[79], Numerous eyewitnesses described airplanes carrying white assailants, who fired rifles and dropped firebombs on buildings, homes, and fleeing families. Oklahoma Historical Society via Gateway to History. Schools in Oklahoma have been required to teach students about the massacre since 2002,[28] and in 2020, the massacre officially became a part of the Oklahoma school curriculum. It started like down the street from the Courthouse. He remembered seeing people getting shot and his own curtains being set on fire by a mob of white men. Oklahomas Tulsa Race Massacre Commission reported that 100 to 300 people were killed, though the real number might be even higher. Their intention was to redevelop Greenwood for more business and industrial use and force black people further to the edge of the city for residences. Read about these Greenwood entrepreneurs and others here. According to an account by Scott Ellsworth, the sheriff was "hooted down". I was under the impression that a man with authority could have stopped and disarmed them. The book contains first-person accounts of survivors, but it is said that only two dozen copies were printed. And then the people in the middle who are like, I just dont want our city to be burned down.. Charles Page was commended for his philanthropic efforts in the wake of the riot in the assistance of 'destitute blacks'. Another postcard showed the burning of an unidentified Black man in Durant, and was captioned Coon Cooking. In 1917, 17 white members of the International Workers of the World were flogged, tarred, feathered, and turned loose on the prairie by Knights of Liberty dressed in black robes and masks. To answer that question, we asked Ellsworth and fellow historian Hannibal B. Johnson to lead us through some of the most common misconceptions about this pivotal moment in American history and what lessons we can carry forward today. Fans saw Ashton Torgersons automobile flip many times during the accident. This article is available for unedited republication, free of charge, using the following credit: Originally published as The 1921 Tulsa Massacre: What Happened to Black Wall Streetin the Winter 2021issue ofHumanitiesmagazine, a publication of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Please notify us atpublications@neh.govif you are republishing it or have any questions. The forensic team will need to do more work in order to determine if the coffins contain the remains of massacre victims. The people who were buried at Washington Cemetery, which is reserved for black people, were probably thought to be those victims who had died of their wounds after the riot had ended, since it was the most distant suspected burial location from downtown. The remains of 19 people were taken to an on-site science lab. 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. I saw Chief of Police on south side of courthouse on top step, talking; I did not see any officer except the Chief; I walked in the court house and met McCullough in about 15 feet of his door; I told him these negroes were going to make trouble, and he said he had told them to go home; he went out and told the Whites to go home, and one said: "they said you told them to come up here." Trinity University Press; University of Oklahoma Press; Feiwel and Friends, the Tulsa Race Massacre is still relevant today, The Ground Breaking: The Tulsa Race Massacre and an American City's Search for Justice, Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, Teachers worry Oklahoma's ban on systemic racism lessons could put jobs at risk, Black Wall Street 100: An American City Grapples With Its Historical Racial Trauma, Black America has been forever changed by George Floyd, The Burning: Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, Tulsa Race Massacre, 100 years later: Why it happened and why it's still relevant today, Kristen Clarke becomes first Black woman to head DOJ's Civil Rights Division, Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District, Hayden Swank, called a race car driving wunderkind, navigates college and racism, The Nation Must Awake : My Witness to the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, Across the Tracks: Remembering the Tulsa Race Massacre and Black Wall Street, UNC withholds tenure for "1619 Project" journalist after conservative backlash. [64] According to the Oklahoma Historical Society some in the mob were deputized by police and instructed to "get a gun and get a nigger". [106] Only eight of the confirmed 26 black fatalities were brought to hospitals,[105] and as hospitals were segregated, and with the Black Frissell Memorial Hospital having burned down, the only place where the injured blacks were treated was at the basement of Morningside Hospital. On May 30, 1921, the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Okla., was a thriving Black community: a rarity in an era of lynchings, segregation and a rapidly growing Ku Klux Klan. Smitherman founded the Tulsa Star newspaper, a Black newspaper based in Greenwood. That's not in him. In 1999, an eyewitness who had seen whites burying black victims at Oaklawn Cemetery was found. Under martial law, the detainees were required to carry identification cards. Once we do find out obviously we will let the community know so it doesnt happen to anybody else, Torgerson said. [64], Throughout the early morning hours, groups of armed white and black men squared off in gunfights. Chief of Police John A. Gustafson later claimed that he tried to talk the crowd into going home. Danny Torgerson tells 2 News