<div>The Tulsa Race Riot is regarded as one of the most significant race riots in the history of the United States. Most of the historical documents were destroyed during the race riot.&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;Many African-Americans migrated to Oklahoma from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas searching for a better life. A few were brought as slaves by various Indian nations during the â€œTrail of Tearsâ€, when the United States federal government removed the Choctaw, Seminole, Creek, Chickasaw and Cherokee American Indian Nations from their land to what would become the state of Oklahoma. Many African- Americans found a better life in the state of Oklahoma, and in towns such as Red Bird, Tullahassee, Boley, Rentiesville and Taft, African-Americans started successful businesses, becoming entrepreneurs and becoming a self-sustaining society. During the Race Riots in May 31, 1921, the church played a vital role as African-Americans sought to defend their community from the riots. Whites in the area generated rumors that the church was a hording place for weapons. The church building provided the Black community with a place where Blacks could defend their homes from whites who were intent on destroying the community. Despite the fight of the Black community, some whites brought a machine gun to the church, killing some Blacks defending the church. The church was burned and most of the building was destroyed. Despite the church suffering an immense amount of damage the local Black community was adamant on rebuilding the church.&nbsp; </div><div>&nbsp;The Mount Zion Baptist Church is a significant aspect of Black history. The church was a key location for Blacks to defend their community during the Tulsa Race Riot. The church was a fixture in the Black community serving not only as a place to worship, but also serving as a safe haven for the Black community. Still in operation today, the church represents the local Black community's commitment to sustain their community. The church was burned in the Race Riot, but as since been rebuilt.&nbsp;</div>

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The Mount Zion Baptist Church was rebuilt after the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Mount Zion Baptist Church is one of the most historic symbols of African- American history in the area. When the church was damaged during the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 it took a collaborative effort from the local community to rebuild and revitalize the church. 

Mount Zion Baptist Church

This walking tour makes a small loop through Tulsa's historic Greenwood neighborhood with stops at several landmarks and historic sites. You'll learn about the emergence of this thriving community (home to over 100 black businesses), its devastation during the racially-motivated violence of 1921, and the struggle of its residents to rebuild.

Fashionista, stylist, and entrepreneur Mabel B. Little moved to Tulsa from the all-Black town of Boley, Oklahoma in 1913. The granddaughter of slaves, Little moved with her ailing mother to the city in hopes of better supporting her. Within the first year of her arrival in Tulsa, Mabel met and married restauranteur Presley Little. Between 1918 and 1927, the Littles adopted 11 children, many of whom were extended family members. Besides their own burgeoning brood, the Little family was also well-known for helping other needy children in the Greenwood neighborhood. Presley died a month after the last of the children came to live with the family, leaving Little to raise her family alone. Little persevered, and eventually adopted a twelfth child on her own in 1940.Little’s first job was working at the Brady hotel for $20 per month. By 1915, Little began a side business of washing, setting, and waving hair using skills taught to her by her aunt. In 1917, Little opened the Little Rose Salon, which was the first establishment in Tulsa that catered to African-American beauty needs. Thursday nights saw her shop filled with young women being beautified, as Thursday was the customary “Maid’s Night Out,” the one night each week that young African-American domestics working in white homes had off. Little’s salon was destroyed in the fires of the Riot, but she rebuilt it. During the Great Depression, Little uprooted her salon and followed the aviation boom west, moving first to Wichita, Kansas and eventually to Los Angles. Eventually Little returned to Oklahoma, where she lived until her death in 2001. She had lived to be 104 years old and spent the majority of her days as a leader and advocate for her beloved Greenwood community.The house is worth mention in its own right because of its important symbolic meaning to the Greenwood community. It is the only home built in the 1920’s which still stands in the Greenwood District. Grounds keeper Sam Mackey and domestic Lucy Mackey worked for wealthy employers living in the elite Maple Ridge neighborhood. They were a working-class couple who managed to build such a fine home in Greenwood that it rivaled its counterparts in the elite white neighborhoods. The Mackeys built it to show their community that Greenwood could also build magnificent things in their community. Their original structure, located at 327 North Greenwood, was burned to the ground during the Riot. The Mackeys escaped because Barney Cleaver, Tulsa’s only African-American police officer, warned the neighborhood that the armed, fire-wielding white mobs were coming. The original home, along with 36 city blocks, were burned to the ground during the Riot.After the Riot, the Mackeys built a new stately home at 322 North Greenwood, this time choosing fire-proof masonry instead of the combustible wood frame construction of their previous home. Like every other Greenwood homeowner, the Mackeys discovered that the home insurance they’d been paying refused to cover rebuilding costs because their policies contained no “riot clause.” In order to rebuild, the community shared, sacrificed, and pooled their resources. Some institutions in Oklahoma City were willing to lend money for the rebuilding process.Though the record is unclear as to the architect's name, the Mackeys hired one of Tulsa’s most talented designers for their new home. The stunning design won a $1,000 prize for architectural design. Three-way lighting switches and walk-in closets were among the home’s unusual architectural features. For decades, the home served the Greenwood community as a site for special occasions, social functions, and community gatherings. Today, the site houses a collection of artifacts and memorabilia of pre-Riot Greenwood, exhibits about the Riot, and information about Mabel B. Little and the Mackeys.

