1921 — May 31-June 1, Race Riot, whites attack blacks, Greenwood sec., Tulsa, OK–39-100

1921 — May 31-June 1, Race Riot, whites attack blacks, Greenwood sec., Tulsa, OK–39-100

Compiled by B. Wayne Blanchard primarily in January 2013 and June 2020 for incorporation into: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com

–39-100 Blanchard.*

— >3,000 Patricia Smith, 6-23-1997 citing Ron Wallace in Black Wallstreet: A Lost Dream.
–1,500-3,000 SFbayview.com (National Black Newspaper). “What happened…” 2-9-2011.
–Hundreds, if not thousands (“About This Item” on web). Wallace and Wilson. Black Wall Street.
–Dozens to hundreds. Brophy, Alfred L. “Tulsa (Oklahoma) Riot of 1921,” p. 650 in Rucker.
–Hundreds of blacks. Brown. “Tulsa searches for graves…1921…massacre…” Houston Chronicle, 10-8-2019.
–37-Hundreds. Canfield. “1921 Tulsa Race Massacre graves investigation…” Tulsa World, 2-2-2020.
–Hundreds of blacks. Connor. “The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre…[OK] School Curriculum…” 2-20-2020.
–Hundreds. Day. “The history of the Tulsa race massacre… Timeline.com, 7-21-2016.
–Hundreds. Johnson. “Tulsa’s History, Greenwood District: Black Wall Street Revisited…”
–Hundreds. KFOR-TV 4, Oklahoma City, and K. Querry. “Oklahoma state…” 2-19-2020.
–Hundreds of blacks killed, hundreds more unaccounted for. Maxouris/CNN. 2-20-2020.
— Dozens Krehbiel. “Tulsa Race Riot legacy still felt in the city.” Tulsa World, 5-29-2011.
— Scores [a score is 20]. OK House of Reps. “Changes Planned…Study of 1921 Riot.” 3-13-1997 news release.
— Scores. Wells-Barnett. “New Year Outlook for the Negro.” Phoenix Tribune, AZ, 2-11-1922, p4.
— 50-500 Snow, in OK Commission 2001, 111) on wide range of estimates made at the time.
— <300 AP. “Panel recommends reparations for riot victims.” Odessa American, TX, 2-5-2000, 5A. --36->300 Bracht. “Tulsa race riot examined in new film Documentary…” 5-31-2000.
–36-~300 Brooks/Witten. “The Investigation of Potential Mass Grave Locations…” OK Com., 2001, 123.
— >300 blacks. Brown. “‘They was killing black people.’” Washington Post, 9-28-2018.
— >300 Christensen. “Burned Out of Homes and History…Tulsa Massacre.” Zinnedproject.org.
–36-~300 CNN. “99 years ago today…one of its deadliest acts of racial violence.” 6-1-2020.
— >300 Collura. “Black Wall Street Massacre: Why Watchmen HBO…” IGN, 10-22-2019.
— 50-300 Ellsworth, Scott. “Tulsa Race Riot.” Oklahoma Historical Society.
–200-300 Ellsworth, Scott (according to Kurt/AP. “Cemetery could hold clues…” 8-6-1999.)
–30- 300 Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Tulsa race massacre of 1921.” 6-16-2020 update.
— 300 Fain. “The Devastation of Black Wall Street.” JSTOR Daily, 7-5-2017.
— <300 Fisher. “Rachel Lyon Discusses Her Film, ‘Hate Crimes…’” Publicradiotulsa.org, 2-4-2015. -- 36-300 Greenwood Cultural Center. “Tulsa Race Riot.” Accessed 6-18-2020. -- >300 Hill, Karlos K. in Foreword to Krehbiel. Tulsa 1921: Reporting A Massacre. 2009.
— 38-300 Hirsch. Riot and Remembrance: America’s Worst Race Riot…Legacy. 2002, p. 6.**
— 36-300 Jones. “96 Years Later. The Greenwood Cultural Center…” Oklahoma Eagle, Tulsa. 6-1-2017.
–28 Confirmed Black deaths.
–10 Confirmed White deaths.
— ~300 Keyes. “A Long-Lost Manuscript…Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.” Smithsonianmag.com, 5-27-2016.
— ~300 blacks. Rao. “It’s Been 96 Years Since White Mobs Destroyed…” Colorlines, 5-31-2017.
— >300 blacks. Moorehead. “U.S. ethnic cleansing: The 1921 Tulsa Massacre.” 6-3-1999.
— >300 Mullins. “Survivors of…Tulsa race riot…hope for justice.” Aljazeera America, 7-19-2014.
— >300 Oxman, Steven. “The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story.” Variety, 5-30-2000.
–35 – 300 Pagel. Orange County Register, CA. “Oklahoma ponders reparations.” 4-26-1998, p. 13.
–37-<300 Rucker and Upton. Encyclopedia of American Race Riots (Vol. 1). 2007, p. 252. -- <300 Sulzberger, A. G. “As Survivors Dwindle, Tulsa Confronts Past,” NYT, 6-19-2011. -- 36-300 Tulsa Historical Society. “The Tulsa Race Riot.” ©2010. -- 36-300 Tulsa Historical Society and Museum. 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. 2020. -- <300 Warner. “Computations as to the deaths from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot.” 1-10-2000, p1. -- ~300 Warner attribution to a Tulsa Police officer discovered document. -- 39-300 Wikipedia. “Tulsa race riot.” 12-31-2012 modification. -- 300 Williams, W.D., high school teacher and riot survivor cited by State Rep. Don Ross, p. iv. -- 55-300 Willows/American Red Cross. Disaster Relief Report: Riot June 1921. 12-31-1921, 3. -- 75-250 American Social History Project. “`The Eruption of Tulsa’: An NAACP Official…” -- >250 Kurt/AP. “Tulsa race riot commemorated 75 years later.” Hays Daily News, KS, 6-2-1996, A6
–200-250 White, Walter (NAACP). “The Eruption of Tulsa.” The Nation, 6-29-1921.
–150-200 Black — 50 White
–200-250 Wikipedia. “Tulsa race massacre.” 6-11-2020 edit. [Cites 6-18-1921 newspaper article.]
–150-200 Black
— 50 White
–110-210 Tulsa citizen estimate in June 6 ltr. to family in: Fayetteville Daily Democrat, AR. 6-11-1921, 1.
–100-200 Black
— ~10 White
— 38-177 OK Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. Tulsa Race Riot. 2-28-2001.
— 75-175 Larsen. Tulsa Burning. 1997.
— 175 Tulsa Police Chief Daly on what “he believed the probable ultimate loss” would be.
— 128 Warner. “Race Riot Dead” section in Computations…Deaths… 1-10-2000, pp.1-28.
— 127 “Location of Graves” section: Warner “Computations…Deaths…” 1-10-2000, p41.
–89 Blacks (30 identified and 59 unidentified)
–37 Whites (30 identified and 7 unidentified)
— 1 Mexican (unidentified)
— ~100 AP. “Tulsa Officials Blamed For Outbreak.” San Antonio Express, TX. 6-3-1921, 8.
— ~100 Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Loot, Arson, Murder.” 6-10-1921, p. 1.
–~50 Black (letter from prominent Tulsa black to the Black Dispatch.)
–~50 White “
— 75-100 “Reasonable” estimate. Statement attributed to Ellsworth in Krehbiel. 12-6-2000.
— 100 Kidder, J. K. “Review of the News in Years Past.” La Crosse Tribune, WI. 6-2-1961, p4.
— ~100 McIntosh County Democrat, Checotah OK. “Tulsa Riot is Quelled.” 6-2-1921, p. 1.
–15 Black bodies found “in a check of the morgues” while more known killed.
— 8 White known deaths.
— ~100 Tulsa Morning World. “Dead Estimated at 100.” 6-2-1921, p. 1.
— 90 Communist Party of America. “The Tulsa Massacre.” 6-28-1921.
— 85 Hofstadter & Wallace. “Tulsa 1921.” Pp. 249-253 in American Violence, 1971.
–60 Black
–25 White
— 85 NYT. “85 Whites and Negroes Die in Tulsa Riots as 3,000 Armed Men…” 6-2-1921, 1.
–68 Black [3rd paragraph corrects headline by noting “the known dead were 77.”
— 9 White
— 81 Blackpast.org. “African American History Timeline.” 2020.
–>60 Black — 21 White
— 77 NYT. “85 Whites and Negroes Die in Tulsa Riots as 3,000 Armed Men…” 6-2-1921, 1.
–68 Black [3rd paragraph corrects headline by noting “the known dead were 77.”
— 9 White
— 77 Tulsa Tribune, 6-1-1921; in Krehbiel. Tulsa 1921: Reporting A Massacre. 2009, p.87.
— 76 Warner. “Computations…Deaths from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. 1-10-2000, pp. 3-6.
— 75 Guthrie Daily Leader, OK. “75 Persons Killed in Tulsa Race War.” 6-1-1921, p. 1.
–65 Black –10 White
— 75 AP. “Seventy-Five Die in Tulsa Race Riot.” Ada Weekly News, OK. 6-2-1921, p. 1.
— 47 Warner. “Computations as to the Deaths from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. 1-10-2000.
— 44 Blanchard counting of names as well as four unidentified from Carlson 2019.
— 44 Warner. “Computations as to the deaths from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot.” 1-10-2000, p.3-4.
— 43 Warner. “Bodies Seen At Or Disposal Site.” P. 40 in “Computations…” 1-10-2000.
— 40 Warner. “Computations as to the deaths from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot.” 1-10-2000, p.3-4.
— 39 Known victims. Snow. “Confirmed Deaths…Preliminary Report,” p.114 in OK Com. 2001.
–38 From gunshot wounds and/or burns.
— 1 Stillborn black infant, born day prior to riot.
— 39 Known victims. Snow. “Confirmed Deaths…Preliminary Report,” p.115 in OK Com. 2001.
–26 Blacks (21 of 25 black adults, gunshot wounds; 4 from burns, p. 116)
–13 Whites (all by gunshot wounds; p. 116)
— 37 Daily Herald, Gulfport, MS. “Riot at Tulsa…Claims Another Victim.” 6-6-1921, p1.
–26 Black
–11 White
— 36 Carlson. The Tulsa Race Massacre. Known Dead and Wounded in the Tulsa Race Riot.
–26 Black
–10 White
— 36 Gates. “The Oklahoma Commission To Study…Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.” 2004, p. 83.
–26 Black
–10 White
— >36 Halliburton. “The Tulsa Race War of 1921.” Journal of Black Studies, 2/3, Mar 1972, p.345.
–>26 Black (Number does not include eight black stillborn births afterwards.)
— 10 White
— 36 Warner. # of Death Certificates supplied to Warner by OK State Board of Health.
— 36 Wikipedia. “Tulsa race massacre.” 6-11-2020 edit. [This is one of three death tolls.]
–26 Black –10 White
— 36 Wood County Democrat, Quitman, TX. “Chronology of the Year.” 1-3-1922, p. 6.
— 35 Daily Herald, Gulfport, MS. “Official Death List of Tulsa Riot Given.” 6-6-1921, p.1.
–26 Black — 9 White
— 35 Romo. “New Research Identifies Possible Mass Graves From 1921…” NPR. 12-17-2019.
–35 Black
— 35 Pickard. “Year 1921…An Unusual One…” Canton Daily Star, OH, 1-1-1922, p. 16.
— 34 Ada Evening News, OK. “Suits Out of Tulsa Race Riot to be Dismissed.” 7-1-1937, 10.
— 33 New York Times. “Begin Prosecution of Tulsa Rioters.” 6-8-1921, p. 7.
— 33 AP. “Freeling Ready to Investigate.” Ada Evening News, OK. 6-7-1921, p. 1.
— 31 AP. “Last of State Guardsmen Leave Tulsa…” Ada Evening News, 6-4-1921, p. 1.
–21 Black
–10 White
— 31 New York Times. “Thirty Whites Held For Tulsa Rioting.” 6-5-1921, p. 21.
–21 Black
–10 White
— 30 Ada Evening News, OK. “T.B. Association Aids Tulsa Relief.” 6-6-1921, p. 5.
— 30 Daily Herald, Gulfport, MS. “‘Misuse of Word’…Cause of Tulsa Race Riot.” 6-6-1921, p1.
— 30 Lincoln State Journal, NE. [On passing of 1st anniversary.] 8-2-1922, p. 5, col. 1, top.
— 30 NY Herald. “A Word That Killed Thirty Men.” Boonville Standard, IN, 7-1-1921, p1.
— 30 NYT. “Tulsa in Remorse to Rebuild Homes; Dead Now Put at 30.” 6-3-1921, p. 1.
–21 Black
— 9 White
— 30 The Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica. Serious Race Riots….Cause of Riot.” 6-14-1921, p.3.
— 30 Tulsa Daily World. “Riot Death Toll Reduced to 40 By Re-Checking.” 6-3-1921, p. 1.
–20 Black –10 White
— 27 Known dead. Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Commandant of Guardsmen…” 6-3-1921, p. 1.
–18 Black
— 9 White
— 27 AP. “Tulsa Officials Blamed For Outbreak.” San Antonio Express, TX. 6-3-1921, p. 8.
–18 Black
— 9 White
— 24 New York Times. “Tulsa.” 6-3-1921, p. 11.
–15 Black
— 9 White
— 17 Tulsa World. “Whites Advancing into ‘Little Africa;’ Negro Death List…About 15.” 6-1-1921, p1.
–15 Black — 2 Unidentified whites