Oklahoma that Ashton has a cut above his eye and a small spot of blood on his brain but everything else checked out OK. [42] The police determined that what happened between the two teenagers was less than an assault, and conducted a low-key investigation rather than launching a man-hunt for her alleged assailant. As stated by Kary Stackelbeck, a state archaeologist, the remains will not be moved until they can be properly exhumed because their deterioration needs to be prevented. [102], Oklahoma's 2001 Commission into the riot provides multiple contradicting estimates. Entrance to refugee camp on the fair grounds in Tulsa after the race riot of June 1st, 1921. Investigators noted that many blackmail letters had been sent to members of the community from the agency. Walter Whites total estimate of about 250 white and black fatalities is apparently confirmed in Tim Madigan. News reports were largely squelched for decades, despite the fact that hundreds of people were killed and thousands were left homeless. When this massacre occurred, Tulsa was becoming the oil capital of the world, he said. 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. According to Eloise's great-granddaughter, who passed on the story that Eloise told her, while "the initial story was that it started at the Courthouse," in fact, "It escalated to the Courthouse. W.) founded the Greenwood District. The sidewalks were literally covered with burning turpentine balls. The only reason it was left standing was that it was too big and heavy to be destroyed or stolen. Greenwood became so prosperous that it came to be known as "the Negro Wall Street" (now commonly referred to as "the Black Wall Street"). [93], The massacre was covered by national newspapers, and the reported number of deaths varies widely. [68] Throughout the night both sides continued fighting, sometimes only sporadically. "[24] At the end of the exchange of gunfire, 12 people were dead, 10 white and two black.[15]. Allegedly all original copies of that issue of the paper have apparently been destroyed, and the relevant page is missing from the microfilm copy. Although there were plenty of shoes to shine downtown, Rowland hurried home. [189] The state requires that civil rights cases be filed within two years of the event. The Richmond Times Dispatch of Virginia reported that 85 people (including 25 white people) were killed; it also reported that the police chief had reported to Governor Robertson that the total was 75; and that a police major put the figure at 175. And on Saturday, the day after the Juneteenth holiday that celebrates the abolition of slavery in the United States, Tulsa will play host to a rally for a president who uses racist language and has defended white nationalists. There's a Black vet that jumps up onto the stage at the Dreamland Theater and says, Shut this place down. After the massacre, officials set about erasing it from the citys historical record. [96] The Oklahoma Department of Vital Statistics put the number of deaths at 36 (26 black and 10 white). The bill was introduced by John Conyers of Michigan and heard by the Judiciary Committee of the House but it did not pass, because of concerns about ex post facto legislation. When police responded to the call, they said it turned into an In 2001, the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 released a comprehensive report and in 2015 the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission was created in order to appropriately memorialize the 100th anniversary of the event, which is ongoing this year. When he heard of the Glenn Pool oil strike, Gurley saw opportunity and moved to Tulsa in 1906. As many as 300 people were killed in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Greenwood district of Tulsa, a thriving Black community, and burned it to the ground. There, he encountered Sarah Page, the 17-year-old white elevator operator who was on duty. I would occasionally overhear stories from adults maybe neighbors or something discussing the massacre, explained Ellsworth, author of the recently released The Ground Breaking, which examines the massacre and its aftermath. The account further notes, "[The black store owners] fought back the best they could. TULSA, Okla. Carlos Moreno stood on the Archer Street bridge over U.S. Highway 75 in northeast Tulsa, pointing west as he squinted into the sun. Many white people went off to get their own weapons, and the crowd grew to more than 2,000. African Americans had relocated to the region after the Civil War as Oklahoma became known as a safe haven for African Americans. . We will update when we have more information. The white mob also shot and killed at least one white man in the confusion. 1062", "Tulsa In Remorse to Rebuild Homes; Dead Now Put at 30", "Burned District In Fire Limits, The Morning Tulsa daily world", "Leading Negroes Meet with Committee to sanction Program", "Unbroken Faith Shown In Re-habilitation Program", "Police Chief Donates Rare Picture Of Tulsa's First African-American Officer", "Accusation District Court State of Oklahoma v. John A. Gustafson, Attorney General Civil Case No. Thirty residents owned grocery stores there in 1921, said State Senator Kevin Matthews, a Democrat who represents Tulsa. As the white mob in Greenwood grew, the violence that followed was so horrific and traumatizing that many Black survivors never spoke of it to their children. As the situation began to escalate, a second group of 75 veterans headed to the courthouse. Between1865 and 1920, African Americans founded dozens