The massacre of Tulsa's Black Wall Street
White mobs destroyed Black Wall Street in 1921. But where are the victims' bodies?
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Nearly 100 years ago, a white mob destroyed an American neighborhood called “Black Wall Street,” murdering an estimated 300 people in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That incident — known as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — has been largely left out of US history books. Today, a century later, the city still has a lot of questions. For one, where are the bodies of the victims? As the city's mayor re-opens the search for mass graves, we take a look at what happened back in 1921…and why finding these graves still matters to the people of Tulsa.
For more reading, check out the links below:
Vox’s reporting on an eyewitness account of the horrific attack:
The Washington Post’s in-depth story on the massacre and the current challenges of gentrification:
And to take a look through more digitized photos, audio, and documents from 1921, check out the Tulsa Historical Society’s collection:
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Dr. D. Lifschitz lecture at the Tulsa Historical Society
Debbie Lifschitz, granddaughter of Sam & Julie Travis, original residents of the mansion which now houses the Tulsa Historical Society, traveled from Israel to Tulsa for research in January 2014. On the evening of 27 January, she gave a lecture on the history of the Travis Family from its origins in Europe and their immigration to the United States and life in Tulsa.
Route 66 Historical Village in the Red Fork District
USS Tulsa Exhibit
There’s a tradition of naming ships for the US Navy after states, cities and prominent people. Currently, there’s a brand new vessel under construction which will carry the name of U-S-S Tulsa. But this isn’t the first time, the city has been represented at sea. You can check out a very large model of the vessel that spent time in different parts of the world in both World Wars. It’s on display at the Tulsa Historical Society.
Dorothea Lange’s America Exhibit at the Gilcrease Museum
Take in the mesmerizing and moving Dorothea Lange’s America exhibit at the Gilcrease in Tulsa. Her compassionate photos are a distinctive record of the Depression and the devastating affect it had on the nation. Lange’s photographs made the human cost of the Depression personal by searing those images into America’s consciousness. The exhibit runs through January 5th, 2020.
Oklahoma History and Cartography (1889)
Oklahoma history is explored and examined from this vintage map that was originally produced in 1889. In the video we zoom in and look at various historical characteristics that make this map so great.
Downloadable Oklahoma Map Image:
Fully Customizable Poster Print of Oklahoma (online store):
Interview with W.R. Holway
Audio Recording of interview with W.R. Holway about the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot.
William Rea Holway (April 29, 1893 – April 23, 1981), commonly known as W. R. Holway, was an American civil engineer who became prominent in Oklahoma. He is best known for his work on major water supply projects for the city of Tulsa, and on the Pensacola Dam at Grand Lake o' the Cherokees.
Holway came to Tulsa in 1918, where he became the city waterworks engineer. In 1920, he was hired as a consulting engineer to plan a pipeline to carry water from Lake Spavinaw to Tulsa. He founded the firm W. R. Holway and Associates in 1922.
He and his family also contributed to other aspects of Tulsa's development. In 1922, he was a co-founder of All Souls Unitarian Church, with Richard Lloyd Jones, owner of the Tulsa Tribune, In 1922, his wife founded the Tulsa Little Theater, which was later renamed Theatre Tulsa.
Learn more here:
Places to see in ( Tulsa - USA )
Places to see in ( Tulsa - USA )
Tulsa is a city on the Arkansas River, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It’s known for its art deco architecture, mostly in the central Deco District. Landmarks like the Philcade and Philtower buildings reflect a 20th-century construction boom fueled by the prosperous local oil industry. The Philbrook Museum of Art is housed in an Italianate villa that was once the home of a local oil magnate.
Tulsa lies in northeastern Oklahoma, within the state's Green Country, and at the convergence of the Great Plains and the Ozark Plateau. The wide and shallow Arkansas River runs through the metro, and numerous lakes, reservoirs, smaller rivers, and wooded hills enliven the landscape.