*The low end of our range (39) relies on Snow in the OK Commission to study the 1921 race riot report.

Though the Tulsa Historical Society in the webpage on the “1921 Tulsa Race Riot,” later renamed the “1921 Tulsa Race Massacre,” notes that contemporary deaths at the time “began at 36” the highest number we have seen reported at the time is thirty-seven. Clyde Collins Snow in his chapter on “Confirmed Deaths: A Preliminary Report,” pp. 109-122 in Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, Tulsa Race Riot. Feb. 28, 2001, notes 39 deaths, one of which was a stillborn baby.

The high end of our estimated range (100) is derived from the Tulsa World staff writer Randy Krehbiel, who in his 12-6-2000 article “Tulsa Race Riot: Experts provide findings to panel,” cites Scott Ellsworth, author of Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (LSU Press 1992) and “Tulsa Race Riot,” in the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture to the effect that a death toll estimate of 75-100 was a “reasonable” estimate.

There are any number of sources which note a range up to about 300 or simply write there were 300 deaths or more. None show how the approximated number was derived. They rely on early speculations and/or repeat rumors at the time of mass burials, dumping of bodies in the river, incinerations, etc. Thus “300” is a guestimate and not based on counting or even just adding up estimates of the various ways bodies were reportedly dealt with. Some write that today historians state that there were about 300 deaths or more, sometimes without referencing the historians, and quite frequently not noting that the historians made reference to note a plausible or possible range of deaths Certainly today it is more often than not the case that the lower-end of the death toll range noted by historians is omitted.

Perhaps the guesstimate of 300 deaths is not a bad guestimate. But, it is still a guesstimate or conjecture in a situation where the number of deaths is unknowable.

Having compiled documents on over six thousand large-loss-of-life events in the U.S. (taking ten or more lives), it is not uncommon to see accounts of deaths much larger than later accounts based on documentation. While it is quite possible (even likely) that more than 36-39 deaths were lost (perhaps much more), it is our experience studying other disasters, that eventually documentation or evidence surfaces. If, as the Tulsa Historical Society writes, “Historians now believe as many as 300 people may have died,” where is the evidence that the number was as many as 300 as opposed to 200 or 100 or 75? Why is 300 a better guestimate than 100, 150, 200, or 250? If the actual death toll was closer to 50 than any of the guesstimated numbers, would it not still be a horrible thing that many people could be murdered within a roughly 18-hour period in a relatively small geographic location? As written in a very different but still relevant context, “…honest historical judgments cannot be predicated on preferred outcomes.”

I suspect one answer to the question of where the number of 300 lives lost derives is from the American Red Cross report by Tulsa disaster relief director Maurice Willows in 1921 wherein he writes that he was aware of estimates of deaths which ranged from 55 to as high as 300. He wrote that “The number of dead is a matter of conjecture.” This is the earliest report we have located that specifically mentions the possibility of as many as 300 deaths. It is this document statement that appears to have been taken up in years afterwards and repeated, often without noting that Willows mentioned he had also heard estimates of 55 deaths, and that he thought the number of actual deaths was a matter of conjecture. Today the high-end of the 1921 guestimates (“as many as 300”) is presented as an unqualified fact – or even the low-end of actual deaths, such as reporting that “at least 300” black lives were taken.

Concerning the White article in The Nation mentioning that the Tulsa Citadel of the Salvation Army arranged for the burial of 120 black victims (out of the 200-250 estimated victims, 150-200 black). In June of 2020 I communicated with the Oklahoma Salvation Army. My inquiry as to documentation or support of this statement was forwarded to, amongst others, Michael Nagy, Director and Archivist, The Salvation Army Southern Historical Center, Evangeline Booth College, who wrote.

No, unfortunately we have nothing original to add on this subject. I’ve answered research inquiries during the last 20 years – they come around from time to time, particularly on the anniversaries, or when new investigations start.

These same references [those provided in Blanchard email to Kay Gilson, Executive Secretary to Lt. Colonel Allan Hofer, Divisional Commander, The Salvation Army AOI DHQ, Oklahoma City, OK] are the only ones I’ve seen, with the addition of a citation in Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee’s official history of the USA Southern Territory, Sweeping Through the Land. He refers to an interview with Lt. Colonel Ruth Gibbs, who was in Tulsa at the time. The text or recording of that interview has never been located.

Thus, though sometimes reported as fact, the 120 black deaths component of approximately 300 deaths, is not confirmed.

**After noting 38 confirmed deaths writes: “but the true figure was well over that, perhaps even three hundred.”

Narrative Information

American Social History Project: “The years following World War I in the United States saw devastating race riots around the nation: in small cities like Elaine, Arkansas, and Knoxville, Tennessee as well as in larger ones such as Chicago, where a four-day riot in 1919 left two dozen African Americans dead and more than 300 injured. But the Tulsa race riot was perhaps the worst. In fact, white Tulsans’ 24-hour rampage was one of the most vicious and intense race riots in American history before or since, resulting in the death of anywhere from 75 to 250 people and the burning of more than 1,000 black homes and businesses. Walter White, an official of the NAACP, traveled to Tulsa in disguise to survey the damage caused by the 1921 race riot. His report, one of many articles on the riot, was published in the Nation in the summer of 1921.”

(American Social History Project. “`The Eruption of Tulsa’: An NAACP Official Investigates the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.” American Social History Productions, Inc.; Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, City University of New York); and he Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (George Mason University, VA). Accessed 1-2-2013 at: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5119/

Carlson: “There are a number of differing opinions among historians and non-historians regarding the actual number of people killed during the riot. These range from 36 (10 White/26 Black) to more than 300. The truth is no one actually knows. This issue is aggravated by the semantic difference between ‘died in the riot’ and ‘died as a result of the riot.’

“What this list represents are those people we know of. This is not intended to represent any people we know nothing of, obviously. It is probable that several of these groupings may overlap, with some of the identified people being the same as the unidentified ones….

“TRRC refers to the Tulsa Race Riot Commission (and specifically their listing of “Names of confirmed dead from injuries during the Tulsa Race Riot”)
[Blanchard note: We list only those noted as dead and add numbering.]

“Name Color…Age… Sources

1. Adams, Ed Black 32 Tulsa Daily World, 2-5-2000; Stanley Funeral Home Record
2. Alexander, Greg Black 35 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record; Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
3. Austin, Earnest White 39 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
4. Baker, F. M. White 38 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-1-1921; Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
5. Barker, Harry Black 37 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000.
6. Barrens, Howard Black 19 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Daily World, 6-7-1921;
Martin Fleming/Ninde Funeral Home Record.
7. Berrell, John White 85 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Martin Fleming/Ninde Funeral Home Record
8. Cline, Homer White 17 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Martin Fleming/Ninde Funeral Home Record;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-1-1921; Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
9. Daggs, George Walter. White, 27. Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record;
Tulsa Daily World, 6-1-1921;
Tulsa Tribune 6-1-1921; Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
10. Diamond, Carrie Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000.
11. Everett, Ruben? Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
12. Greeson, James White 28-32 Tulsa Daily World, 6-1-1921; Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
13. Hawkins, George Black 78 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-5-1921;
Martin Fleming/Ninde Funeral Home Record.
14. Hawkinson, Robert C. White 22. Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Tribune 6-1-1921; Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921;
Tulsa Tribune 6-3-1921;
Stanley Funeral Home Record.
15. Hill, Clarence White ? Tulsa Daily World, 6-1-1921.
16. Howard, Edward G. Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record.
17. Hudson, Billy Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
interview with Elwood Lett (according to TRCC).
18. Jackson, Andrew C. Black Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Parrish, Mary E. Jones (ed.). Events of the Tulsa Disaster.
Privately printed, 1922?; Stanley Funeral Home Record;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921;
Snow, Clyde C. “Confirmed Deaths,” TRRC Report, 2001.
19. Janes, Arthur White 31 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921; Tulsa Tribune, 6-3-1921.
20. Jeffery, George. Black 35. Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
21. Lockard, Ed. Black 33 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record (2 Jun)
22. Lotspeich, Charles D. White 22 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000.
23. Miller, Joe Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record.
24. Morrison? Black? ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Angels of Mercy, p. 196.
25. Paris, James White ? O’Brien, William M. Pers. Comm., 2-15-2002.
26. Pierce, S. H. Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Court Case Petition (according to TRRC).
27. Ree, Sam Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record.
28. Roberts, Harry White 27? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Martin Fleming/Ninde Funeral Home Record.
29. Sandridge, M.M. Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Court Case Petition (according to TRRC).
30. Shelton, Lewis Black 77 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record.
31. Shumate, Cleo White 24 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-1-1921; Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
32. Talbot? Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Interview with Otis Clark (according to TRRC).
33. Talbot? Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Interview with Otis Clark (according to TRRC).
34. Turner, William. Black 35 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
35. Walker, Cualey Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record.
36. Walker, Henry Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record.
37. Weaver, G.E. White 24 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000.
38. Wheeler, John Black ? Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Stanley Funeral Home Record; Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921.
39. Wilson, J.H. White 74 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Research of Florence Palmer Herring.
40. Withrow, Ira James. White 19 Tulsa Daily World, “Riot deaths,” 2-5-2000;
Martin Fleming/Ninde Funeral Home Record;
Tulsa Tribune, 6-2-1921; Tulsa Tribune, 6-3-1921.
41. Unidentified Black
42. Unidentified Black
43. Unidentified Black
44. Unidentified Black

(Carlson, I. Marc. The Tulsa Race Massacre. “Known Dead and Wounded in the Tulsa Race Riot.”)