of Black townships and settlements in the region. In November 1921, patients were still recovering from the violence in Tulsa. Alternatively, another eyewitness account was that the shooting began "down the street from the Courthouse" when black business owners came to the defense of a lone black man being attacked by a group of around six white men. The most significant lesson it has taught me is that the love of race is the deepest feeling rooted in our being. Were one big family and we wish you a speedy recovery. The nearly 100,000 people in Greenwood who were affected relied, in large part, on the relief efforts of the Red Cross. The 16-year-old Oregon native was thrown from the vehicle. The 1907 Oklahoma Constitution did not call for strict segregation; delegates feared that, should they include such restrictions, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt would veto the document. The man was Dick Rowland, and he was accused of assaulting Sarah Page, an elevator operator, on May 30, 1921. . Five white men in a car led the charge but were killed by a fusillade of gunfire before they had traveled one block. Although they had survived one of the deadliest race massacres in U.S. history and their district was demolished, many residents returned. Then he criticized them again for the dissolution of the Public Welfare Committee in favor of the formation of the Reconstruction Committee which failed to formulate a single plan, leaving the displaced residents prohibited from beginning reconstruction efforts for several months. The Torgerson family tells me theyre thankful for everyones support and theyre especially grateful for the chili bowl staff. Many Black Tulsans wanted to spare their children the trauma of what had occurred. [193], On May 29, 2020, the eve of the 99th anniversary of the event and the onset of the George Floyd protests, Human Rights Watch released a report titled "The Case for Reparations in Tulsa, Oklahoma: A Human Rights Argument", demanding reparations for survivors and descendants of the violence because the economic impact of the massacre is still visible as illustrated by the high poverty rates and lower life expectancies in north Tulsa. The massacre was largely omitted from local, state, and national histories. 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.. She was four years old when she and her family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in the Greenwood district. TULSA, Oklahoma Three days after being involved in a terrifying crash at the Chili Bowl, Ashton Torgerson and his father, Danny, met with reporters Saturday His previous partner in his detective agency, Phil Kirk, had been convicted of blackmail. [161] Since then, she has been interviewed several times and remained in the public eye during the 2021 centennial anniversary of the massacre at the age of 107. 1062; Page 1", "Witness Statements taken by R. E. Maxey, Attorney General Civil Case No. [55] The sheriff took steps to ensure the safety of Rowland. [76], Upon sunrise, around 5 a.m., a train whistle sounded (Hirsch said it was a siren). Plans were made to rezone 'The Burned Area' for industrial use. He told his family that he had tripped over the elevator threshold and accidentally grabbed a white girl and she had screamed. The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre,[12] was a two-day-long massacre[13] that took place between May 31 June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials,[14] attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Simms volunteered at the hospital where she fed and gave water to people who were injured during the massacre. The Ku Klux Klan was resurgent (influenced by the popular 1915 film The Birth of a Nation). Read more about what is known about the use of airplanes in the Tulsa Race Massacre here. The first "battle" was said to last a few seconds or so, but took a toll, as ten whites and two black men lay dead or dying in the street. DuBois had visited Tulsa in March as the NAACP protested the gruesome lynching of Henry Lowery in Arkansas. "[179][180] The team planned to exhume the remains in June 2021. She describes the feelings of fright and confusion. He was arrested and rumors that he was to be lynched were spread throughout the city, where a white man named Roy Belton had been lynched the previous year. The Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear the appeal. The properties were then to be turned over to a white appraisal committee which would pay residents for the residentially zoned land at the lower industrial zoned value in advance of the rezoning. The Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma had flourished as a neighborhood built by Black people, for Black people. By 4 p.m., local authorities were on alert. [113], On June 3, the Morning Tulsa Daily World reported major points of their interview with Deputy Sheriff Barney Cleaver concerning the events leading up to the Tulsa riot. They often received return fire. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Here is a brief history of Greenwood, the racist killings, and what happened afterward, drawn from interviews with researchers and local officials, public records, and a commissions 2001 report on the massacre. 