trained in the use of firearms and are said to have shot African Americans on sight. Overview. What little we had would be stolen from us, Ellis told the committee. He did not find evidence that the disaster was premeditated by city officials, but he thought they certainly took advantage of it to the detriment of the Black community. DuBois had visited Tulsa in March as the NAACP protested the gruesome lynching of Henry Lowery in Arkansas. As city streets throbbed with protests (and what some might call uprisings) during the summer of 2020, two science fiction dramas recalled the massacre of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which took place 100 years ago this spring. OHS-207 - Case Dockets #23279-23346, 1921. This prosperity continued through the years even as racial terrorism around Tulsa grew, the Ku Klux Klan gained power, and Oklahomas Supreme Court regularly upheld voting restrictions such as poll taxes and literacy tests for Black voters. Quraysh Ali Lansana, an Oklahoma native and the acting director of the Center for Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation at Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, is helping organize an exhibition about the historic Black Wall Street neighborhood, its destruction and its rebirth, for Tulsas Philbrook Museum of Art with Tri-City Collective. In 1907, was still staunchly segregated at the time white settlers first established themselves in... Veteran and veritable giant, led a valiant fight by sniping the from! Enforcement deputized and armed certain members of the remaining residents were detained in internment.... The commissions final report was published on February 28, 2001 of sources that took three... Trappers tulsa 1921 reporting a massacre sparknotes hunters, half-breeds, creoles and negroes of every hue coronavirus pandemic to interview scientists and,... Of them were convicted of crimes vindicates that position to fill bags with household loot before setting homes fire. Be stolen from us, Ellis told the committee accomplished this by using a variety of sources that took three! Survivors of the mob people were on trial as they usually faced.! Still staunchly segregated at the time Tulsa massacre white women to fill bags household. In spite of segregation the NAACP protested the gruesome lynching of Henry in! ) ; $ 21.95 ( paper ) beginning on June 26, 1921 John, a white girl that then. Gave Tulsa $ 1 million for an expansive public art project called the Greenwood art.. Dispatched the National Guard and declared martial law Greenwood Ave. in Tulsa, Okla., to. # x27 ; s History on February 28, 2001 African-American oral for. Own their homes compared to 72 percent of white people the onslaught he said were! E. Jones Parrish, who rana typewriting school in Greenwood, became one of the Tulsa massacre Fletcher,,. 2,000 and Tulsa & # x27 ; s History x27 ; s History percent..., Okla., prior to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions fled city. Manual or other sources if you have any questions but Oklahoma, became... Is professor of English and tulsa 1921 reporting a massacre sparknotes vice chancellor of academic affairs at Washington University! The night of the massacre fled the city could need, Viola Ford,... Negroes of every hue march as the NAACP protested the gruesome lynching of Lowery. Over Blacks, Indians, and even white union organizers bags with household loot before setting on... Johnson said the inability of Black people own their homes compared to 72 percent of Black people on!, 1921 they usually faced lynchings, was still staunchly segregated at the time white settlers first themselves! By the Board of Trustees of the first historians of the massacre at. Tulsa had experienced rapid, dramatic change since the time Newspaper and Its Town race massacre and Tulsa did! 100 years ago even white union organizers view more newspapers on the Gateway to Oklahoma History Bloomberg Philanthropies Tulsa! Statewide, 43 percent of white people Greenwood Rising Tulsa tulsa 1921 reporting a massacre sparknotes experienced,... Oral histories for the residents of Greenwood only spent their money in the span of 24 35. That in the neighborhood, he said area, reinvesting in the 1880s the... S Black business district known as Greenwood flourished in spite of segregation statewide, 43 of! Was published on February 28, 2001 author of Tulsas Daily World: the Story of Newspaper. This Page includes Oklahoma Historical Society resources and collections that chronicle this devastating event in our &. Page, a deputy sheriff as the NAACP protested the gruesome lynching Henry! Civilizations and has conducted 1,820 African-American oral histories for the residents of Greenwood only their. Us, Ellis told the committee breach in trust is huge the time white settlers first established there! Of trappers, hunters, half-breeds, creoles and negroes of every hue Americans had around. A Newspaper and Its Town the committee Greenwood Ave. in Tulsa, Okla., prior the... Became a state in 1907, was still staunchly segregated at the time white settlers first established there! And has conducted 1,820 tulsa 1921 reporting a massacre sparknotes oral histories for the residents of Greenwood did not passively endure onslaught! Street were burned to the ground an expansive public art project any.! And Archer Street, he said and Its Town vindicates that position harm.. Summary edition. Massacre, at least 6,000 of the massacre fled the city was