The Greenwood Cultural Center is open to the public. Entry is free, but donations are accepted. There are historic photos, newspaper clippings, and other artifacts from Greenwood before, during, and after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre throughout the building. They will often have a film playing and seating for a group to sit and watch. There are books and other items about Greenwood and the Tulsa Race Massacre available for purchase in the administration office. The Greenwood Cultural Center is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.The Mabel B. Little Heritage House in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is part of the larger Greenwood Cultural Center complex. The home is a testament to the rich history of Tulsa’s African- American community and its powers of resilience. Originally built by the Sam and Lucy Mackey family of Tulsa, Greenwood designated the historic home as a museum to honor the legacy of African-American community leader and activist Mabel B. Little and the victims claimed by the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. The Mabel B. Little Heritage House Museum is next to the cultural center and shares the same address. It is the only surviving home from the 1920's in the Greenwood area. It was built in 1925 by Sam and Lucy Mackey, survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Their original home was completely destroyed by fire during the massacre. It is a beautiful home that shows how many Black residents in the Greenwood area of Tulsa lived. The Mabel B. Little Heritage House days and hours are limited. Please call ahead for current open days.The Black Wall Street mural is across the parking lot from The Greenwood Cultural Center. On the property of the cultural center is the "1921 Black Wall Street Memorial" carved in beautiful Black stone memorial. It was erected 75 years after the massacre. There is also a slab that details the unpaid insurance claims and the people that requested them. There was only one claim that was paid - to a white store owner for stolen guns and ammunition.

Mabel B. Little Heritage House (Part of the Greenwood Cultural Center Complex)

In the Oklahoma Land Run
of 1889 Gurley purchased land and began
to make his mark by selling it at a profit to other African Americans. A young entrepreneur, O.W. Gurley founded what was known then
and now as Black Wall Street- a concentration of Black-owned businesses on land he had once acquired for next-to-nothing. In addition to his business ventures, he helped establish&nbsp;Vernon AME Church.&nbsp;

Greenwood was
destroyed in the 1921 during the&nbsp;Tulsa Race Riots. It is estimated that Gurley lost
$200,000 and almost lost his life along with his wealth. Gurley
lost his rooming house, hotel, one of his two story buildings, a&nbsp;pool hall, and a cigar store. After the riot,&nbsp;Gurley moved to California where he lived out the remainder of
his life.

O.W. Gurley was one of the participants in the "land rush" that allowed predominantly white Americans to acquire land in Oklahoma. Gurley decided to sell his land to other African Americans which led to the creation of an area of commercial development known as "Black Wall Street." The Greenwood community included the Black-owned businesses and Vernon AME Church, an institution that remains central to the Black community of Tulsa. 