Blanchard note 1 on Carlson: The Carlson listing by name includes sixteen whites, several of which he apparently includes only because the name was noted in a newspaper, though he could find no confirming information. The largest number of whites noted as killed in newspapers at the time is eleven. Snow, in his chapter on fatalities in the report of the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, notes thirteen white deaths. We are skeptical of sixteen white deaths.

Blanchard note 2 on Carlson: After his listing of named fatalities, Carlson lists 44 “unidentified” deaths (37 black, 5 white and 2 race not indicated) noted in the Tulsa Daily World of 6-1-1921 and 6-2-1921, and in photographs of unidentified bodies published in a variety of places. The problem with the notations of deaths of unidentified persons is that some or most of these deaths could be double counts of named individuals in the above listing. We especially are doubtful of unidentified white deaths. One of the black deaths noted as unidentified is of a stillborn black baby. In that Carlson lists 40 named deaths (several of whom he notes with some skepticism), we add four “unidentified” deaths to the listing of forty.

Carlson, “The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921”: “….The conclusions presented in this paper stem from a view the Tulsa Race Riot, not as a single occurrence, but as two separate but linked events. Each event evolved from separate sets of causes. Each set of causes originated in the social context that existed prior to the events. It should be possible to determine some of these causes and from there interpolate other logical causes….

“The ‘spark’ that touched off the riot was an incident between a white deputy and an armed black man outside the courthouse. The deputy was attempting to disarm one of the blacks when the gun for which they were wrestling discharged.

“The crowd panicked and split into several confused groups. The armed blacks and the police began firing, first into the air, then eventually into the crowds and at each other. The police, quickly joined by the few armed whites, drove the blacks north. Many of the unarmed whites, led by a few police officers, broke into pawn shops and hardware stores searching for weapons and ammunition.

“The battle rushed north, dividing along several of the main streets until it reached First Street. There the blacks drew, and for a short time held, a battle-line. The line broke after an hour and a half of shooting and the blacks fell back a block north to the railroad tracks. A line of black snipers formed at the tracks to prevent the white rioters from entering the black district. The blacks held back the whites across a “no man’s land” of gravel and steel.

“Shortly after midnight, the whites attempted to burn down the buildings protecting the black snipers. This arson, however, had no strategic result at the time.

“Between 12.30 and 2.30 a.m., the battleground fell relatively silent, disturbed only by the occasional, sporadic gunfire from one side or another.28 No record exists of any moves made, by either side, to establish mutual, peaceful communication.

“It is this period that defines the division of the riot into two separate events. Before this period of relative calm, the riot was an armed brawl. After this point, the hostilities assume the guise of organized urban warfare. The riot shifted emphasis, and became two separate events.

“It is possible that, during this two-hour lull, the authorities could have put an end to the riot, had they taken any form of calm and decisive action directed towards that goal. The decisive actions that they did take only nurtured the violence. These actions included establishing and overseeing the arming of a small army of “Special Deputies”, mostly volunteers from the white rioters.

“Serious confusion existed, and still exists, as to who was actually in charge. There was a division between a minority of police officers and sheriff’s deputies who were trying to maintain the peace, and those who were leading the special deputies. No actions were taken against armed whites violating the law, while all blacks caught on the streets were arrested. The only preparations that were made by the whites were those done to put down and contain the blacks.

“At roughly 2.30 a.m., the battle increased in intensity as the whites tried to weaken the black’s defenses and push across the railyard. They were pushed back by the black defenders who were now joined by other blacks coming to defend their homes from an invasion of their district by the whites.

“….At daybreak, the loosely organized army of white rioters entered the black district in two movements. The first movement was a push from the south that came across the railyard, covered by white snipers. According to one witness, there was a machine gun atop the granary tower that covered this southern push as well. This push moved through the business district, and into the neighborhood, looting and burning. The second front attacked from the north down Standpipe Hill. A machine gun on the hilltop covered this attacking force. This second front ran into, and through, crowds of black refugees who were fleeing from their homes. Whites in spotter planes oversaw the entire battle. These planes, with no known official authority, were used to locate pockets of black resistance for the white ground forces. Eyewitness reported outrages committed by whites as the white belligerents swept over the district. Most of these reports involved the murder of blacks who had surrendered or were obviously non-hostile or noncombatants….

“At 8.00 a.m., National Guard troops, under General Barrett, arrived from Oklahoma City. What they did between that time and 11.29 a.m., when General Barrett declared martial law, is not documentable. The fighting came to a stop when martial law was declared. The black district, after five to six hours of battle and looting, was a mass of black clouds of smoke rolling above the ruins of thirty-some city blocks of rubble and ashes….” (Carlson, I. Marc. The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (Paper written to fulfill course requirements for a Bachelors Degree in History at Oklahoma State University). 1-1-1989.)

Ellsworth: “O.T. Johnson, commandant of the Tulsa Citadel of the Salvation Army, stated that on Wednesday and Thursday the Salvation Army fed thirty-seven Negroes employed as grave diggers and twenty on Friday and Saturday. During the first two days these men dug 120 graves in each of which a dead Negro was buried. No coffins were used. The bodies were dumped into the holes and covered over with dirt.” (Ellsworth, Scott. “Tulsa Race Riot.” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society.)

Halliburton: “….For more than a decade, Tulsa had been a bastion of lawlessness and corrupt politics. Prostitution, gambling, bootlegging robbery, theft, narcotics, and other crime flourished openly. Just a few weeks before the riot, the Oklahoma State Legislature assigned two additional judges to Tulsa County to aid in clearing badly clogged dockets. The judges found more than six thousand cases waiting adjudication. Six percent of Tulsa’s residents were under indictment for some kind of crime (White, 1921; see also Comstock, 1921: 460; Tulsa World, 1921 [June 1]).

“These malodorous conditions prevailed on Monday morning of May 30, 1921, when nineteen-year-old Dick Rowland, a Negro bootblack, entered the Drexel Building in downtown Tulsa to deliver a package. Upon entering the elevator to leave the building, Rowland apparently stumbled, brushed against and stepped on the foot of the white operator, Sarah Page. Mrs. Page, a young divorcee, screamed for help, causing Rowland to flee as a department store clerk ran to her assistance. Mrs. Page informed the rapidly growing crowd that the Negro had attempted to criminally assault her. The police were summoned and immediately began a routine investigation. Early Tuesday morning, two Negro police officers, Henry C. Pack and Henry Carmichael, arrested Rowland in the Negro section of town and placed him in the city jail. Mrs. Page subsequently identified Rowland as her assailant. Rowland, however, maintained his innocence by claiming that he stumbled and accidentally stepped on Mrs. Page’s foot. He explained that when Mrs. Page screamed, he became frightened and ran. Rowland’s preliminary hearing was set for Municipal Court on June 7 (Tulsa World, 1921 [June 1]; Daily Oklahoman, 1921 [June 1]).

“At 3:15 p.m., the Tulsa Tribune [June 1] reached the streets with the following article emblazoned on the front page: ‘Nab Negro For Attacking Girl in an Elevator.’

….The girl said she noticed the negro a few minutes before the attempted assault looking up and down the hallway on the third floor of the Drexel building as if to see if there was anyone in sight…

A few minutes later he entered the elevator she claimed, and attacked her, scratching her hands and face and tearing her clothes….

Tenants of the Drexel building said the girl is an orphan who works as an elevator operator to pay her way through business college.

“Chief of Police John A. Gustafson, Sheriff William M. McCullough, Mayor T. D. Evans, and a number of other reputable citizens all declared that Sarah Page had not been molested and that no attempt at criminal assault had been made. Later Victor F. Barnett, managing editor of the Tribune, admitted that the statement about Mrs. Page’s facial scratches and torn clothes was false (Literary Digest, 1921).

“Less than an hour after the Tribune story reached the streets, there was talk of a lynching ‘to avenge the purity of a white woman.’ Police Commissioner J. M. Adkinson informed Sheriff McCullough at 4:00 p.m. that there was talk of lynching Rowland that night. Chief Gustafson, Tribune editor Barnett, and numerous others corroborated the statement that there was lynch talk on the streets of Tulsa (Literary Digest, 1921; White, 1921: 910)….” [pp.334-336]

“Tulsa’s black community suffered a catastrophic human loss. The total of casualties will bever be known. Hospital and Red Cross records indicate that nearly a thousand were treated. It was reported, however, that many whites refused to report their injuries in order not to be identified with the riot. At least twenty-six Negroes and ten whites suffered violent death. The death toll may have been much higher. Many Negroes fled from the city and never returned. Persons who were ‘missing’ were presumed to have fled. Thirty-six bodies were found and buried without church funeral and without coffins. At least two of the deceased were never identified. Totally unconfirmed reports continue to this day that many black bodies were dumped into the Arkansas River or otherwise disposed. There were eight cases of premature childbirth which resulted in the deaths of the black infants….Many of the dead and injured were completely innocent of any wrongdoing. The Negro janitor of the First National Bank was shot in the back while leaving work….” [pp. 345-346]

“Dick Rowland…[was] released from custody shortly after the riot. Sarah Page informed the Tulsa County Attorney that she did not wish to prosecute. On September 28, 1921, all charges against Rowland were dismissed (Gill, 1946: 102). (Halliburton, R. Jr. “The Tulsa Race War of 1921.” Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 2, No. 3, March 1972, pp. 333-357.)

Hirsch: “The Tulsa race riot looms as a singular historical event. America has experienced dozens of bloody race riots, but Tulsa’s was the worst in the twentieth century and possibly in American history. Comparisons are difficult; even eighty years after the fact the death toll is in dispute. Thirty-eight were confirmed dead, including ten whites, but the true figure was well over that, perhaps even three hundred. More certain is the destruction of property: 1,256 houses were burned in a thirty-six-square-block area of Greenwood, including churches, stores, hotels, businesses, two newspapers, a school, a hospital, and a library – in short, all the institutions that perpetuated black life in Tulsa. The burned property was valued between $1.5 and $1.8 million – more than $14 million in 2000 dollars. Many homes were looted before being torched, but no white rioter was ever convicted for his or her crime (women looted as well).

“While the riot was triggered by a racially charged news article, it was fueled by two headstrong forces: White reasserting their supremacy in the South through the Jim Crow laws and disenfranchisement, and blacks demanding political equality and economic opportunity. In the years before the riot, whites imposed their will through lynchings, particularly in the South….” (Hirsch, James S. Riot and Remembrance: America’s Worst Race Riot and its Legacy. 2002, p. 6.)

Oklahoma Commission: “The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Commission originated in 1997 with House Joint Resolution No. 1035. The act twice since has been amended, first in 1998, and again two years later. The final rewriting passed each legislative chamber in March and became law with Governor Frank Keating’s signature on April 6, 2000.” (Oklahoma Commission 2001, p. 1.)

“…the Tulsa disaster went largely unacknowledged for a half-century or more. After a while, it was largely forgotten. Eventually it be came largely unknown. So hushed was mention of the subject that many pronounced it the final victim of a conspiracy, this a conspiracy of silence. That silence is shattered….” (Oklahoma Commission 2001, p. 4.)