Winters are cool to mild. Being exposed to plains winds, arctic freezing is not unknown, but it does not last long. There is not much snow, just a few inches each year, typically, but ice storms are more of a concern. The months April through June are stormy, and, Tulsa being in Tornado Alley, twisters will make an appearance - though they tend to appear in the flatter countryside. Summers are hot. It will often be above 90 degrees from May through September. Fall is the best time of year: mild temperatures, a nice breeze (all of Oklahoma is breezy), and changing tree colors. Tulsa has over 225 days of sunshine annually. In all, the city receives an average of 40 inches of precipitation each year, which helps keep Tulsa and Green Country green.
There are more nearly a million people in the metro area. Tulsa is often paired with its neighbor Broken Arrow, itself the fourth largest city in the state, though Tulsa is clearly the big brother. Here you will find a combination of western, Midwestern, and southern charm, along with a cosmopolitan atmosphere. The people love their city and are welcoming and eager to help you find your way. You may notice that Tulsa has one of the largest concentrations of Art Deco design in the country, and other mid-century architecture, a result of having been a boom-town from the 1920s through 1950s. Oil was what made Tulsa. Wealthy barons such as Frank Phillips built stately mansions for themselves but also beautified the city along the way.
As a result the city has a skyline that, until recently, bested Oklahoma City's. Tulsa likes to think of itself as the cultural capital of the state, boasting notable museums, universities, restaurants, festivals, quirky neighborhoods, and especially music - particularly country and blues musicians. Stars from Roy Clark to Leon Russell to Garth Brooks all made their start here.
A lot to see in Tulsa Oklahoma such as :
Philbrook Museum of Art
Blue Whale
Tulsa Zoo
Oklahoma Aquarium
Center of the Universe
Gilcrease Museum
Golden Driller Statue
Woodward Park
River Spirit Casino Resort
Turkey Mountain Park
Tulsa Botanic Garden
Safari Joe's H2O
Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area
Oxley Nature Center
Guthrie Green
LaFortune Park
Chandler Park
Mohawk Park
Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium
Redbud Valley Nature Preserve
Tulsa Children's Museum Discovery Lab
Osage Casino
River Parks
Woody Guthrie Center
Ray Harral Nature Park
Utica Square
Hunter Park
The Cave House - Linda Collier
Rhema Bible Church
Boston Avenue United Methodist Church
Haikey Creek Park
Tulsa Historical Society & Museum
River Parks Trail
Gathering Place
River West Festival Park
Linnaeus Teaching Gardens
Rose District
Joe Station Dog Park
Biscuit Acres Dog Park
John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park
Philbrook Downtown
DECOPOLIS Tulsa Art Deco Museum
Leake Park
Centennial Park
Route 66 Historical Village
11th Street Arkansas River Bridge
Washington Irving Memorial Park and Arboretum
Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza
Tulsa Port of Catoosa
( Tulsa - USA ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Tulsa . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Tulsa - USA
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The Oklahoma History Center - Brief Version
A glimpse into the activities, exhibits, and collections at the Oklahoma History Center located in Oklahoma City, OK.
The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society, and the only organization in the world that is an affiliate of both the Smithsonian and the National Archives, and is also accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
Play Ball: A History of Baseball in Tulsa now at Tulsa ...
Baseball in Tulsa is featured in an unique exhibit at the Tulsa Historical Society.
Word Painters, Russell Documented: Gilcrease Museum and University of Tulsa, Oklahoma
The Homer E. and Helen E. Britzman Collection contains more than 13,000 objects assembled by Charles Russell biographer Homer Britzman with the assistance of Nancy Russell, the artist's widow. It consists of letters to and from Nancy in her capacity as Russell's business manager, newspaper clippings, printed ephemera, and a variety of personal effects, including paints, brushes, palettes, hand-molded sculptures, western dress, and Indian artifacts. Presented by Brian Dippie—Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Victoria, BC—at Montana's Charlie Russell: 21st Century Perspectives on the Cowboy Artist, hosted by the Montana Historical Society in June 2015. A specialist in the history of western American art, Dippie has published extensively on Russell, Frederic Remington, and George Catlin.