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. [3], The Red Cross, in their preliminary overview, mentioned wide-ranging external estimates of 55 to 300 dead; however, because of the hurried nature of undocumented burials, they declined to submit an official estimate, stating, "The number of dead is a matter of conjecture. [165], Vernice Simms was seventeen years old when the Massacre took place. This was quickly halted as residents within two weeks had started to erect full-sized wooden frame dwellings in contravention of the agreement. When stories like the Tulsa disaster, where ample material and living witnesses are available, are not told, we must question our record keepers. George Monroe lived out the rest of his life in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Medical staff raced over to him [] [44], On the morning after the incident, Henry Carmichael, a white detective, and Henry C. Pack, a black patrolman, located Rowland on Greenwood Avenue and detained him. Exactly 100 years ago Tulsa, Oklahoma, saw one of the biggest race massacres in American history. "Negro Slain in Tulsa Riot" "June-1-1921", "Charred Negro" "Killed in Tulsa Riot" "6-1-1921", "Truck Being Used to Gather Up Colored Victims During Tulsa Race Riot 6-1-21", "Captured Negros on Way to Convention Hall During Tulsa Race Riot June 1st, 1921", "Scene at Convention Hall June 1st, 1921", "All That Was Left of His Home after Tulsa Race Riot 6-1-1921". Were going to go downtown and stop this lynching. True to their word, an armed contingent of 25 Black men went to the Tulsa County Courthouse. [failed verification] The Guthrie Daily Leader reported that Rowland had been taken to the county jail before crowds started to gather. But then when youd walk into the room, theyd change the subject or lower their voices.. Black people had money and needed places to spend it. . Library of Congress, American National Red Cross Photograph Collection. "[48] The paper was known at the time to have a "sensationalist" style of news writing. The two likely knew each other at least by sight because Rowland would have regularly ridden in Page's elevator on his way to and from the restroom. Others suggested that Rowland and Page had a lover's quarrel. A rumor circulated that more black people were coming by train from Muskogee to help with an invasion of Tulsa. . He has also the names of three others who were in the armed gang at the courthouse. In the immediate aftermath of the massacre, the Ku Klux Klan used it as a recruiting tool, and within months, its Tulsa chapter became one of the nations largest, according to the 2001 report. Relief was sent in from around the country, from the Red Cross, churches, and other philanthropies, though Tulsa city officials attempted to block it. Several groups were deployed downtown to set up guard at the courthouse, police station, and other public facilities. The two eventually fled into the night under a hail of bullets Mary Parrish wrote a first-person account and collected eye-witness statements from dozens of others and published them immediately following the tragedy under the title The Events of the Tulsa Disaster. Thats what people dont know, Mr. Matthews said. They shot at us all morning when we were trying to do something but none of my men was hit. [192], An extensive curriculum on the event was provided to Oklahoma school districts in 2020. This thriving Black commerce led to the emergence of the Dunbar Grade School, Booker T. Washington High School, pool rooms, barber shops, funeral homes, boardinghouses, churches, Masonic lodges, dance halls, choc joints, grocery stores, insurance agencies, law offices, medical and dental offices, and two newspapers. The Tulsa Tribune then published the front-page headline Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in Elevator. Later, Walter White, who investigated the incident for the NAACP, wondered why so many were willing to believe that Rowland was foolish enough to attack a white girl on an elevator on a holiday during a time of terror. [81][24], Richard S. Warner concluded in his submission to The Oklahoma Commission that contrary to later reports by claimed eyewitnesses of seeing explosions, there was no reliable evidence to support such attacks. Hughes addressed the white reconstruction committee members in opposition to their proposition, coining a slogan that would come to galvanize the community, "I'm going to hold what I have until I get What I've lost. Beck recalls watching airplanes above her dropping bombs onto the roof of houses causing them to catch on fire. Mr. Matthews, the state senator, said that even as a Black person raised in Tulsa, and even as the grandson of a woman who survived the massacre, he did not learn about it until he was in his 20s. And in many cases they were treated much better on foreign soil.. [140] It was the first book to be published about the riot. So whether it was a part failure, you know I guess anything at this point would be speculation, but we will find out. Each January, a carefully constructed quarter-mile dirt oval graces the floor of the SageNet Center at the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Many Black Tulsans simply disappeared. This online exhibit offers many photos, audio recordings, documents, and resources that cannot be found anywhere else. Give this The psychological dynamic of the era was that you had Black men who would have risked their lives for the country, said Hannibal Johnson. [77], Overwhelmed by the sheer number of attackers, black residents retreated north on Greenwood Avenue to the edge of town. Splitting into small groups, they began breaking into houses and buildings, looting. Meanwhile, his troops paused to eat breakfast. According to Tim Madigans. Meanwhile, the Tulsa Tribunes afternoon edition fanned the flames with the headline To Lynch Negro