Vernon AME Church and O. W. Gurley

Following the Civil War, dozens of Black communities emerged across the United States, many in the Indian and Oklahoma Territories. Entrepreneur O.W. Gurley, who had amassed his wealth through land speculation, moved from Arkansas to Oklahoma and bought around 40 acres to the north of Tulsa. He then sold pieces of this land to other African-Americans, and in so doing, established Greenwood in 1906. As Tulsa grew (thanks to its oil boom), it soon swallowed up and incorporated Greenwood. The Greenwood community continued to thrive and expand, as numerous African Americans&nbsp;left the South hoping for better opportunities and less pervasive racism in the North and West of the country. Greenwood was one of many areas to which they moved. City directories from 1920 record that this district had 108 Black businesses serving the approximately 10,000 residents. These businesses included 41 grocery stores and markets, 30 restaurants and cafes, multiple offices for doctors and lawyers, hotels, clothing stores, funeral parlors, barbershops and hair salons, movie theaters, night clubs, jazz and blues venues, and more. The district also contained 22 churches and multiple high-quality schools. (Darhian Mills, full citation below).&nbsp;In short, Greenwood was a self-sustaining district with a strong economy,&nbsp;meeting the many and varied needs of its residents. During the 1921 riot, white mobs massacred Tulsa's Black residents and&nbsp;decimated many of their&nbsp;buildings and homes, leaving thousands of African Americans homeless. You can learn more about this outbreak of violence in the nearby Clio entry for this event. Today, the neighborhood is considerably smaller than it was at its height. Greenwood residents struggled alongside the rest of the country during the Great Depression. Desegregation and the Civil Rights movement encouraged Black residents to disperse throughout the city of Tulsa; they were no longer as constrained to live, work, or shop only in designated areas. Moreover, various urban renewal projects and construction of a highway led to the demolition of several blocks.&nbsp; The Greenwood Historical District remains preserved, however. You can pay a visit to the Greenwood Cultural Center&nbsp;and the John Hope Franklin Greenwood Reconciliation Park to learn more about the history of this area.

This historic Tulsa district housed many thriving African-American businesses during the early 20th century. Numerous Black doctors, lawyers, realtors, and business owners lived and worked in Greenwood. The area also produced two newspapers, the Oklahoma Sun and the Tulsa Star. Community residents shopped primarily within this neighborhood rather than spending their money elsewhere, in part to support their friends and neighbors, and in part due to restrictive segregation laws. The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot devastated Greenwood, but residents rebuilt in the aftermath and even established a number of new commercial enterprises. 

You can learn more from nearby Clio entries about the Tulsa Race Riot and about O.W. Gurley, the African-American entrepreneur who acquired the land that would become "Black Wall Street." Take time also to explore the wealth of primary sources linked below, including interviews with people who witnessed and survived the riot, legal suits filed on behalf of those who lost property, and hundreds of images.

Greenwood Historical District ("Black Wall Street")

Dick Rowland was a nineteen-year-old man employed at the Drexel to shine the shoes of white guests. Rowland was only allowed to use the restroom at the top floor of the building owing to racial segregation.&nbsp;While using
the elevator operated by Sarah Page in order to use the restroom, he&nbsp;was accused of grabbing Page's arm. The event was&nbsp;investigated by police, who concluded that it was unlikely that&nbsp;&nbsp;Rowland had grabbed her arm with the intention of&nbsp;assaulting her on the elevator. Page appears to have agreed with the police investigation as she&nbsp;declined to press charges.&nbsp;Despite the fact that both Page and the police concluded that her initial fears of Rowland were unjustified, racial prejudice had already been stoked to high levels in response to white fears of the growing and increasingly wealthy Black community of Tulsa. In this&nbsp;climate&nbsp;of paranoia and prejudice,&nbsp;wild
stories were circulated by white residents. These stories sold newspapers, leading to&nbsp;and sensationalist reports in each of the city's leading publications.&nbsp;In response to an anonymous tip that Rowland's life was in danger,&nbsp;the police chose to detain Rowland in the Tulsa County
Courthouse for his safety.By sunset, several hundred white men&nbsp;had
gathered, presumably to demand that&nbsp;Rowland be released to their custody so they could lynch him rather than allow him to be released or even stand trial for a crime the police and Page agreed had not occurred.&nbsp;The sheriff attempted to
keep the men out of the courthouse, but several armed&nbsp;white men forced their way into the building&nbsp;and
demanded that Rowland be handed over to them. The sheriff understood the consequences and was willing to risk his life to protect Rowland. He and his deputies&nbsp;turned the men away and faced the growing mob,&nbsp;even as he and his&nbsp;men were outnumbered and outgunned.&nbsp;The sheriff might have accepted the assistance of Black veterans, but instead rebuked these offers, believing that the threat would soon subside. In response, members of the Black community--only a&nbsp;few blocks away from the courthouse--were&nbsp;determined to prevent the
lynching of another member of their community. Veterans of World War I&nbsp;began gathering guns and
ammunition to confront the mob at the courthouse. Close to thirty men who were&nbsp;armed
with rifles and shotguns made their way to the courthouse. These men offered to&nbsp;help the deputies protect Rowland. The sheriff, however, ordered the Black men to leave, believing that this might&nbsp;diffuse the increasingly tense atmosphere.&nbsp;

