The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event is considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history. The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood—at the time, one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States, colloquially known as "Black Wall Street."
Tulsa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 669,279, making it the second-most populous county in the state, behind only Oklahoma County. Its county seat and largest city is Tulsa, the second-largest city in the state. Founded at statehood, in 1907, it was named after the previously established city of Tulsa. Before statehood, the area was part of both the Creek Nation and the Cooweescoowee District of Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. Tulsa County is included in the Tulsa metropolitan statistical area. Tulsa County is notable for being the most densely populated county in the state. Tulsa County also ranks as having the highest income.
Greenwood is a historic freedom colony in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As one of the most prominent concentrations of African-American businesses in the United States during the early 20th century, it was popularly known as America's "Black Wall Street". It was burned to the ground in the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, in which a local white mob gathered and attacked the area. Between 75 and 300 Black Americans were killed, hundreds more were injured, and the homes of 5000 were destroyed, leaving them homeless. The massacre was one of the largest in the history of U.S. race relations, destroying the once-thriving Greenwood community.
The Tulsa Theater is a theater and convention hall located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was originally completed in 1914 and remodeled in 1930 and 1952. The building was used as a detention center during the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains in use as a theater today. The theater was previously named after W. Tate Brady but was renamed in 2019 due to Brady's affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan.
Roy Belton was a 19-year-old white man arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a female accomplice for the August 21, 1920 hijacking and shooting of a white man, local taxi driver Homer Nida. He was taken from the county jail by a group of armed men, after a confrontation with the sheriff, and taken to an isolated area where he was lynched.
The Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, also called the 1921 Race Riot Commission, was authorized in 1997 by the Oklahoma State Legislature. Its purpose was to research the events of the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. Its report was submitted on February 28, 2001. The Tulsa Reparations Coalition, sponsored by the Center for Racial Justice, Inc. was formed April 7, 2001, to obtain restitution for the damages suffered by Tulsa's Black community, as recommended by the Oklahoma Commission on February 21, 2001.
Dick Rowland or Roland was an African American teenage shoeshiner whose arrest for assault in May 1921 was the impetus for the Tulsa race massacre. Rowland was 19 years old at the time. The alleged victim of the assault was a white 17-year-old elevator operator Sarah Page. She later declined to advocate for and/or assist any prosecution after the race riots. According to conflicting reports, the arrest was prompted after Rowland tripped in Page's elevator on his way to a segregated bathroom, and a white store clerk reported the incident as an "assault" or a rape.
The Tulsa Police Department (TPD) is the principal law enforcement agency for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. It holds national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and stands as the second largest municipal law enforcement agency in Oklahoma.
Downtown Tulsa is an area of approximately 1.4 square miles (3.6 km2) surrounded by an inner-dispersal loop created by Interstate 244, US 64 and US 75. The area serves as Tulsa's financial and business district; it is the focus of a large initiative to draw tourism, which includes plans to capitalize on the area's historic architecture. Much of Tulsa's convention space is located in downtown, such as the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and the Tulsa Convention Center, as well as the BOK Center. Prominent downtown sub-districts include the Blue Dome District, the Tulsa Arts District, and the Greenwood Historical District, which includes the site of ONEOK Field, a baseball stadium for the Tulsa Drillers opened in 2010.
T. D. Evans was an American lawyer, judge, and the Mayor of Tulsa during the Tulsa race massacre.
Regina Goodwin is an American politician who has served in the Oklahoma Senate representing the 11th district since 2024. She represented the 73rd district of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 2015 to 2024.
Quraysh Ali Lansana is an American poet, book editor, civil rights historian, and professor. He has authored 20 books in poetry, nonfiction and children’s literature. In 2022, he was a Tulsa Artist Fellow and Director of the Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, where he was also Lecturer in Africana Studies and English. Lansana is also credited as creator and executive producer of "Focus: Black Oklahoma," a monthly radio program on the public radio station KOSU.
O. W. Gurley was once one of the wealthiest Black men and a founder of the Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as "Black Wall Street".
The Oklahoma Eagle is a Tulsa-based Black-owned newspaper published by James O. Goodwin. Established in 1922, it has been called the voice of Black Tulsa and is a successor to the Tulsa Star newspaper, which burned in the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. The Oklahoma Eagle publishes news about the Black community and reported on the 1921 Tulsa race massacre at a time when many white-owned newspapers in Tulsa refused to acknowledge it. TheOklahoma Eagle is also Oklahoma's longest-running Black-owned newspaper. The Oklahoma Eagle serves a print subscriber base throughout six Northeastern Oklahoma counties, statewide, in 36 U.S. states and territories, and abroad. It claims that it is the tenth oldest Black-owned newspaper in the United States still publishing today.
Fire in Little Africa is a music and multimedia project coinciding with the 100-year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The project is made up of more than fifty rappers, singers, producers, and creatives based in the state of Oklahoma and was partially recorded in Tulsa's Skyline Mansion, a former home to Tulsa Ku Klux Klan leader W. Tate Brady. Along with a hip-hop album, the project is also producing a series of podcasts anticipating the release and a documentary on the creation of the project to be released after the album.
African Americans in Oklahoma or Black Oklahomans are residents of the state of Oklahoma who are of African American ancestry. African Americans have a rich history in Oklahoma. An estimated 7.8% of Oklahomans are Black as of the 2020 census, constituting 289,961 individuals.
Andrew Jackson Smitherman was an American lawyer, journalist, and civil rights activist.
On June 1, 2022, Michael Louis opened fire in the Natalie Building, part of the Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. He killed four people, three of whom were hospital staff, and injured an unspecified number of others before committing suicide.
Viola Fletcher, also known as Mother Fletcher, is the oldest known living survivor of the Tulsa race massacre and a supercentenarian. One hundred years after the massacre, she testified before Congress about the need for reparations.
Buck Colbert Franklin was an African American lawyer best known for defending survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.
