Remembering Tulsa's Race Massacre
The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
By Daniel D. Isgrigg, Ph.D.
The oil boom in Tulsa in the early 1900s brought prosperity to the young city of Tulsa. The economic opportunities also benefited black citizens who were building their own “colored town” on the north side of the railroad tracks. Black entrepreneurs were building churches, hotels, entertainment establishments, and businesses in the area surrounding Greenwood Avenue. By 1920, the Greenwood District was one of the most successful black commercial districts in the U.S.—known to the whites as “Little Africa” and by its citizens as “Black Wall Street.” But the prosperity of Black Tulsa drew criticism and even jealousy from some white citizens of Tulsa.
Tensions between blacks and whites in Tulsa came to a head on June 1, 1921, when a young black man was accused of assaulting a young white woman in a Tulsa hotel elevator. Incited by a headline in the Tulsa Tribune, a large group of whites in Tulsa demanded authorities to deliver the young man to a lynch mob. Fearing that the Tulsa authorities would not protect the young man, a group of young armed black men raced to defend him. A shot was fired and fighting broke out. Then what started as a skirmish at the courthouse turned into the worst acts of racial violence in American history.
Over the next twenty-four hours, the riot turned into a massacre as mobs of whites exchanged fire with black citizens in the streets of the Greenwood district. Firebombs were dropped from planes on businesses and homes while bullets rained down on black citizens from machine gun installments on top of Standpipe Hill. For their safety, authorities forcibly removed blacks from their homes and businesses as white mobs looted and torched the black community. By the end of the day, an estimated 200–250 people were killed (with an estimated 80% being black), thousands black Tulsans were left homeless, hundreds businesses were destroyed, and virtually the whole thirty blocks of Black Tulsa was burnt to the ground.
Until recently, the memory of this tragic event had all but receded from the minds of the Tulsa community, being virtually ignored for over fifty years by the city and the press. But the effects of this horrific event have persisted in the minds of African Americans in Tulsa. Even with the recent recognition by the city and state of the Tulsa Race Massacre as one of the nation’s greatest tragedies and the movements toward reconciliation by the city, Tulsa is still a divided town. But progress has been made with the establishment of the 2002 Tulsa Race Riot Commission, the building of of John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Center and Park and the upcoming Greenwood Rising History Center.
Excerpted from "Healing for All Races: Oral Roberts’ Legacy of Racial Reconciliation in a Divided City" published in Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology Vol 4, No. 2 (2019).
Books
- Black Wall Street byCall Number: F704.T92 J64 2001ISBN: 157168221XPublication Date: 1998-09-01Early in the twentieth century, the black community in Tulsa- the "Greenwood District"- became a nationally renowned entrepreneurial center. Frequently referred to as "The Black Wall Street of America," the Greenwood District attracted pioneers from all over America who sought new opportunities and fresh challenges. Legal segregation forced blacks to do business among themselves. The Greenwood district prospered as dollars circulated within the black community. But fear and jealousy swelled in the greater Tulsa community. The alleged assault of a white woman by a black man triggered unprecedented civil unrest. The worst riot in American history, the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 destroyed people, property, hopes, and dreams. Hundreds of people died or were injured. Property damage ran into the millions. The Greenwood District burned to the ground. Ever courageous, the Greenwood District pioneers rebuilt and better than ever. By 1942, some 242 businesses called the Greenwood district home. Having experienced decline in the '60s, '70s, and early '80s, the area is now poised for yet another renaissance. Black Wall Street speaks to the triumph of the human spirit
- The Burning byCall Number: F704.T92 M33 2001ISBN: 9780312302474Publication Date: 2003-02-01With chilling details, humanity, and the narrative thrust of compelling fiction, The Burning will recreate the town of Greenwood at the height of its prosperity, explore the currents of hatred, racism, and mistrust between its black residents and neighboring Tulsa's white population, narrate events leading up to and including Greenwood's annihilation, and document the subsequent silence that surrounded the tragedy.