When the white mob realized that there were armed Black
men approaching them, approximately 1,000 white men fled the area. However, they soon returned with larger numbers and more guns. Some white residents even attempted to capture the&nbsp;National
Guard armory to obtain more weapons. However, the guardsmen refused to be swayed by the mob and maintained the integrity of their armory. Soon these citizen soldiers would be called on to restore order.&nbsp;By evening, the white mob had grown to over&nbsp;2,000. A small&nbsp;small group of armed Black returned to the&nbsp;courthouse to demonstrate their resolve to protect Rowland. From the perspective of white residents, who believed that Black men had committed many outrages against white women in other cities, Rowland was guilty and failure on their part to make an "example" out of him would threaten the lives and honor of "their" women. The arrival of armed Black men at the courthouse in this racially-charged atmosphere&nbsp;seemed only to confirm reports of a coming race war. Whites who called for calm and asked that the police be allowed to control the situation were met with threats.&nbsp;When shots were fired, it seemed to many as if a race war was inevitable. Reports that thousands of Black men were converging on Tulsa were circulated and inspired many white residents to believe that their families were in danger. After white mobs began shooting at Black residents and burning homes and churches, officials declared martial law.&nbsp;The all-white members of the Oklahoma&nbsp;National Guard who were&nbsp;deployed to quell the riot helped to restore order, but they also tended to sympathize&nbsp;with the white mob. In the coming days, four to
five thousand Blacks were arrested and held for days. No white rioters were
arrested, even those who shared photographs demonstrating their guilt. In fact, thousands of white men openly&nbsp;boasted of setting Black homes on fire, believing that these actions proved that they alone had the mettle&nbsp;to protect their families, wives, and white neighbors.&nbsp;At least 36 African Americans were killed in the&nbsp;riot, while hundreds more were missing. Precise estimates of the carnage are impossible, as the hundreds missing were&nbsp;either dead or simply fled the city by any means possible.&nbsp;The fires&nbsp;caused an estimated $1.5
million in property damage, and left thousands of Black residents homeless. After the riot, hundreds of additional Black residents fled the city, both owing to fear and necessity after losing their homes. A
total of 30 to 300 Black people were killed in the riots and at least 800 were
injured in some fashion. The riots also led to the deaths of ten to twenty&nbsp;white resident.
 For many years, the City of Tulsa denied any culpability in the riots. Despite the findings of historians and a special commission whose 2001 report is attached to this entry, no efforts have been made by the city, state, or national government&nbsp;to compensate the victims of the riots.&nbsp;

On the morning of May 30th, 1921, a young Black man was accused of grabbing the arm of a white woman on the elevator of Tulsa's Drexel building. Local newspapers sensationalized the story, leading white residents to conclude that the man had attempted to assault the woman while she was trapped in the elevator. In response, local police detained the young man for questioning but later decided to keep him in jail in response to death threats from an increasingly agitated city during a summer characterized by racial violence against African Americans. Contrary to many Southern cities where mobs of angry whites stormed jails and lynched Black men, Tulsa's Black community contained many recent veterans who owned rifles. As threats against the young man escalated, Black veterans armed themselves to defend the man and their community. In response, white vigilantes gathered at the courthouse and demanded that the "suspect" be released to them. As armed Black men confronted the would-be lynch mob, shots fired from an unknown location led to a tense confrontation outside the courthouse. 

White residents returned to their communities and spread rumors about a supposed Black insurrection. In response, white vigilantes decided to "attack first." During the early morning hours of June 1st, 1921, Black residents awoke to the sound of gunfire as white vigilantes fired shots into their communities and set many of their homes aflame. Within hours, dozens of homes and churches had been destroyed. In the following hours and days, nearly the entire Black community had been destroyed. A total of thirty-five city blocks had been destroyed by gunfire and arson, and thousands of Black people were homeless. The police aided the rioters for the first day, and indiscriminately arrested hundreds of unarmed Black men. Meanwhile, armed Black veterans did their best to keep the vigilantes and rioters at bay, but during the fog of destruction, may have killed a few white protesters who were unarmed. At least 800 people were injured in the Tulsa Race Riot, while several whites and at least 36 and possibly as many as 300 African Americans were killed. An additional ten to twenty white residents also lost their lives in the riots. 

