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The Tulsa Massacre would conclude after 24 hours, and cause 35 city blocks to be burned with thousands of homes and businesses owned by Black Americans being destroyed, as well as there being more than 800 people were treated for injuries and and estimated 300 were dead.

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The Tulsa Massacre and the Scarlet Letter share some similarities. One of these similarities is the fact that someone was shamed for an action however in this case the one accused was innocent . Another similarity is both events happen due to a mistake that the person prosecuted had committed.

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The Tulsa Massacre and "The Crucible" share many similarities. One of which is the fact that a group of people where hunted down due to an event that they had little control over. Another similarity is the fact that most of it happened despite the lack of evidence, which is similar to the false "spectral evidence" used during the witch trials.

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Uncovering the Greenwood Massacre, nearly a century later

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May 31 - June 1, 1921

On the morning of May 30, 1921, a young black man named Dick Rowland was riding in the elevator in the Drexel Building at Third and Main with a white woman named Sarah Page. The details of what followed vary from person to person. Accounts of an incident circulated among the city's white community during the day and became more exaggerated with each telling.

Tulsa police arrested Rowland the following day and began an investigation. An inflammatory report in the May 31 edition of the Tulsa Tribune spurred a confrontation between black and white armed mobs around the courthouse where the sheriff and his men had barricaded the top floor to protect Rowland. Shots were fired and the outnumbered African Americans began retreating to the Greenwood District.

In the early morning hours of June 1, 1921, Greenwood was looted and burned by white rioters. Governor Robertson declared martial law, and National Guard troops arrived in Tulsa. Guardsmen assisted firemen in putting out fires, took African Americans out of the hands of vigilantes and imprisoned all black Tulsans not already interned. Over 6,000 people were held at the Convention Hall and the Fairgrounds, some for as long as eight days.

Twenty-four hours after the violence erupted, it ceased. In the wake of the violence, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruins, more than 800 people were treated for injuries and contemporary reports of deaths began at 36. Historians now believe as many as 300 people may have died.

In order to understand the Tulsa Race Massacre it is important to understand the complexities of the times. Dick Rowland, Sarah Page and an unknown gunman were the sparks that ignited a long smoldering fire. Jim Crow, jealousy, white supremacy, and land lust, all played roles in leading up to the destruction and loss of life on May 31 and June 1, 1921.

Race Riot Commission

In 2001, an official Race Riot Commission was organized to review the details of the event. No one will ever know the absolute truth of what happened during the hours of the Race Massacre.

However, by examining historical resources, members of the Race Riot Commission determined a number of details to be undeniable. "These are not myths, not rumors, not speculations, not questioned. They are the historical record."

Historical Facts
The following information comes from the 2001 Race Riot Commission Report:
Black Tulsans had every reason to believe that Dick Rowland would be lynched after his arrest. His charges were later dismissed and highly suspect from the start. They had cause to believe that his personal safety, like the defense of themselves and their community, depended on them alone. As hostile groups gathered and their confrontation worsened, municipal and county authorities failed to take actions to calm or contain the situation.

At the eruption of violence, civil officials selected many men, all of them white and some of them participants in that violence, and made those men their agents as deputies. In that capacity, deputies did not stem the violence but added to it, often through overt acts that were themselves illegal. Public officials provided fire arms and ammunition to individuals, again all of them white. Units of the Oklahoma National Guard participated in the mass arrests of all or nearly all of Greenwood's residents.

They removed them to other parts of the city, and detained them in holding centers. Entering the Greenwood district, people stole, damaged, or destroyed personal property left behind in homes and businesses. People, some of them agents of government, also deliberately burned or otherwise destroyed homes credibly estimated to have numbered 1,256, along with virtually every other structure - including churches, schools, businesses, even a hospital and library - in the Greenwood district. Despite duties to preserve order and to protect property, no government at any level offered adequate resistance, if any at all, to what amounted to the destruction of the Greenwood neighborhood. Although the exact total can never be determined, credible evidence makes it probable that many people, likely numbering between 100-300, were killed during the massacre.

Not one of these criminal acts was then or ever has been prosecuted or punished by government at any level: municipal, county, state, or federal. Even after the restoration of order it was official policy to release a black detainee only upon the application of a white person, and then only if that white person agreed to accept responsibility for that detainee's subsequent behavior. As private citizens, many whites in Tulsa and neighboring communities did extend invaluable assistance to the massacre's victims, and the relief efforts of the American Red Cross in particular provided a model of human behavior at its best. Although city and county government bore much of the cost for Red Cross relief, neither contributed substantially to Greenwood's rebuilding, in fact, municipal authorities acted initially to impede rebuilding.