“A mob destroyed 35-square-blocks of the African American Community during the evening of May 31, through the afternoon of June 1, 1921. It was a tragic, infamous moment in Oklahoma and the nation’s history. The worse civil disturbance since the Civil War. In the aftermath of the death and destruction the people of our state suffered from a fatigue of faith — some still search for a statute of limitation on morality, attempting to forget the longevity of the residue of injustice that at best can leave little room for the healing of the heart.” (Oklahoma Commission 2001, iv.)

“There was murder, false imprisonment, forced labor, a cover-up, and local precedence for restitution. While the official damage was estimated at $1.5 million, the black community filed more than $4 million in claims. All were denied….

“Tulsa was likely the first city in the [U.S.] to be bombed from the air….Vigilantes…[were] deputized and under the color of law, destroyed the Black Wall Street of America. 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.” (Oklahoma Commission 2001, viii.)

“…from start to finish, the actual riot consumed less than sixteen hours…” (OK Com. 2001, p.6.)

“…Greenwood [was rebuilt] from records…researchers had examined and collected for the commission. Every building permit granted, every warranty deed recorded, every property appraisal ordered, every damage claim filed, every death certificate issued, every burial record maintained — the commission had copies of every single record related to Greenwood at the time of the riot.” (Oklahoma Commission 2001, p. 7.)

“The significance of these twenty thousand pages has to be gauged vertically and metaphorically … Stacked high, they amount to a tower of new knowledge. Rising to reach a new perspective, they offer visions never seen before.” (Oklahoma Commission 2001, p. 8.)

“Over eight decades, some Tulsans (mostly black Tulsans) have insisted that whites attacked Greenwood from the air, even bombed it from military airplanes. Other Tulsans (mostly white Tulsans) have denied those claims; many have never even heard them. In a sense, it is a black-or-white question, but Richard S. Warner demonstrates that it has no black-or-white answer. He proves it absolutely false that military planes could have employed military weapons on Greenwood. He also proves it absolutely true that civilian air craft did fly over the riot area. Some were there for police reconnaissance, some for photography, some for other legitimate purposes. He also thinks it reasonable to believe that others had less innocent use. It is probable that shots were fired and that incendiary devices were dropped, and these would have contributed to riot-related deaths or destruction. How much? No one will ever know: History permits no black-or-white answer.” (Oklahoma Commission 2001, p. 9.)

“How many people were killed, anyway? At the time, careful calculations varied almost as much as did pure guesses – forty, fifty, one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, maybe more. After a while it became hard to distinguish the calculations from the guesses. By now, the record has become so muddied that even the most careful and thorough scientific investigation can offer no more than a preliminary possible answer.” [p. 9]

“Clyde Collins Snow’s inquiry [fatalities] is just as careful and just as thorough as one might expect from this forensic anthropologist of international reputation…By the most conservative of all possible methods, he can identify thirty-eight riot victims, and he provides the cause of death and the burial site for each of them. He even gives us the names of all but the four burned beyond recognition. Thirty-eight is only the number of dead that Snow can identify individually. It says nothing of those who lost their lives in the vicious riot and lost their personal identities in records never kept or later destroyed. An accurate death count would just begin at thirty-eight; it might end well into the hundreds. Snow explains why as many as 150 might have to be added for one reason, 18 more for another reason. What neither he nor anyone can ever know is how many to add for how many reasons. That is why there will never be a better answer to the question of how many died than this: How many? Too many.” (OK Commission 2001, p. 9-10.)

Snow (Chapter on Confirmed Deaths, in OK Commission, 2001): “….While collecting data for this study, it has become obvious that much critical information on how many people were killed and who they were is lacking. Much of this information still resides in the memories and family records and other personal documents of the survivors and participants of the riot – both black and white – and their descendants….We also suspect much additional information of importance is contained in still unexamined documents such as life insurance claims, will probates, census records, etc. ….Until this data is collected and analyzed, no final report can be completed….” [p. 109.]

“Unfortunately, no impartial investigation was conducted of the 1921 Tulsa race riot in its immediate aftermath, while memories of the participants and victims were still fresh, and the physical evidence, including the bodies of the dead, could be forensically examined. Today, eight decades after the event, only the documentary evidence – much of it lost or of doubtful authenticity – and the fading memories of the rapidly dwindling survivors remains….” [p. 110.]

“Before the ashes of Greenwood had cooled, disagreements over the number of dead began to surface. Estimates of the total number of dead have varied by an order of magnitude, ranging from about fifty to as many as five hundred. They also vary greatly in the reliability of the sources on which they are based. Here, I have chosen a more conservative approach by compiling a list of persons who have, at one time or another, been named as victims of the Tulsa race riot. At the outset, I should point out that this compilation is not likely to include all of the riot fatalities since it is probable that at least some and, perhaps many, deaths went unrecorded. At the same time, however, I feel that it may prove valuable to future scholars since it provides at least a firm minimum of the number of dead.
Classification of Deaths

“Based on the information presently available, riot fatalities of both races can be divided into two groups. Within the first are those established by primary sources such as death certificates and mortuary records. The second group consists of deaths mentioned only in secondary sources (newspaper stories, magazine articles, books, etc.) dealing with the race riot. In this study, I have designated individuals in the first group as confirmed, and those of the second as reported deaths.”

The distinction between the two groups is made clearer when put in a forensic context. For example, bearing in mind that there is no statute of limitations on murder and that the victims killed in the Tulsa race riot were homicide victims, it is at least theoretically possible that murder charges could be brought against an alleged perpetrator. If the victim were to be Dr. Andrew C. Jackson, the prominent black physician who was gunned down after emerging from his burning Greenwood home with his hands held high, the death certificate signed eighty years ago would be unchallengeable evidence of his death in any court.

“On the other hand, let us imagine that an elderly black man was charged with the death of a white woman identified only as ‘Mrs. Deary’ by the now extremely aged ex-Sergeant Esley of the Tulsa National Guard. Assuming that his story had not changed since it was recounted in the Muskogee (OK) Phoenix in 1921, Sergeant Esley would testify that the victim died in her husband’s arms after being struck by five bullets fired by a black who stole up behind her while she and her family were watching the fires in Greenwood from the front porch of their home on Sunset Hill. He might further state, as he did eight decades ago, that, after watching his mother die, Mrs. Deary’s fifteen year old son joined the riot and helped set some of the fires. On cross-examination, of course, Sergeant Esley would be forced to admit that even in 1921, when he first told his story, he had not been able to remember the victim’s name but only… ‘that it sounded like Deary.’ Furthermore, he was not sure whether she was shot late Tuesday night or on Wednesday morning. Now suppose that the astute defense lawyer introduces (as they always do, at least on television), a ‘surprise’ witness, and a fragile little old lady makes here way to the stand. She would state that her name was Mrs. S. A Gilmore and that, in 1921, she was living at 2255 E. King in the Sunset Hill addition, which overlooked the Greenwood district. On Wednesday morning, while she and her husband wer watching the battle below, she received five wounds in the arms and chest. While the shots came in the direction of Greenwood, it was never certain whether they were fired by a black or she was struck by stray shots being fired in the general direction of Sunset Hill by members of the white mob. Taken to Morningside Hospital, she lingered close to death for several days but eventually recovered. The defense attorney would then introduce as documentary evidence Tulsa City Directories which show that Mrs. Gilmore did indeed reside at 225 E. King at the time of the riot in 1921 and, in fact, was still living there two years later. He would also point out that Mrs. Gilmore was the only white female reported to have been shot during the riot in the abundant local and national press coverage. And finally, he would show that an exhaustive search of death records failed to produce any evidence of the death of Mrs. Deary in the form of funeral home, cemetery or, most importantly, a death certificate. While the jury would rush out to acquit, the red-faced prosecutor would sit contemplating how much he [end p. 111] would enjoy ripping out the pacemaker of his star witness, Sergeant Esley.

“The hypothetical trials for the murders of Dr. Jackson and Mrs. Deary, by juxtaposing the tragic and the comic, serve to illustrate the crucial difference between confirmed and reported deaths as I have classified them here. Only the most dim-witted prosecutor would consider actually taking the Deary case to court based on Sergeant Esley’s story. On the other hand, the Jackson murder would have been a strong case for the prosecution since the documentary evidence clearly establishes his death and the witnesses, both black and white, could have provided clear and convincing evidence of the circumstances of his death. Unfortunately, however, no investigation of this death was ever undertaken by the Tulsa police or other city, county, or state officials.

Methods and Data Sources
Analytic Method

“The initial effort of this study consisted of combing all known documentary sources for the names of individuals mentioned as victims or possible victims of the riot. The most important primary source was, of course, contemporary local and national press accounts in which the names of riot victims were given. These names include not only the reported fatalities but, also, those who were wounded severely enough to be admitted to local hospitals. In addition to press stories, the various books, reports, and articles published in the years since the riot also were a source of names.

“The next step in this analysis was to enter the names, along with other data pertaining to the victims, into a computerized database. Once entered, other information on a particular victim could be pursued. For example, an especially important procedure was to search for the person’s death certificate in the files maintained by the Oklahoma State Department of Health, census data, Tulsa City Directories. Funeral home and cemetery records of the period also were helpful, and in a few cases, valuable information was supplied by the victim’s family members.

Death Certificates

“In 1921, Oklahoma death certificates consisted of two sections, one to be completed by the undertaker and the other by the physician who attended the deceased. Normally, the completion of a death certificate required four steps:

1.The undertaker would begin the process by filling in the personal data on the dead person. This would include the name, sex, race, age, [end p.112] occupation, birthplace…as well as the names and birthplaces of his or her parents. The informant (usually the next-of-kin) providing this information also was asked to sign the certificate.

2.The certificate would then be sent to the attending physician who provided the date, time, and cause of death. Signed by the physician, it was returned to the undertaker.

3.Next, the undertaker would complete his part of the certificate by listing the cemetery and date of interment or, if the body was buried elsewhere, the date and place of shipment.

4.Finally, the undertaker would submit the completed certificate to the vital statistics registrar of the county in which the death occurred. After assigning it a unique register number, the registrar would forward it to the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Oklahoma State Health Department in Oklahoma City.

“In the case of the riot victims, the orderly process outlined above was not always followed. In particular, the personal information on the deceased was sometimes left vague or incomplete. Informants who were not immediate family members did not often know such details as the exact age, marital status, or birthplace of the deceased, much less the names of the dead person’s father or mother. This was especially true for black victims since their next-of-kin were still in the detention camps and could not come to the mortuaries to claim their relatives if, indeed, they were informed of their deaths at all.

“The information provided by physicians also was sketchy. For example, the exact time of death was not recorded and, in many cases, it is not clear whether the victim was dead on arrival at the hospital or survived for a few hours. Also, the causes of death on many certificates are laconic: ‘Gunshot would (riot)’ with no details on the number and location of wounds. Such lapses of overworked and harried physicians, overwhelmed by the influx of several hundred wounded in addition to the dead, is understandable. It is interesting that the doctors provided more detailed information on the certificates of those who died under their care a few days after the riot than those who were dead on arrival or succumbed a few hours later.