Historian Bill Tuttle at the University of Kansas studied the event and concluded that the Tulsa Race Riot should be understood not as an isolated event, but rather as part of a systematic effort on the part of whites to terrorize and force Black residents to leave the city. His report characterized the Tulsa Race Riot as ethic cleansing but was ignored by city officials. An article summarizing his views, the report of a special commission investigating the incident, and several scholarly papers and other sources are linked to this entry.

The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921

Free and open to the public, Reconciliation Park is home to several striking pieces of art depicting both the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 and the African-American history of Oklahoma. The two most prominent pieces were created by well-known Denver artist Ed Dwight, who was the first African-American astronaut in history. Hope Plaza, located at the park’s entry, is a triptych installation consisting of a granite base and three larger-than-life bronze statues taken from actual photos of the riots and their aftermath: Hostility features a white man armed for assault, Humiliation depicts a African-American man with his hand raised in surrender, and Hope shows the white Red Cross director carrying a African-American baby. The installation is meant to convey the three overwhelming emotions Tulsans experienced in response to the riot.The magnificent 25-foot tall Tower of Reconciliation is located at the center of the park. The tower depicts scenes from African-American history in Oklahoma: the migration of slaves who traveled the Trail of Tears alongside Native Americans, the slave labor which helped build the Territory, the victory of the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry at the Battle of Honey Springs, the migration of free African-American people into the new state of Oklahoma and the foundation of all-African-American towns and neighborhoods, most notably Greenwood. The Tower also honors Tulsa’s early African-American leaders, including Mabel B. Little and Buck C. Franklin.Reconciliation Park’s location is highly symbolic. On one side lies the historic African-American community of Greenwood, which the neighborhood residents rebuilt after it was destroyed in the riot. On the other side is the bustling Brady Arts District, which had originally been named for local businessman, KKK member and riot watchman W. Tate Brady, but was re-dedicated in 2014 as a memorial to Civil War photographer Matthew Brady. While the park itself commemorates the victims of the riot, its location demonstrates Tulsa’s willingness to finally acknowledge the importance of the riot to the city’s history.  On May 31, 1921, a standoff between a group of enraged white Tulsans and the members of the African-American Greenwood community erupted in gunfire. Earlier in the day, 19-year old African-American shoeshine boy Dick Roland had been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting 17-year old white elevator operator Sarah Page. The lack of witnesses, evidence, or a statement from Page herself did not stop the arrest from being made. The situation boiled over when the white community formed a lynch mob, which events mobilized the Greenwood residents to form a protection force. Both groups met on the steps of the Tulsa courthouse where Rowland was being held, and demanded justice.It is speculated that the gunfire started when an African-American man, who had been ordered by a white civilian to surrender his gun, scuffled for the weapon and accidentally discharged a shot. The ensuing gunfire soon spread out into the streets, with gunfights between the contingents lasting well into the night. By 1 a.m. the following morning, the white mob began setting fire to the Greenwood neighborhood. They then turned away the Tulsa Fire Department units dispatched to subdue the blaze. Eyewitness accounts recalled seeing planes dropping firebombs onto Greenwood from overhead, and records show that six WWI-ear biplanes had been dispatched from the Curtiss-Southwest Field. By sunrise the following day, over 36 city blocks—nearly the entirety of Greenwood—had been burned to the ground. The official death count released by the Tulsa World was 176, though it is believed to have been much higher, with over 800 people admitted to local hospitals due to injuries sustained in the riot.

Dedicated on October 27, 2010, Reconciliation Park is the first landmark in Tulsa History to memorialize the victims of the 1921 Race Riot. The park is the result of the 2001 Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, which has been called one of the worst civic disturbances in American history. Beyond memorializing this tragedy, Reconciliation Park is dedicated to commemorating the role that African Americans have played in building Oklahoma throughout the state’s history.

Greenwood Historical District: the "Black Wall Street" of Tulsa

Mount Zion Baptist Church

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Additional Information