Despite being numerically at a disadvantage, black Tulsans fought valiantly to protect their homes, their businesses, and their community. But in the end, the city's African-American population was simply outnumbered by the white invaders. In the end, the restoration of Greenwood after its systematic destruction was left to the victims of that destruction. While Tulsa officials turned away some offers of outside aid, a number of individual white Tulsans provided assistance to the city's now virtually homeless black population. But it was the American Red Cross, which remained in Tulsa for months following the massacre, that provided the most sustained relief effort. Maurice Willows, the compassionate director of the Red Cross relief, kept a history of the event (available in full under the "Documents" section of this online exhibit).

What's in a Name? Riot vs. Massacre

In recent years there has been ongoing discussion about what to call the event that happened in 1921. Historically, it has been called the Tulsa Race Riot. Some say it was given that name at the time for insurance purposes. Designating it a riot prevented insurance companies from having to pay benefits to the people of Greenwood whose homes and businesses were destroyed. It also was common at the time for any large-scale clash between different racial or ethnic groups to be categorized a race riot.

What do YOU think?

Definition of RIOT: a tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled together and acting with common intent. Definition of MASSACRE: the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty.

Mass Graves Investigation

"Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum launched an investigation into longstanding oral history accounts of mass graves at various sites in Tulsa, alleged burial sites for scores of mostly-black victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Mayor Bynum continues to emphasize that this process, which may be long and tedious, is an investigation.

There is no certainty that one or more mass graves will be located. The investigation is geared toward answering, as best we can, the lingering historical question, originating through oral histories, about the existence of one or more mass graves linked to the massacre.

By this undertaking, we honor our oral history and its tellers. This history, separate and apart from its truth, has value.

Who told what to whom? Why? Was it accurate? These are all questions worth exploring.

The current Mass Graves Investigation seeks to address those questions and more. It deserves the support of the entire community. "

- Hannibal B. Johnson, www.hannibalbjohnson.com

Learn more about the on-going investigation on the City of Tulsa website here: www.cityoftulsa.org/1921graves

Traveling Exhibit

The 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.
Learn more or request this free exhibit.

Online Collection

To view the entire collection of artifacts related to the Tulsa Race Massacre please visit our online collection.

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1921 Tulsa Race Massacre - Tulsa Historical Society & Museum

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On the morning of May 30, 1921, a young black man named Dick Rowland was riding in the elevator in the Drexel Building at Third and Main with a white woman named Sarah Page. The details of what followed vary from person to person.

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In 1981, Greenwood, Tulsa was a place where Black Americans thrived with it even being called Black Wall-street due to many businesses being owned by African Americans. However, White citizens of Tulsa were bitter due to the prosperity that was showcased and they didn't have. This resentment would continue to build until an event called the Tulsa Massacre would occure.

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The cause of the event occurred when a young man named Dick Rowland accidentally stepped on a young girl Sarah Page's foot. After this happened she screamed and ran away and he would later be arrested by the police for investigation. The next day the Newspaper would exaggerate the events and report that he had attempted to assault her causing the already tense situation in Tulsa to begin to rise further.

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After his arrest and the publication of the newspaper crowds of white citizens would rally to the court house and lynch the accused Dick Rowland before the trial and investigations could be completed. Fearing this many Black citizens would arm themselves and head to the court house to protect young Dick Rowland from any harm until the investigation was complete. However a confrontation would break out leading to the deaths of 2 white and one black citizen.

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After the event that occurred at the court house outrage would happen in the white community. The Governor would declare martial law and summon the Nation Guard, after which Greenwood would be looted and burned by white rioters. After wards guardsmen would help firemen in putting out fires, took African Americans out of the hands of vigilantes and imprisoned all Black Tulsan citizens that had not already captured with over 6,000 people being held for 8 days.

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Believed to be the single worst incident of racial violence in American history, the bloody 1921 outbreak in Tulsa has continued to haunt Oklahomans. During the course of eighteen terrible hours on May 31 and June 1, 1921, more than one thousand homes and businesses were destroyed, while credible estimates of deaths range from fifty to three hundred. By the time the violence ended, the city had been placed under martial law, thousands of Tulsans were being held under armed guard, and the state’s second-largest African American community had been burned to the ground.

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica • Edit History

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Black Wall Street | Byname, Greenwood, & History

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Black Wall Street, former byname of the Greenwood neighbourhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where in the early 20th century African Americans had created a self-sufficient prosperous business district. The term Black Wall Street was used until the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. The name has also been applied…