JM Davis Arms & Historical Museum
JM Davis Arms & Historical Museum is the largest privately owned arms museum in the world and Jason Grubbs takes us there. It houses more than 50,000 unique items including firearms, swords and knives. The museum also offers a Believe It Or Not Oddities gallery of outlaw guns, Native American artifacts, John Rogers statuaries, Western memorabilia, antique music boxes, movie posters and collectables, musical instruments and 1,200 steins from all over the world.
Historic Landscapes of Oklahoma
(10/1/11) is home to a number of historically significant landscapes. Documentation of these special sites has been a career long passion of Dr. Charles Leider, Professor of Landscape Architecture at Oklahoma State University. (October 2011)
Tulsa 1921 Massacre Black Wall Street Movie
Tulsa 1921 is about the massacre that happened in the Greenwood district of Tulsa know as Black Wall Street.
The explosive opening in the first episode of HBO’s “Watchmen,” with people of a black Tulsa, Oklahoma neighborhood being gunned and burned down by white vigilantes, businesses deliberately burned and even aerial attacks, has brought new attention to the nearly buried history of what the Oklahoma Historical Society calls “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.”
Though it looked like something made up for the series inspired by Alan Moore’s original “Watchmen” stories for DC Comics, the Tulsa race massacre of 1921 was an all too real incident that decimated 35 city blocks, including the business district of Tulsa’s Greenwood community, which Booker T. Washington once called the “Black Wall Street of America.” The official death toll was 36, but more recent estimates say that as many as 300 may have been killed; 800 were treated for injuries and more than 6,000 black citizens were interned at the city’s convention hall and fairgrounds for up to eight days. A search for mass graves has been undertaken in recent years.
The incident began with an encounter between 19-year-old Dick Rowland, a black shoeshiner, and elevator operator Sarah Page, who by some accounts was as young as 15. For reasons that are still unknown, Page screamed when Rowland entered the elevator. Police were called and Rowland was arrested for attacking Page, though later accounts say Rowland may have simply tripped and fell onto Page. An inflammatory newspaper account stirred up the white community and crowds gathered outside the courthouse. With thoughts of protecting Rowland from lynching, members of the black community also appeared but were outnumbered and after fights broke out retreated to the city’s Greenwood neighborhood, where most black businesses and homes were located. The mob followed, and the massacre began in full force, aided by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
“Vigilantes ... under the color of law, destroyed the Black Wall Street of America,” said former state Rep. Don Ross in the 2001 “Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Race Riot of 1921.” “Some known victims were in unmarked graves in a city-owned cemetery and others were hauled off to unknown places in full view of the National Guard.
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Television
‘Watchmen’s’ provocative portrait of race in America has its own creator worried
Oct. 20, 2019
In the aftermath of the killings, attempts were made to cover up the events. Stories were removed from newspaper archives, and some official accounts were destroyed. It took decades for historians and Oklahoma officials to unearth the history and begin to teach it in schools. But the years of silence took a toll on the truth — and even on how to label the incident. Many, for instance, question whether to call the events a “riot” or “massacre.” “Designating it a riot prevented insurance companies from having to pay benefits to the people of Greenwood whose homes and businesses were destroyed,” said a report by the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum.
High school history teacher Seymour Williams, explaining why there was largely silence in the black community following the violence, told Ross: “Blacks lost everything. They were afraid it could happen again, and there was no way to tell the story. The two Negro newspapers were bombed. ... [People] were too busy just trying to make it. ... The killers were still running loose, and they’re wearing blue suits as well as Klan sheets.”
For more reading on the Tulsa race massacre:
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The overdue state report: Many credit journalist-turned-politician Don Ross with bringing attention to the events of 1921. He wrote three Oklahoma Eagle columns in 1968 about the riot and in 1971 published an account of the violence in an issue of Impact magazine, where he was then the editor. “Both blacks and whites got on my case for causing trouble,” he told the Kansas City Star in 1999. “I had violated the conspiracy of silence going on for 50 years.”