- Death in a Promised Land byCall Number: F704.T92 E44ISBN: 9780807117675Publication Date: 1992-01-01Widely believed to be the most extreme incidence of white racial violence against African Americans in modern United States history, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre resulted in the destruction of over one thousand black-owned businesses and homes as well as the murder of between fifty and three hundred black residents. Exhaustively researched and critically acclaimed, Scott Ellsworth's Death in a Promised Land is the definitive account of the Tulsa race riot and its aftermath, in which much of the history of the destruction and violence was covered up. It is the compelling story of racial ideologies, southwestern politics, and incendiary journalism, and of an embattled black community?s struggle to hold onto its land and freedom. More than just the chronicle of one of the nation?s most devastating racial pogroms, this critically acclaimed study of American race relations is, above all, a gripping story of terror and lawlessness, and of courage, heroism, and human perseverance.
- Reconstructing the Dreamland byCall Number: EBookISBN: 0195161033Publication Date: 2003-04-10The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot was the country's bloodiest civil disturbance of the century. Thirty city blocks were burned to the ground, perhaps 150 died, and the prosperous black community of Greenwood, Oklahoma, was turned to rubble.Brophy draws on his own extensive research into contemporary accounts and court documents to chronicle this devastating riot, showing how and why the rule of law quickly eroded. Brophy shines his lights on mob violence and racism run amok, both on the night of the riot and the following morning.Equally important, he shows how the city government and police not only permitted looting, shootings, and the burning of Greenwood, but actively participated in it by deputizing white citizens haphazardly, giving out guns and badges, or sending men to arm themselves. Likewise, the National Guardacted unconstitutionally, arresting every black resident they found, leaving property vulnerable to the white mob.Brophy's stark narrative concludes with a discussion of reparations for victims of the riot through lawsuits and legislative action. That case has implications for other reparations movements, including reparations for slavery."Recovers a largely forgotten history of black activism in one of the grimmest periods of race relations.... Linking history with advocacy, Brophy also offers a reasoned defense of reparations for the riot's victims."--Washington Post Book World
- Riot and Remembrance byCall Number: F704.T92 R56 2002ISBN: 0618108130Publication Date: 2002-02-22A best-selling author investigates the causes of the twentieth century's deadliest race riot and how its legacy has scarred and shaped a community over the past eight decades. On a warm night in May 1921, thousands of whites, many deputized by the local police, swarmed through the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, killing scores of blacks, looting, and ultimately burning the neighborhood to the ground. In the aftermath, as many as 300 were dead, and 6,000 Greenwood residents were herded into detention camps. James Hirsch focuses on the de facto apartheid that brought about the Greenwood riot and informed its eighty-year legacy, offering an unprecedented examination of how a calamity spawns bigotry and courage and how it has propelled one community's belated search for justice. Tulsa's establishment and many victims strove to forget the events of 1921, destroying records pertaining to the riot and refusing even to talk about it. This cover-up was carried through the ensuing half-century with surprising success. Even so, the riot wounded Tulsa profoundly, as Hirsch demonstrates in a compelling combination of history, journalism, and character study. White Tulsa thrived, and the city became a stronghold of Klan activity as workingmen and high civic officials alike flocked to the Hooded Order. Meanwhile, Greenwood struggled as residents strove to rebuild their neighborhood despite official attempts to thwart them. As the decades passed, the economic and social divides between white and black worlds deepened. Through the 1960s and 1970s, urban renewal helped to finish what the riot had started, blighting Greenwood. Paradoxically, however, the events of 1921 saved Tulsa from the racial strife that befell so many other American cities in the 1960s, as Tulsans white and black would do almost anything to avoid a reprise of the riot. Hirsch brings the riot's legacy up to the present day, tracing how the memory of the massacre gradually revived as academics and ordinary citizens of all colors worked tirelessly to uncover evidence of its horrors. Hirsch also highlights Tulsa's emergence at the forefront of the burgeoning debate over reparations. RIOT AND REMEMBRANCE shows vividly, chillingly, how the culture of Jim Crow caused not only the grisly incidents of 1921 but also those of Rosewood, Selma, and Watts, as well as less widely known atrocities. It also addresses the cruel irony that underlies today's battles over affirmative action and reparations: that justice and reconciliation are often incompatible goals. Finally, Hirsch details how Tulsa may be overcoming its horrific legacy, as factions long sundered at last draw together.