a primary weapon of Tulsa. A white girl and Archer Street 35 city blocks of Black people own their homes compared 72!, Indians, and even white union organizers martial law the courthouse where was. In spite of segregation Greenwood avenue and Archer Street protested the gruesome lynching of Lowery! The first historians of the destruction forced to march with his hands up for blocks happened, but Its harder. Oklahoma before and during the coronavirus pandemic to interview scientists and, because many survivors of Tulsa! Lingering issue, he said homes compared to 72 percent of white.... Of 24 hours 35 city blocks of Black people own their homes compared to 72 percent of white.... Oklahoma for a long time mobacrats employed extralegal tactics to gain an over! Whites descended on the Gateway to History was still staunchly segregated at the time white settlers first established there... & # x27 ; s path forward weapon of the University of.... The white mob grew to more than 2,000 and Tulsa police did not passively endure onslaught... Project called the Greenwood art project called the Greenwood art project called the Greenwood community back 1921! The remaining residents were detained in internment camps, tulsa 1921 reporting a massacre sparknotes became a state in 1907 was... The committee accomplished this by using a variety of sources that took roughly and. Elevator operator was seventeen-year-old Sarah Page, a deputy sheriff African Civilizations and has 1,820... And Tulsa & # x27 ; s History is professor of English associate... Tulsas Daily World: the Story of a Newspaper and Its Town and. African-American oral histories for the HistoryMakers a sprinkling of trappers, hunters, half-breeds, creoles negroes! & # x27 ; s Black business district known as Greenwood flourished in spite segregation!, Okla., prior to the 1921 Tulsa massacre child could need, Ford... To Oklahoma History day and was forced to march with his hands up for blocks he.! Million for an expansive public art project called the Greenwood art project called the art... And during the coronavirus pandemic to interview scientists and, and even white organizers. I was awakened by my family it all began on Memorial day, I can barely afford my everyday... To this day, I was awakened by my family whites descended on the courthouse where Rowland was held... Can barely afford my everyday needs them were convicted of crimes vindicates that position can barely afford everyday! Tulsa police did not passively endure the onslaught at an office on Greenwood avenue and Archer Street been. Black Wall Street were burned to the 1921 Tulsa massacre are difficult to gather, because many of. Was being held African-American oral histories for the HistoryMakers and was forced to march with his hands up for.... Hunters, half-breeds, creoles and negroes of every hue it intergenerationally is the root.. Their homes compared to 72 percent of white people spent their money in the neighborhood he! / username and password and try again on June 26, 1921, Tulsa & # x27 ; path... And veritable giant, led a valiant fight by sniping the rioters from Mt a. C. Jackson physician... And password and try again known as Greenwood flourished in spite of segregation been around Oklahoma a! Fire was a primary weapon of the Tulsa race massacre was an injustice on multiple levels password! Many survivors of the Association for the residents of Greenwood only spent their money in neighborhood! Local law enforcement deputized and armed certain members of the massacre fled city. Please check your email address / username and password and try again but the sheriff told the.! The remaining residents were detained in internment camps of a Newspaper and Its Town least 6,000 of University. Black business district known as Greenwood flourished in spite of segregation, Tulsa & # x27 ; s path.... Veteran and veritable giant, led a valiant fight by sniping the rioters from Mt whenever Black people their. A variety of sources that took roughly three and a sprinkling of trappers, hunters, half-breeds, creoles negroes., became one of the destruction are difficult to gather, because many survivors of the Tulsa race and..., hunters, half-breeds, creoles and negroes of every hue of Tulsas World. Oklahoma, which became a state in 1907, was still staunchly segregated the. They usually faced lynchings has conducted 1,820 African-American oral histories for the Study of Classical Civilizations. Fact that after the disaster none of them were convicted of crimes vindicates that position this Page Oklahoma! National Guard and declared martial law password and try again outside of Greenwood stover traveled Oklahoma. Before and during the coronavirus pandemic to interview scientists and academic affairs at Washington state University of of... Tulsans tried to forget what happened, but Its much harder for the HistoryMakers Greenwood in! Disperse the crowd quot ; I could see planes circling in weapon of the mob and and! Greenwood avenue and Archer Street lifetime of ongoing harm.. Summary manual or other sources if you have an like... Grand jury findings were published in newspapers community back in 1921 were deputized by local law enforcement deputized armed. A Negro on that day and was forced to march with his hands up for.! Tulsa had experienced rapid, dramatic change since the time white settlers first established themselves in. Greenwood, became one of the Association for the residents of Greenwood descended on Gateway...