“To compound the problem, many death certificates were signed not by physicians but by Tulsa County Attorney W.D. Seavers. This was legal because at the time, state law allowed officers of the court to certify deaths that had not been attended by a physician. As nearly the entire Tulsa medical establishment was tied up in the care of the wounded, no doctors were available to examine bodies found at the scene. Apparently, this task fell to Seavers, who signed out eighteen victims whose bodies were found in the still smoldering ruins of Greenwood, or who died after being brought to temporary detention centers where blacks were held during the first hours of the riot. It is not clear whether Seavers actually visited the scene to examine the bodies or whether the death certificates were brought to him by undertakers.

Mortuary Records

“At the time of the riot, the bodies of the known victims were taken from the hospitals where they were pronounced dead or, sometimes, directly from the scene to local mortuaries. There they were prepared for burial in Tulsa or shipped to other cities designated by their next-of-kin. The records of these establishments (Mobray’s Mitchell-Fleming, and Stanley-McCune), provide data on the deceased not found on the death certificates.

Press Accounts

“The events of the riot received heavy coverage in local, state, and national newspapers as well as other journals, both white and black, of the time. As with all such news events, press attention was most intensive in the days immediately following the riot, then dwindled rapidly in the weeks that followed. Over the years, however, occasional newspaper feature stories and magazine articles dealing with the riot and its aftermath have appeared. The most valuable single source for these materials was the extremely thorough newspaper clipping collection form the Tuskegee Institute microfilm files. [end of p. 113 in Snow, in OK Commission, 2001.] ….

Data Analysis

“To date death certificates on thirty-nine victims have been found….

See Table 1 Tulsa Race Riot Deaths
Sex

“All thirty-nine victims, including the still born infant, were diagnosed as males. However, it should be pointed out that the bodies of four blacks — all signed out by County Attorney Seavers –were so badly burned that identification was impossible. Since it is often impossible to determine the sex in such cases without an autopsy, the reliability of a layman’s diagnosis in these four cases is questionable.”
Race

“Twenty-six (66%) of the thirty-nine victims, including the still born, were diagnosed as blacks. Again, the four bodies that were so badly burned that they could not be identified must be considered….However…since all the burn victims were found in fire-destroyed Greenwood, it is likely that they were in deed those of blacks. [End of p.114 in Snow, OK Com. 2001.]

Age

“As noted above, among the black victims was an infant diagnosed as a stillborn. This case is interesting since it is apparently related to an account given to Eddie Faye Gates by a riot survivor, Rosa Davis Skinner. According to Mrs. Skinner, she and her husband Thomas, alarmed by the shooting, fled their home at 519 West Latimer a little after midnight on the night of the riot. ‘When we got to Greenwood, we met up with a lot more black people who were running trying to find a same place. We ran into a couple – the man was one of [her husband’s] best friends. The wife had just had a baby that had died at birth. She had put it in a shoe box and was waiting until morning to bury it when the riot broke out. Well durin’ all that runnin’ and pushin’ and shovin’ when black people were trying to get safely away from the riot, the po’ little baby got lost! Everybody was just runnin’ and bumpin’ into each other. They never did find that child.’

“According to information in the Stanley-McCune mortuary records, sometime on June 1, police brought in the body of a newborn infant. It had been found in Greenwood earlier in the day by two white men who turned it over to the police. The body was described as that of a black male measuring ‘less than twelve inches long.’ It apparently bore no signs of trauma and was signed out as a still born. Like many of the other black victims, it was buried in Oaklawn Cemetery. The evidence seems compelling that the baby lost by its fleeing mother and that brought to the mortuary were one and the same. This case is important for two reasons. First, the story of this tiny victim provides a poignant glimpse of the madness that prevailed on that terrible day. Second, this infant is the only one of the thirty-nine know victims that did not die of gunshot wounds and/or burns.

“Ages are given on the death certificates of all thirteen of the white victims…One of these was apparently an estimate based on examination of the body. The others were provided by informants who knew the actual age of the victim. In contrast, ages are given for only fifteen (58%) of the twenty-six blacks and, of these, at least seven are given as estimates (usually to the nearest fifth year, e.g., ‘35’, ‘40’, etc.). This distribution again clearly shows that black victims were signed out with less care and regard than whites; little or no effort was made to identify blacks by contacting their next-of-kin….

See Table 2 Distribution of Known Estimated and Unknown Ages by Race

“….In the analysis below, I have excluded the stillborn which, as a non-violent death, is clearly a special case (see above). The mean age of white victims was around twenty-seven years compared to thirty-four years for blacks. This difference is statistically significant.

See Table 3 Age of Confirmed Riot Deaths by Race
Birthplace / Residence

“The distribution of the known victims by state of birth or residence is shown in Table 4 [not shown] The state of residence was inferred from mortuary records which show the state where the body was shipped for burial. This information is available in the records of only two (8%) of the twenty-five black victims. Again, an indication of the lack of attention given them before their hasty burials. This is in contrast to the whites for which birthplaces/residence of all thirteen were given. It is of interest to note that eleven (85%) of the white victims were from outside Oklahoma. The significance of this finding will be discussed more fully below. In all, natives or residents of ten states are represented among the white victims.

See Table 4 Distribution of Confirmed Deaths by Race and State of Birth or Residence
Marital Status

“Of the white victims, nine (69%) were single, separated or divorced. Only three were married and the wife of at least one of these does not appear to have been living in Tulsa at the time of his death. The marital status of one is unknown [end of p. 115; Snow in OK Com., 2001.]

“Among blacks, the marital status of seventeen is not given. Of the remaining eight, five were married and three were single.

See Table 5 Distribution of Confirmed Deaths by Race and Marital Status
Occupation

“The occupations of ten (40%) of the black victims are known. Among them were two professionals, a physician, and a realtor (who also was a tailor). The remaining eight included five listed as ‘laborers,’ a bank porter, an iceman, and an elevator operator.

“Among the twelve (92%) of the white victims whose occupations are known, there was a high school student, two cooks, a salesman, a hotel clerk, and a day laborer. Five were skilled blue collar workers and, of these, three were oil field workers; the other two, a boiler maker and a machinist might also have been employed in petroleum-related jobs. The sole professional among the whites was the office manager of a large local oil company. Thus, at least one-third and possibly as many as one-half of the white victims were petroleum industry workers.

See Table 6 Distribution of Confirmed Deaths by Race and Occupation
Cause of and Manner of Death

“All of the thirteen whites were killed by gunshot wounds. Among the twenty-five black adults, at least twenty-one (84%) died of gunshot wounds. The cause of death of the remaining four, all signed out by County Attorney Seavors, were given as burn but, as noted previously, any underlying fatal gunshot wounds may not have been apparent in the absence of autopsy.

“Of the thirty-nine confirmed deaths, the manner of death of all but that of the stillborn black male were homicides. The latter is classified as ‘natural.’ At least one, and possibly two, whites were killed by persons of their own race who apparently mistook them for blacks.

See Table 7 Cause and Manner of Death of Confirmed Death Victims
Wounds

“Of the twenty-five blacks who died of gunshot injury, the would locations of only four are documented; all four of these men died in hospitals on June 2, or later. The would locations of the remaining twenty-one blacks, all of whom died during the first twelve hours of the riot, were unspecified. The wounds of the twelve whites whose locations are known were nearly evenly distributed by anatomical region. The overall pattern of would distribution is rather typical of those seen in hotly contested armed confrontations carried on at moderate to distant ranges. In this, it contrasts strongly with patterns observed in extra-judicial executions by firing squads.

See Table 8 Anatomical Distribution of Gunshot Wounds of Confirmed Death Victims
Place of Death

“At the time of the riot, Tulsa had four major white hospitals. Tulsa blacks were served only by Frissell Memorial Hospital, that was burned during the riot. Greenwood blacks who did not flee Tulsa altogether were first taken to temporary detention centers set up in the armory and Convention Center in downtown Tulsa. The lightly wounded who were forced to walk to the detention centers. Those more seriously injured were either carried to the centers by the unwounded or transported there by various means, including privately owned trucks and automobiles, some of which were driven by white volunteers.

“While it appears that small first aid stations were set up at the detention centers early on June 1, it must have become quickly apparent that they were not sufficient to provide the care that the dozens of wounded required. Accordingly, the basement of Morningside Hospital was hastily converted to accommodate blacks. Apparently, this makeshift facility included not only cots for the wounded but a small operating room where all surgery on the admitted blacks was performed. For the next few days, all injured blacks were treated in the Morningside basement, that may not have exceeded 5,000-square-feet of floor space. A brief glimpse of conditions there can be gained from a story in the Tulsa World on June 2, that noted sixty-three wounded blacks were being treated there. So far as is presently known, none of the [end of p. 116, Snow in Ok Com. 2001.) other white hospitals in Tulsa opened their door to African American patients.

“All thirteen of the white fatalities were taken from the scene to one of four hospitals where they were either pronounced dead on arrival (DOA) or died later. Unfortunately, the death certificates are not always clear as to whether the victims who were admitted late on May 31, or in the early morning hours of June 1, were actually dead when brought to the hospital, or died shortly afterwards. So far as can be presently determined, at least two and possibly four whites were actually dead on arrival. All four were pronounced death at Oklahoma Hospital by the same physician, Dr. Lyle Archerloss.

“Only eight (31%) of the twenty-six black fatalities were brought to hospitals. Six died in Morning side, that as mentioned above, was the only one where blacks were treated in the first few days of the riot. A seventh died in Cinnabar Hospital on June 7, about a week after the riot. Presumably, he had been transferred from Morningside after Cinnabar had been reopened. The last died on August 20, in the Red Cross hospital that was set up in the Greenwood’s black Dunbar School after the riot.

“The other eighteen (69%) blacks were not taken to hospitals. The bodies of these sixteen individuals were found in the downtown area where the fighting began or in the ruins of Greenwood. Five days after the riot on June 6, the badly decomposed body of a black man was found about eight miles east of Tulsa. He had died of a gunshot would of the neck. He was later identified as a man who had escaped from a temporary detention center.

“All of these bodies were taken directly to mortuaries and their death certificates were signed out by County Attorney Seavers. Another of these ‘non-hospital’ victims died in the armory detention center where he was taken after he was shot down by a teen-aged member of the mob while trying to surrender outside his home in Greenwood. Ironically, this man – a prominent physician – lay without medical attention for several hours before he finally succumbed to a bullet would of the chest. His death certificate was also signed by the county attorney.

See Table 9 Distribution of Confirmed Deaths by Place of Death
Date of Death

“The records indicate that four of the white casualties died before midnight on May 31. If this is correct then these men were most likely killed in the downtown area where the fighting first began. Seven others died on June 1, and one on June 2. The last white fatality died in the early morning hours of June 6. He was wounded a few hours earlier when white militia men fired on the car in which he was riding. The perpetrators, at least one of whom was wearing his World War I uniform, claimed that the driver of the car refused to obey their orders to stop.

“None of the twenty-six black victims is listed as having died on the evening of May 31. Twenty-one were signed out as having died on June 1, two on June 2, and two others on June 7, and June 10, respectively. The last black to die of riot wounds was a twenty-one year old who lingered until August 20, eleven weeks after the riot.