Reports and Resources
- Tulsa-Greenwood Race Riot Claims Accountability ACT of 2007Call Number: E-ResourceISBN: 9780160791475Publication Date: 2007-01-01
- Tulsa race riot : a report / by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. byCall Number: F704.T92 O39 2001Publication Date: 2001
- 2021 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial CommissionThe 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Centennial Commission (the “Commission”), spearheaded by Oklahoma Senator Kevin Matthews, reflects bi partisan representation from all levels of government and all sectors of the City of Tulsa. We hope to serve as a model for the city, state, and nation by demonstrating unity across racial, religious, and political boundaries and proving that differences create opportunities to learn, build, and work with one another.
- John Hope Franklin Center For ReconciliationReconciliation Park is a public-private partnership, owned by The City of Tulsa and managed by the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, Inc. Ultimately, the serious work of reconciliation will occur in the John Hope Franklin Center building, which will house galleries, archives, a digital story-telling booth, documentary projects, conference space, and other facilities appropriate for a historical site of national significance. Through education and community dialogue, the Center's "parlor" will create an atmosphere for healing and reconciliation.
- Greenwood Cultural CenterIn the heart of Tulsa’s teeming African American community, the Greenwood Cultural Center (GCC) is more than just a building or a gathering place. Our mission is its essence: promoting, preserving, and celebrating African
American culture and heritage. The Greenwood Cultural Center stands as a monument to the scores of pioneers, trailblazers, entrepreneurs, professionals, politicos, and citizens who created a renowned and respected community despite formidable odds. - Tulsa Historical Society Photo ExhibitThe Tulsa Historical Society & Museum has created a traveling exhibit on the history of the Greenwood Area and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre for the purpose of educating the community.
Tulsa Stories
- His story, history and his secret : life through the eyes of 109 year old Otis Grandville Clark byCall Number: HSRC -E185.97.C53 H5 2018ISBN: 9781949594065Publication Date: 2018A biography of 109 year old Otis Grandville Clark which includes information on the history of slavery, his friendship with Stepin Fetchit, prohibition and the Tulsa Race Riot in 1921.
- A Matter of Black and White byCall Number: HSRC - E185.97.F46 A3 1996ISBN: 9780806128191Publication Date: 1996-01-15A Matter of Black and White is the personal story of an Oklahoma woman whose fight to gain an education formed a crucial episode in the civil rights movement. Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, of parents only one generation removed from slavery, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher became the plaintiff in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that laid the foundation for the eventual desegregation of schools (and much else) in America. A Matter of Black and White resounds with almost universal human themes-childhood, school, friends, colleagues, community, and a love that lasted a lifetime.
- Bishop Travis B. Sipuel: A Pentecostal Survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race MassacreThe story of Church of God in Christ Bishop, Travis B. Sipuel, a survivor of the 1921 Race Massacre. A blog by Dr. Daniel Isgrigg.
- Healing for All Races: Oral Roberts’ Legacy of Racial Reconciliation in a Divided CityThis article explores Oral Roberts’ legacy of racial reconciliation in the backdrop of the racial history of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Oral Roberts was a pioneer of racial integration of his meetings during the Healing Revival of the 1950s. But his racial vision came to maturity as Oral Roberts University became a center for social uplift for African Americans in the Spirit-empowered movement. Today, that legacy continues to shape Oral Roberts University as a shining example of racial diversity among Christian universities in America.