Ross went on to become an Oklahoma state representative and was on the commission that in 2001, 80 years after the destruction of America’s “Black Wall Street,” produced “Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.” It includes a discussion of the disputed death toll, the use of airplanes to drop bombs on civilians, and the still unresolved issue of reparations.
Greenwood Historical District
The Greenwood District was once one of the most affluent African American communities in the United States with a population of over 10,000 people. The area thrived, and the main thoroughfare through the area on Greenwood Avenue was known as “Black Wall Street” by the 1920s. Black doctors, lawyers and businessmen had their offices along this street. In 1921, the Tulsa Race Riot became one of the worst acts of violence spurned by racism in American history. During the mid-1920s, the area was rebuilt and soon thrived again. You can learn about the vast and interesting history of the Greenwood District at the Greenwood Cultural Center and the Mabel B. Little Heritage House. The Guess Building survived the Race Riot and is now on the National Register of Historic Places, and the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park is a beautiful and moving memorialization of those who were affected by the 1921 riot.
Fundraising Campaign For Fire Museum
Open House Showcases Future Location
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Tulsa's Black Wall Street massacre
CNN's Sara Sidner takes us back to a time in America's history many would like to forget.
The Oklahoma History Center
A glimpse into the activities, exhibits, and collections at the Oklahoma History Center located in Oklahoma City, OK.
The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society, and the only organization in the world that is an affiliate of both the Smithsonian and the National Archives, and is also accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
WKY News: Friday May 1, 1959
F2013.134.1.00219
Description: Friday. Black and white news footage. Silent footage of housewives competing for the title of Mrs. Oklahoma. Fifteen women participated in the competition which was held in the Culina Room at the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company. Winners of the competition went on to compete in the state finals and then the Mrs. America pageant. Silent footage of alligators being bound and transferred to another location at Lincoln Park Zoo. Includes images of onlookers. A WKY reporter asks people on the street if they are in favor of or against Governor James Howard Edmondson's road reform bill. More footage from the Mrs. Oklahoma pageant. Includes images of contestants and the winner of the 1959 Mrs. Oklahoma pageant receiving a ribbon. Silent footage of Oklahoma City's Chamber of Commerce's annual Know Your Courts forum. The event took place at the Skirvin Tower's Persian Rooms in Oklahoma City. Includes shots of key speaker Harold S. Skinner delivering a speech to attendees. Silent footage of young boys and men in a field. Includes images of a man entering a drainage tunnel, boys watching and standing around in a grassy field near a creek. A man with a notepad asks the boys questions and writes down their responses. Footage of the exterior of the new, Tulsa headquarters of evangelist Oral Roberts--the Abundant Life Building. Includes shots of Governor Edmondson cutting the ribbon and delivering a speech at the building's dedication ceremonies. Also includes images of Oral Roberts, Tulsa's Mayor James Maxwell, and other civic and religious leaders who were present at the event. Silent footage of the exterior and interior of an Oklahoma City public library.
Creator: WKY News
Coverage: Oklahoma City (City), in Oklahoma (USA); Tulsa (City), in Oklahoma (USA)
MARC Geographic Areas: Oklahoma (oku); United States (xxu)
Extent (quantity/size): 8min 30sec
Media: 16 mm film; Moving Images
AVI 1920 x 1080 29.97 FRAMES PER SECOND
Subjects: Edmondson, James Howard, 1925-1971 / Ms. America Pageant, Inc / News / Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce / Oklahoma politics and government / Oral Roberts University / Public Libraries
To purchase a high definition file for commercial use contact Rachael Perry, News Department Administrative Assistant, at KFOR-TV, 405-478-6322, rachael.perry@kfor.com
To purchase a watermarked dvd for research purposes contact the Oklahoma Historical Society at