“The fact that no black fatalities were recorded for the evening of May 31, is curious. According to several sources, many shots were fired by both sides during the retreat of the blacks from the courthouse area back to Greenwood, and some early newspaper accounts describe blacks lying wounded or dead in the downtown area. If the latter are true, it suggests that no medical aid was extended to those wounded blacks unfortunate enough to have been left behind during the retreat to Greenwood.
See Table 10 Confirmed Deaths by Date of Death
Mortuaries

“As in most of the United States at the time, Tulsa mortuaries were racially restricted. The three major establishments serving white Tulsans were Mitchell-Fleming, Mowbray, and Stanley McCune. Black funerals were handled by a single Greenwood funeral home operated by S. M. Jackson, a graduate of the Cincinnati (Ohio) School of Embalming. In 1971, Jackson was interviewed by Tulsa historian Ruth Avery. His account of his riot experiences is [end p117] valuable since it provides some insight into the way the dead, both black and white, were handled. On the morning of June 1, when the white mob stormed into Greenwood, Jackson’s funeral parlor was burned down. At the time, he was holding four embalmed bodies for burial; only two of these were retrieved (leaving one to wonder about the fate of the other two). At first interned, he was promptly paroled by the owners of Stanley-McCune who temporarily hired him to help process the bodies who were brought to their establishment. During the next few days he embalmed several blacks whose bodies were to be shipped to other cities for burial.

“Stanley McCue also had a hastily arranged contract with Tulsa County to bury (unembalmed) the bodies of blacks whose relatives could either not afford to claim them for private burial or were not informed of the deaths. In all, Stanley-McCune handled the arrangements for two whites and eighteen blacks. The bodies of all of the blacks were prepared for burial by Mr. Jackson. He embalmed two of these that were claimed and were buried in other cities. The remaining sixteen were not embalmed and placed in plain wood coffins. Mr. Jackson was able to rebuild his Greenwood business and handled the funeral of the last black riot victim who died on August 20, and whose body was claimed by his family for burial in his native Mississippi.

See Table 11 Distribution of Confirmed Dead by Mortuary
Burial Places

“Only three of the white victims were buried in Rose Hill, a privately operated cemetery. Another was buried in Watonga, a small town in western Oklahoma. The remaining nine were buried in other states. Five of the black fatalities were buried outside of Tulsa: two in other Oklahoma towns and three outside the state. The remaining twenty-one blacks (84%) were interred in Oaklawn, the Tulsa municipal cemetery.

See Table 12 Burial Places of Confirmed Dead

“In light of the controversy surrounding the total number of black victims of the race riot and the disposal of their bodies, the documented burials in Oaklawn take on a special significance. This is especially true in the light of the preliminary archaeological findings.

“As noted above, twenty-one black victims, 84% of the total, were buried in Oaklawn. At that time, the cemetery was segregated by race and blacks were buried in the western-most section, so it is safe to assume that these black riot victims also were buried there. Five of these victims, all of whom died in Morningside Hospital, were buried by Mowbray mortuary. All these hospital cases died of gunshot wounds. Their death certificates were signed by a single physician, J. F. Capps, M.D. Dr. Capps signed out two of these as ‘John Does.’ Four died on June 1, and the fifth in the early morning of June 2.

“The remaining sixteen were bodies found at the scene and taken to Stanley-McCune; their death certificates were signed by County Attorney Seavers. Six of these, four of whom were badly burned, were not identified. A seventh unidentified body was that of the previously described stillborn. The remaining nine were identified.

“These Oaklawn burials were conducted at county expense. The Mowbray and Stanley-McCune records indicate that the victims were not embalmed but buried in plain wooden coffins; they also show that the mortuaries charged the county $25 for each burial. An important feature of the Stanley-McCune records was a notation indicating the ‘grave number’ of each burial. These numbers form a single sequence from 1 to 19, except for graves 15, 16 and 17. It is possible that these graves were filled by three of the Mowbray. Unfortunately, grave numbers were not given in the Mowbray records.

“The data currently available on these Oaklawn burials…are significant for several reasons. First, should archaeological exploration of the area go forward, the excavators should encounter them. Assuming, as the records indicate, that they were buried in separate graves in the order indicated by the Stanley-McCune grave numbers, they should be encountered in an orderly row(s). [End p.118] If so, the available information that we have on them should be valuable in obtaining tentative identifications. For example, the skeletons in graves 7, 9, 13, and 18 should show some signs of fire exposure. If so, they should provide tentative leads to the non-burned skeletons in adjacent graves. By narrowing the number of possible decedents, the effort (and the cost) of DNA identification could be substantially reduced.

See Table 13 Burials of Confirmed Dead in Oaklawn Cemetery
Discussion

“….Black victims…tended to be older than whites. They ranged in age from nineteen to sixty-three. Blacks averaged close to 35 years in age – nearly seven years older than the whites. This difference is statistically significant. Of the eight for whom marital data is available, five were listed as married. While their occupational status tended to be lower than that of the whites (and none were employed in the petroleum industry), two, a realtor who also owned a tailor shop and a highly-regarded physician, were solidly middle class. Unlike the whites, most of whom were young, single, newcomers to Tulsa, this group of black victims appears to have been stable, old4er citizens of the Greenwood community.

“….at least one was allowed to bleed to death without medical attention in a detention center instead of being taken immediately and directly to a hospital after being gunned down in Greenwood while trying to surrender…. [p. 119]

“Another finger of blame points to law enforcement authorities at the local and county levels. As noted previously, all of these deaths – both black and white – were homicide which occurred within the jurisdiction of either the Tulsa Police Department (thirty-seven cases) or the Tulsa County Sheriffs Department (two cases). Yet, so far as is known, these murder cases were not investigated while at least some of the perpetrators could be identified and apprehended. Prosecutorial authorities, bother county and state, also are accountable since they apparently did not aggressively press for such investigations.

“These hard truths cannot be presented without pointing out that many white Tulsans and Tulsa institutions (particularly some churches and the local Red Cross) took a courageous role in the riot by offering protection and care to their black neighbors….

Conclusions and Recommendations

“In summary, perhaps the least that can be said of the physicians, undertakers, police, and prosecutors of Tulsa of the time was that they were not hypocritical: they treated their black fellow-citizens no better when they were dead than they did when they were alive.

“Although this preliminary report is limited to treatment of the confirmed dead, it cannot be closed without considering the as yet unconfirmed dead of the Tulsa race riot. First to be considered are the eighteen deaths that occurred in the Maurice Willows Hospital operated by the Red Cross until January 1, 1922. A systematic search of vital statistics records to find their names and the causes of their deaths has not yet been made. Some may have died of complications of wounds received during the riot; if so, of course, such deaths would add to the riot deaths. Others, particularly, if children or elderly whose homes were destroyed or their family life disrupted, may have succumbed easily to diseases they may have otherwise survived; while actually not killed in the riot the deaths of these victims would certainly have to be considered as riot-related….” [p. 120, Snow, in OK Com. 2001.]

“….As one whose entire professional life has been devoted to the investigation of mass disasters such as fires and floods, aircraft accidents, human right violations, war crimes and acts of terrorism throughout the world, this writer is fully aware of the often exaggerated estimates of the number of victims that surface in the wake of the chaos and confusion following such events. At the same time, experience has shown that in many of these situations, official counts of the dead are often seriously underestimated.

“In the present case, it should be pointed out that, like nearly all other states at the time of the riot, Oklahoma had no adequate system for the medicolegal examination of violent or unattended deaths. Today, the law mandates that all such deaths fall within the medicolegal responsibility of the State Medical Examiner. Bodies of such victims are examined and, when necessary, autopsied by forensic pathologists to determine the cause and manner of death. At the time of the riot, the law required that death certificates be signed by attending physicians or, as we have seen, certain public officials in exceptional cases. However, it appears that there was no controlling legal authority (to use a phrase currently in vogue) that required that medically unattended deaths not coming to the attention of officers of the court be documented with a state death certificate.

“Therefore it is possible that bodies found in the ruins of Greenwood during the days immediately after the riot were simply buried without documentation.

“That this may have indeed happened is suggested by a statement apparently made by Major O. T. Johnson, a Salvation Army officer stationed in Tulsa at the time. According to stories in at least two newspapers, the Chicago Defender, June 11, 1921 and St. Louis Argus, June 10, 1921, Johnson is said to have stated that he hired a crew of over three dozen grave diggers who labored for several days to dig about 150 graves for Negro victims. Unfortunately, any official report that Major Johnson may have submitted to the Salvation Army has not yet been located. However, the possibility the statement attributed to him was indeed true is at least partly supported by two witnesses. One, Eunice Cloman Jackson, the wife of black mortician S. M. Jackson stated in 1971 that her step-father was part of a crew of fifty-five grave diggers; when she was asked where the bodies were buried, she replied that ‘. . .most of them were out at Oaklawn. That was the cemetery for burying them….’ Clyde Eddy, a young boy at the time, remembers seeing large wooden crates, each containing several burned bodies, awaiting burial in Oaklawn in the days following the riot. If bodies were collected from the burned out area of Greenwood they may well have been collected in crates rather than individual coffins and transported to Oaklawn for burial by Major Johnson and his large crew of grave diggers. They most likely would have been carried on trucks, railroad flat cars (the Frisco tracks ran adjacent to Oaklawn), or both, thus accounting for the several eyewitness reports that bodies were seen being carried from the Greenwood area on both trucks and flat cars.

“The theory that perhaps as many as 150 bodies were buried in Oaklawn under Major Johnson’s supervision can be framed as an hypothesis that can be tested by archaeological exploration of the area described elsewhere in this volume by Drs. Brooks and Witten. Such an effort would, at the least, result in the recovery of the twenty-one black confirmed dead from their unmarked graves so that they can be more suitably memorialized and, possibly, identified….” [pp. 121-122 in Snow, in OK Com. 2001.] (Snow, Clyde Collins. “Confirmed Deaths: A Preliminary Report,” pp. 109-122 in Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. Tulsa Race Riot. 2-28-2001.

Rucker and Upton: “In 1921, the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, suffered through an all-out war, complete with death squads and incendiaries dropped from airplanes by whites. What was once a prosperous black community lay in ashes after days of uncontrolled rioting. In addition, more than 200 black residents were killed in what can be described as a massacre.” (Rucker, Walter C. and James N. Upton (Eds.). Encyclopedia of American Race Riots (Vol. 1 of 2). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007. p. 1.)

The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 (website): “The Riot began on May, 31,1921 because of an incident the day before. A black man named Dick Rowland, stepped into an elevator in the Drexel Building operated by a woman named Sarah Page. Suddenly, a scream was heard and Rowland got nervous and ran out. Rowland was accused of a sexual attack against Page. One version of the incident holds that Rowland stepped on Page’s foot, throwing her off balance. When Rowland reached out to keep her from falling, she screamed. The next day, Rowland was arrested and held in the courthouse lockup. Headlines in the local newspapers inflamed public opinion and there was talk in the white community of lynch justice. The black community, equally incensed, prepared to defend him. Outside the courthouse, 75 armed black men mustered, offering their services to protect Rowland The Sheriff refused the offer. A white man then tried to disarm one of the black men. While they were wrestling over the gun, it discharged. That was the spark the turned the incident into a massive racial conflict. Fighting broke out and continued through the night. Homes were looted and burned.

“Though they were outnumbered 10 to 1, Black’s, many of whom were veterans of WWI, started to form battles lines and dig trenches. The conflict shifted to the northern part of Tulsa in the Frisco tracks area. The Tulsa police force was too small to stop the rioters, so the mayor, T. D. Evans, asked the governor to send in the National Guard. While the National Guard was on its way to Tulsa, whites set fire to houses and stores. Fire companies could not fight the fire because rioters drove them away.