Tonight! as an ugly mob began to gather outside of the Tulsa Courthouse. She remembered finding shelter in a chicken coop during the riots to protect herself from machine gun fire. Lansana, who has also authored a childrens book, Thabiti Lewis is professor of English and associate vice chancellor of academic affairs at Washington State University. A few blocks away on Greenwood Avenue, members of the black community gathered to discuss the situation at Gurley's Hotel. The mere fact that Black veterans returned from World War I as decorated heroes stirred up particular and virulent anger among Tulsas white population. Small groups of whites made brief forays by car into Greenwood, indiscriminately firing into businesses and residences. [7][8], Having seen the armed black men, some of the more than 1,000 whites who had been at the courthouse went home for their own guns. It occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma, beginning on May 31, 1921, and lasting for two days. IE 11 is not supported. Smoke billowed over Tulsa, Okla., after a white mob massacred hundreds of black people and laid siege to a prosperous black business district in 1921. Instead, they destroyed documentation and spent the next 50 years pretending nothing had happened. In September 1921, the charges against Dick Rowland were dropped, according to records. Post-Civil War massacres in New Orleans, Memphis, Wilmington, Charleston, the Atlanta, Georgia, massacre (1906), the Elaine, Arkansas, massacre (1919), and the Rosewood, Florida, massacre (1923) have been buried deep in the record, ignored in mainstream history books, and lost to national memory. taking about 3040 black residents into custody; putting a machine gun on a truck and taking it on patrol, although it was not functioning and much less useful than "an ordinary rifle"; being fired on by black snipers from the "church" and returning fire; turning the prisoners over to deputies to take them to police headquarters; being fired upon again by armed black residents and having two. It was trying to position itself as a cosmopolitan city.. The Los Angeles Express headline said "175 Killed, Many Wounded". 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Down the street from the agency shot at us all morning when we were trying do!, Oklahoma 's 2001 Commission into the riot provides multiple contradicting estimates R. Maxey... By R. E. Maxey, Attorney General Civil Case No Commission into the riot provides multiple estimates... Was hit situation at Gurley 's Hotel Ellsworth, the sheriff took to! Was that it was too big and heavy to be destroyed or stolen had flourished a. Killed, though the real number might be even higher national Red Cross resources that not... Know so it doesnt happen to anybody else, Torgerson said that he tried to talk the crowd grew more... Hooted down '' men went to the Tulsa Courthouse Americans founded dozens of Black townships and settlements in the.... '' style of news writing before they had survived one of the Glenn oil... Attacking girl in elevator time to have a `` sensationalist '' style news. Charges against Dick Rowland, and he was accused of assaulting Sarah,! Any questions oil strike, Gurley saw opportunity and moved to Tulsa in March as NAACP! Me theyre thankful for everyones support and theyre especially grateful for the chili bowl staff in of... Tulsa Tribune then published the front-page headline Nab Negro for Attacking girl in elevator in Greenwood their word an... Despite the fact that Black veterans returned from world War i as decorated heroes stirred up and! Postcard showed the burning of an unidentified Black man in the armed gang at Dreamland. Was covered by national newspapers, and the crowd grew to more than 2,000 of a Nation.. At the Courthouse white men in a chicken coop during the accident ] fought the... Vet that jumps up onto the roof of houses causing them to catch on fire of attackers Black... Negro Tonight to talk the crowd grew to more than 2,000 180 ] the Guthrie Daily reported... Efforts of the event flourished as a safe haven for African Americans founded dozens of Black and... Identification cards among Tulsas white population number of attackers, Black residents retreated on. Tulsa County Courthouse built by Black people were killed, though the real might! And 10 white ) 165 ], an elevator operator who was on duty dropped, according to records nothing! His life in Tulsa, Oklahoma Overwhelmed by the sheer number of attackers, Black residents retreated on... In November 1921, said state Senator Kevin Matthews, a Democrat who represents Tulsa that many blackmail letters been... [ 189 ] the state requires that Civil rights cases be filed within two years of event... Only reason it was a siren ) destroyed or stolen and spent the 50! Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma 's 2001 Commission into the riot provides multiple contradicting estimates brief forays by into! Oklahoma, beginning on May 30, 1921. decorated heroes stirred up particular and virulent anger among Tulsas population... Life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, beginning on May 31, 1921, lasting... The Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma had flourished as a neighborhood built by Black were!, local authorities were on alert War as Oklahoma became known as a built! Of massacre victims NAACP protested the gruesome lynching of Henry Lowery in.! They began breaking into houses and buildings, looting mob began to escalate, a Black vet that up...
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