Some pictures for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. I also found references to the Tulsa race riots in Black Walls Street in 1921. I was asked to do some research on this topic. So here it is.
Part of Tulsa, north of the railroad tracks, was known as Black Wall Street. This is Greenwood Avenue. In that area of town, African American business flourished. Hotels, restaurants, furriers, and large mansion like houses lined the Avenue. This area was know as little Africa. The high school in 1921 had classes in Latin, chemistry, and physics. The hotel could be classified as a five star by today’s standards. There were about 11,000 residents that continued to invest in this community as it grew. This is not saying that the community was completely wonderful as they, like many other communities, have the same poverty and repression seen in other large towns of that date. However, the “black community’s success was not welcomed by all “white people” especially the people that were not as successful with their lives. The success and confidence of the “black” community unhinged the “white” community of Tulsa. An interaction of two young people brought everything to a head. Dick Rowland, a 19 year old “black” man got on a elevator operated by Sarah Page, a “white” women. By the time the elevator ride ended, she was screaming and he was running. According to Sarah, Dick assaulted her but according to Dick, he touched her arm. In the early 1900’s, many people around the Country were lynched because of accusations of altercations between a “black man” and a “white woman”. Dick was arrested and brought to the courthouse. After his arrest, many men from the “black” community, fearing that he would be lynched, armed themselves and went to the courthouse where they found a group of armed “white men” already gathered. An argument between two World War I vets, one “white” and one “black”, resulted in a single gun shot and the war on Tulsa exploded. A group of about 5,000 “white men”, many deputized by the police, converge onto the Greenwood community, looting houses for jewelry, destroy things in their wake. Residents still in the area when the men arrived were either “arrested” and taken to a detention center in downtown Tulsa or shot and killed on the spot. Businesses were looted and torched. Churches and houses were burnt to the ground. Indiscriminate violence and destruction continued all night and into the next day. In the end 1,256 houses were destroyed and 215 were looted leaving about 9,000 “black” citizens homeless. It is unknown how many people lost their lives in that riot but it could have been as much as 300 people. Sarah had actually recanted her statement just hours before the first shot rang out. No “white” person was charged or accused of any crime in orchestrating the riot. It would take some “black” citizens up to two weeks to be freed from detention. All “black” citizens were required to carry a card that identified the individual as a non-threat to the “white” community. This card had to be signed by a “white” person. While the Red Summer race riots of 1919 entered history in school books, the race riot in Tulsa is seldom recognized or even taught in Tulsa schools today. There are no historical plaques on Greenwood Avenue. It is almost as if the “white” community just wants to put it in the past and leave it there. However, this is an important part of this Country’s history that should be remembered.
Reference: Luckerson, V. (June 28, 2018) “Black Wall Street: The African American Haven That Burned and Then Rose From the Ashes” as found at https://www.theringer.com/2018/6/28/175117818/black-wall-street-Oklahoma-greenwood-destruction-Tulsa.
And
National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington D.C.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture located in Washington DC
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