“On June 1, 1921, a big cloud of smoke covered The northern region of Tulsa. Later that morning, the last stand of the conflict occurred at foot of Standpipe Hill. According to the Tulsa Tribune, the National Guard mounted two machine guns and fired into the area. The black groups surrendered and were disarmed. They were taken in columns to Convention hall, the McNulty Baseball Park, the Fairgrounds and to a flying field. Some survivors later alleged that planes were involved in the destruction of Greenwood City.

“Many black residents left Tulsa to the Osage Hills and its surrounding towns. According to an official estimate 10 whites and 26 blacks were killed. However, later reports, never verified, raised that number to 300 killed. After, the Riot had ended, relief started to come the survivors, especially from The Red Cross. Hospitals were set up to treat the wounded. Food and clothes were given out. People received temporally shelters to live in while their houses were rebuilt….

“And as for Dick Rowland? Charges against him arising out of the incident in the elevator were never brought….” (“The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.”
http://www.mc.cc.md.us/Departments/hpolscrv/VdeLaOliva.html )

Tulsa Historical Society: “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. The white elevator operator, Sarah Page, claimed that Rowland grabbed her arm, causing her to flee in panic. Accounts of the 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 blacks began retreating to the Greenwood Avenue business district.

“In the early morning hours of June 1, 1921, Black Tulsa 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 imprisoned blacks 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, over 800 people were treated for injuries and estimated reports of deaths began at 36 .” (Tulsa Historical Society. “The Tulsa Race Riot.” ©2010.)

Warner: “….We have indirect evidence that at least three mass graves were used in Newblock Park. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough information to pin down the exact locations. We have been told by several individuals that bodies were buried in one or more mass graves in Booker T. Washington Cemetery (now Rolling Oaks Cemetery). We were told by two or three survivors that when they were young boys they were taken to the cemetery not long after the riot and pointed out locations by fathers or other relatives and told that riot victims were buried there. An old woman whom we were never able to locate and who we believe is dead told a cemetery worker at Booker T. Washington Cemetery that she watched her father and grandfather bury African-Americans in a trench. She had the cemetery worker take her to a section of the cemetery and pointed out where she remembered the trench was. She mentioned other details that would lead us to believe her story.

“We were told many stories of bodies being dumped into coal strip pits in East Tulsa. Sone of these accounts were very specific, but none of them gave enough information to allow us toa consider exhumation.” [p. 3]

CERTIFICATES OF DEATH ISSUED

1. Ed Adams (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
2. Greg Alexander (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
3. Earnest Austin (white) buried in Caneadia, New York)
4. F. M. Baker (white) (buried in Haviland, Kansas)
5. Howard Barrens (black) 9Buried in Yatesville, Texas)
6. Homer C. Cline (white) (buried in Rose Hill Cemetery)
7. George Walter Daggs (white) (buried in LeRoy, New York)
8. Reuben Everett (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
9. Robert C. Hawkinson (white) (buried in Muncie, Indiana)
10. Ed Howard (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
11. Andrew C. Jackson (black) (buried in Guthrie, Oklahoma)
12. Art James (white) (buried in Parkersburg, West Virginia)
13. George Jeffrey (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
14. H. Johnson (black) (buried in Muskogee, Oklahoma)
15. Charles D. Lotspeich (white) 9buried in Randall, Kansas)
16. ? Lewis (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery
17. Joe Miller (black) 9buried in Oaklawn Cemetery
18. Robert L. Osborne (white) (buried in Denver, Colorado)
19. James R. Paris (white) (buried in Cleburne, Texas)
20. Sam Ree (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
21. Harry Roberts (white) (buried in Watonga, Oklahoma)
22. Cleo Shumate (white) (buried in Rose Hill Cemetery)
23. William Turner (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
24. Curley Walker (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
25. Henry Walker (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
26. John Wheeler (black) (buried in Fort Smith, Arkansas)
27. Samuel J. Withrow (white) (buried in Rose Hill Cemetery)
28. John Doe #1 (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
29. John Doe #2 (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
30. Unidentified Man (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
31. Unidentified Man (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
32. Unidentified Man (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
33. Unidentified Man (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
34. Unidentified Man (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
35. Unidentified Man (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
36. Unidentified Infant (black) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)

FUNERAL HOME RECORDS, BUT NO CERTIFICATE OF DEATH WAS LOCATED

37. G.E. Weaver (white) (Mitchell-Fleming (buried in Bixby, Oklahoma)
38. Harry Barker (black) (Mitchell-Fleming) (buried at Arvada, Colorado)
39. Ed Lockard (black) (Stanley & McCune) (buried in Oaklawn Cemetery)
40. Shirly F. Woffard (black) (Mitchell-Fleming) (buried in Ray Oklahoma)

DEATHS MENTIONED BY RELATIVES OR NEIGHBORS

41. ? Talbot (male) (black) (from Otis Clark) (burial site unknown)
42. ? Talbot (female) (black) (from Otis Clark) (burial site unknown)
43. Tom Bryant (black) from Otis Clark) (burial site unknown)
44. Bully Hobson (black) (from Elwood Lett) (burial site unknown)

DEAD MENTIONED SPECIFICALLY

45. Mrs. Morrison (black) (Red Cross reports this on page 45 of Angels of Mercy) (burial site unknown)

DEAD FOUND BY LARRY O’DELL IN LEGAL CLAIMS

46. Carrie Diamond (black) (burial site unknown)
47. S.H. Pierce (black) (burial site unknown)
48. M.M. Standridge (black) (burial site unknown.

REPORTED IN NEWSPAPERS

49. Edward Austin (white) (burial site unknown) (not Ernest Austin)
50. ? James (white) (burial site unknown)

FROM NEWSPAPERS AND POSSIBLY DEAD

51. ? Stovall (black) (Page A-3 in Angels of Mercy) (burial site unknown
52. Unknown (black) (reported on page 91 of Angels of Mercy that he was a riot victim and died on 30 December 1921)
53. E.F. Belshmer (white) (reported in the Muskogee Phoenix, Guthrie Daily Leader and Tulsa World that he was shot in left hand and leg and died.) (burial site unknown)
54. H. Lewis Curry (white) (reported in the Muskogee Phoenix and Guthrie Daily Leader that he was shot in the neck) (burial site unknown)
55. Mrs. ‘Deary’ (white) (reported by Sgt Esley of National Guard to the Muskogee Phoenix.) (burial site unknown)
56. Lee Fisher (white) (reported in the Guthrie Daily Leader and the Vinita Journal that he was shot in the left leg) (burial site unknown)
57. Ila Gilmore (white) (reported in The Tulsa World that whe [we presume “she”] was shot five times in the arm and chest.) (burial site unknown)
58. Clarence Hill (white) (reported in The Tulsa World that he was shot through the lung and not expected to live.) (burial site unknown)
59. John Palmer (white) (reported in the Guthrie Daily Leader.) (burial site unknown)
60. ? Olson (white) (reported in Vinita Journal) (burial site unknown)
61. Norman Gilliland (white) (reported in Guthrie Daily Leader) (burial site unknown)
62. Unidentified Man (#50) (white) (Mitchell-Fleming) (burial site unknown)
63. Unidentified Man (#51) (Black) (body discovered on June 6) (reported in The Tulsa World) (burial site unknown
64. Unidentified Man (#61) (white) (Stanley & McCune, but no record) (reported in The Tulsa World) (burial site unknown)
65. Unidentified Man (#62) (white) (Member of a rescue party) (reported in the Muskogee Phoenix) (burial site unknown)
66. Unidentified Man (#63) (white) (reported in the Bartlesville Examiner) (burial site unknown)
67. Unidentified Man (#64) (white) (reported in the Muskogee Phoenix) (burial site unknown)
68. Unidentified Man (#65) (white) (reported in the Bartlesville Examiner) (burial site unknown)
69. Unidentified Man (#66) (white) (shot 25 times) (reported in The Tulsa World) (burial site unknown)
70. Unidentified Man (#67) (reported in the Bartlesville Examiner) (burial site unknown)
71. Unidentified Man (#68) (black) (reported in The Tulsa World) (burial site unknown)
72. Unidentified Man (#69) (black) (reported in The Tulsa World) (burial site unknown)
73. Unidentified Man (#70) (black) (reported in The Tulsa World) (burial site unknown)
74. Unidentified Man (#71) (black) (reported in The Tulsa World) (burial site unknown)
75. Unidentified Man (#72) (black) (reported in The Tulsa World) (burial site unknown)
76. Unidentified Man (#73) (black) (reported in The Tulsa World) (burial site unknown)

(Warner, Richard “Dick.” “Computations as to the Deaths from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. 1-10-2000, pp. 3-6.)

Blanchard note: Neither Warner (nor Carlson) mention Clyde Greaves, 30, of Tulsa, who is reported as one of ten whites killed overnight until noon in: Guthrie Daily Leader, OK. “75 Persons Killed in Tulsa Race War.” 6-1-1921, p. 1.

White: “It is highly doubtful if the exact number of casualties will ever be known. The figures originally given in the press estimate the number at 100. The number buried by local undertakers and given out by city officials is ten white and twenty-one colored. For obvious reasons these officials wish to keep the number published as low as possible, but the figures obtained in Tulsa are far higher. Fifty whites and between 150 and 200 Negroes is much nearer the actual number of deaths. Ten whites were killed during the first hour of fighting on Tuesday night. Six white men drove into the colored section in a car on Wednesday morning and never came out. Thirteen whites were killed between 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. O.T. Johnson, commandant of the Tulsa Citadel of the Salvation Army, stated that on Wednesday and Thursday the Salvation Army fed thirty-seven Negroes employed as grave diggers and twenty on Friday and Saturday. During the first two days these men dug 120 graves in each of which a dead Negro was buried. No coffins were used. The bodies were dumped into the holes and covered over with dirt. Added to the number accounted for were numbers of others–men, women, and children–who were incinerated in the burning houses in the Negro settlement. One story was told me by an eye-witness of five colored men trapped in a burning house. Four burned to death. A fifth attempted to flee, was shot to death as he emerged from the burning structure, and his body was thrown back into the flames. There was an unconfirmed rumor afloat in Tulsa of two truck loads of dead Negroes being dumped into the Arkansas River, but that story could not be confirmed.” (White, Walter (NAACP). “The Eruption of Tulsa.” The Nation, 6-29-1921.

Willows/Report to American Red Cross: “The story of the tragedy enacted in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the night of May 31st, 1921, and the morning of June 1st, 1921, has been told and retold, with all sorts of variations, in the press of the country. Whatever people choose to call it, ‘race riot’, ‘massacre’, ‘negro uprising’ or whatnot, the word has not yet been coined which can correctly describe the affair.

“This report attempts to picture the situation as representatives of the Red Cross found it, and to record the activities of the organization in bringing order out of chaos and in administering relief to the innocents. (signed) Director.” (Willows. Preface.)

“The real truth regarding the underlying causes of the short-lived civil war which turned Tulsa, Oklahoma, into a bedlam on the morning of June 1st, 1921, may come to the surface in the future. The consensus of opinion, after six months intervening time, places the blame upon ‘the lack of law enforcement’.

‘Race Riot’ it has been most generally termed, yet whites were killed and wounded by whites in the protection of white property against the violence of the white mob. The elements of ‘race rioting were present, from all evidences, on the night of May 31st, but the wholesale destruction of property – life and limb – in that section of the city occupied by negroes on June 1st between the hours of daylight and noon, testifies to a one-sided battle.

“Altho newspaper clipping attached [Tulsa Daily World, below] indicates the apparent local cause of the trouble, subsequent developments have proven that the arrest of the negro boy was merely an incident. Both the negro boy and girl have dropped out of the picture, it being shown that there was no grounds for any prosecution of the boy.

“Those persons desiring to satisfy themselves as to causes, are respectfully referred to newspaper accounts of the trial of the Chief of Police, which are continued in this volume.

“It should be noted, however, that while the original shooting took place at the County Jail on the night of May 31st, the actual burning, pillaging and destruction was consummated during the daylight hours of June 1st in a district nearly a mile from the Court House.

“All that fire, rifles, revolvers, shot guns, machine guns and organized inhuman passion could de with thirty-five city blocks with its twelve thousand negro population, was done…. [Willows Chapter I, pp. 1-2]

“DEAD. The number of dead is a matter of conjecture. Some knowing ones estimate the number of killed as high as 300, other estimates being as low as 55. The bodies were hurriedly rushed to burial, and the records of many burials are not to be found….

“INJURED. One hundred and eighty-four negroes and forty-eight whites were in hospitals for surgical care as charges of the Red Cross, within twenty-four hours after the disaster. Five hundred and thirty-one were given First Aid at the Red Cross Stations during the first three days…. [Willows, Chapter I, p. 3.]

“….The Red Cross records show eight definite cases of premature childbirth which resulted in the death of the babies…

“Subsequent developments also show that of the maternity cases known to the Red Cross Doctors, practically all have presented complications due to the riot.

“Too much credit cannot be given to the white citizens of Tulsa for the care and treatment rendered the wounded. Especially should it be noted that the women and men at the First Aid Stations gave voluntary and gratuitous service…. [Willows 1921, Chapter I, p. 3.]

“BURNINGS. Thirty-five city blocks were looted systematically, then burned to a cinder, and the twelve thousand population thereof scattered like chaff before the wind. All evidences show that most of the methods used were, first, to pile bedding, furniture and other burnable material together, then to apply matches. Eye witnesses also claim that many houses were set afire from aeroplanes….[p. 4]

“THE NEGRO ATTITUDE. The negroes have consistently said to the City, ‘Pay us for what we have lost and we will talk to you about selling what we have left.’ The Insurance Companies have consistently refused to honor the payment of insurance moneys because of the riot clause in the insurance policies. No suits for damages have reached the local court dockets and that which has been done is the responsibility of the negroes themselves and their white friends who have stood back of them.” [p. 25]

Social Relief, cont. Summary of Accomplishments

1. During the immediate days after the riot, over four thousand people were housed and fed in detention camps, mass fashion.
2. An unknown number approximating 2,000, were given shelter and fed wherever houses could be found to accommodate them.
3. Fire hospitals were supplied with emergency dressings and medical supplies for care of 183 patients. 531 First Aid cases were cared for at emergency First Aid Stations.
(Note: It should be noted that all of the hospitals charged their regular fees both for hospital care and surgical attention, the bills being presented to the Red Cross.)
4. Anti-tetanus, typhoid and small-pox serums were administered to over 1,800 people.
5. Hospital care, a general dispensary, a dental clinic, and a V.D. clinic was equipped and put into service at the Booker T. Washington School and used there until September 1st.
In the meantime a fairly modern nine-roomed hospital has been built ready for occupancy, which was immediately pressed into service on the vacation of the school properties.
6. Over four hundred tent homes were erected with board siding and flooring with screen ventilators and screen doors, these for immediate temporary use.
Since October 1st, two hundred twenty-five of these have been converted into all wood one-room or two-room houses.
7. Over five hundred children, mostly of the lower grades, were furnished school books and many of them school clothes, at the beginning of the school year.
8. During the months of October, November and December, an average of fifteen carpenters were kept at work on daily wages replacing tent houses with wooden shacks. During the same months an average of fifteen women have been employed in the work room, making underwear, quilts, hospital garments, bedding and clothing equipment.
9. A total of 2480 families have been to the Red Cross office with their troubles. A thorough record of each of these has been made and individual treatment afforded according to the merits of each case. The aim in each instance has been to help the sufferers help themselves…. [pp. 18-19 of Relief Section; pp. 80 and 82 of 100 pages of digital version.]

SUMMARY MEDICAL AND SURGICAL RELIEF

“No. Wounded Whites Hospitalized During and After Riot at Red Cross Expense — 48
“No. Negroes Hospitalized during and after Riot at Red Cross Expense — 135
“No. Negro cases Hospitalized since Riot — 98
“Total Number persons receiving hospital care — 233
“No. patents still remaining in hospital — 22
1 Died December 30th.
“Number persons died [presumably in a hospital] — 18
“No. p4ersons who have from time to time been discharged — 193
“No. First Aid Cases during and after Riot — 531
….” (p. 20, Relief Section; p. 83 of 100 of photocopy on archive.org.)

(Willows, Maurice (American Red Cross). Disaster Relief Report: Riot June 1921. 12-31-1921.)

Newspapers/Newsletters (Chronological)

June 1: “The race rioting that broke out here late Tuesday night grew out of the arrest Tuesday afternoon of Dick Rowland, a negro bootblack,, on a charge of assaulting a white elevator girl in the Drexel building on Monday.

“There was a movement afoot, it was reported, among white people to go to the county courthouse Tuesday night and lynch the boot-black. This report spread over ‘Little Africa’ and early in the evening crowds of negroes began forming.

“Rowland was taken from the city to the county jail Tuesday afternoon and his preliminary trial set for June 7 in municipal court.

“Rowland was arrested on South Greenwood avenue early Tuesday morning by Officers Henry Carmichael and H. C. Pach. He was identified by the girl after his capture. The boy did not deny the attack and said he stepped on her foot but did not scratch her in any way.

“The girl alleged that the negro entered the elevator and without any provocation attacked her. She screamed for help and a clerk in the Renberg store ran to her assistance. Upon his approach the negro fled and had been in hiding until captured by the police officers yesterday morning.

“The girl is an orphan and is attending a local business college and running an elevator on off hours.” (Tulsa Daily World, OK. “Arrest of Young Negro on Statutory Charge Caused Battle Between the Races.” 6-1-1921, in Willows, 1921, p. 2.)

June 1: “Oklahoma City, June 1., 2 p.m. – Seventy-five persons, whites and negroes, have been killed in the race outbreak in Tulsa, according to a telephone message to Governor Robertson here today from the chief of Police at Tulsa.

“Martial law in Tulsa was ordered by the Governor at 11:15 this morning and Adjutant General Barrett placed in command of the city. The order invoking martial law was later extended to include all of Tulsa county. The order will place the adjutant general in supreme command of the county. The governor’s message to the adjutant general read as follows:

I have declared martial law throughout Tulsa county and am holding you responsible for maintenance of order, safety of life and protection of property. You will do all things necessary to attain these objects. Signed J. B. A. Robertson

“Tulsa, June 1. – Nearly ten square blocks of the south side of the negro section of Tulsa, where an armed conflict has been in progress between white men and negroes since early last night resulting in thee death of at least six white men and fifty negroes, and rapidly increasing list of wounded, were in flames early today. The fire was reported spreading and threatened to wipe out a white residential section in the Standpipe and Sunset Hill additions.

“State troops under the command of Adjutant General C. F. Barrett arrived at 9 o’clock this morning to take charge of the situation, augmenting local units of guardsmen who were called out last night.

“At this time there are reports of sporadic shooting and the situation seemed to be easing.

“Detachments of guardsmen were scattered throughout the city prepared to meet all emergencies. Guards surrounded the armory, while others assisted in rounding up the negroes and segregating them in the jail, convention hall, baseball park and other places which had been turned into prison camps.

“The trouble is reported to have been the result of the arrest late yesterday of Dick Holland, negro, for an alleged assault on an orphan girl in an elevator. The negro was spirited away from the county jail soon after two o’clock this morning by deputies from the office of Sheriff McCullough, who refused to divulge his whereabouts. Officials declared he would be given a speedy trial as soon as the situation had quieted down, a change of venue being sought if necessary.

“The first attempt to fire the negro sections was made about 1:30 this morning, when white men openly threatened to destroy the entire section. Two houses at Archer and Boston, used by more than 50 negroes as a garrison, were set on fire at that time and an alarm was turned in. Efforts of the fire department to lay the hose were stopped by a crowd of armed white men and the department returned to its station.

“The attempt to destroy the negro houses on Asher street was resumed at 6:40 this morning, when almost simultaneously fire began to burst from the windows and doors of many homes. Soon dense clouds of black smoke enveloped the location. Under cover of the smoke, armed men in motor cars and on foot threw a cordon about the place. The negroes were still surrounded this morning and occasional shooting gave warning that the conflict still was being waged.

“The first shot was fired soon after dark yesterday, and came when a police officer attempted to disarm a negro. According to the officer the negro resisted and was shot dead. His body lay in the street more than three hours. A white man was killed shortly afterwards at the court house.

“Negroes remained in many of the burning houses until they were enveloped by fire and threatened to fall, then they could be seen by the score darting from doors with hands upraised and crying ‘don’t shoot,’ as they dashed through the smoke to surrender and be taken to jail.

“A twenty year old white boy thought to be named Olsen, living at Sapulpa, died at 8:30 following a battle of an hour earlier at the Frisco depot, in which two negroes are reported to have been killed.

“Carl D. Lotpiesch, 28, Randall, Kansas, was shot through the heart and taken to a hospital at 6:30 this morning. He died shortly afterwards.

“F. M. Baker, Havelin, Kansas, 27, shot in the back with buckshot, died in a hospital this morning.

“An identification found in a dead man’s clothing bore the name of Norman Gillard.

“Mrs. S. A. Gilmore, a white woman, was shot in the left arm and side at 7:30 this morning. Mrs. Gilmore was standing on the front porch of her home when she was picked off by a negro sniper, one of a score or more, barricaded in a church.

“F. L. Curry, 26, son of Judge Curry, was slightly wounded in the neck. His wound is not serious.

“A. B. Stick, 29, city clerk of Sapulpa, is near death from bullet wounds, which entered the back going directly through the body. Stick was standing on the steps of a leading hotel watching the fighting when a stray bullet struck him down….” (Associated Press. “Seventy-Five Die in Tulsa Race Riot.” Ada Weekly News, OK. 6-2-1921, p. 1.)

June 2: “Tulsa, Okla., June 2. – This oil metropolis of the Southwest was emerging tonight from one of the most spectacular outbreaks of lawlessness that has been known in Oklahoma since the early pioneer days. The combined agencies of law and order of city, county and State, directed in person by Governor Robertson and other State officials, had gained the upper hand and comparative quiet prevailed as fuller details of the tale of murder, arson and vandalism were unfolded. The city remained under martial law, although slight modifications were ordered by the military authorities.

“A careful survey tonight showed the known dead to be thirty instead of the supposed 85 to 100 as estimated last night. Of the known victims nine are whites and twenty-one are negroes.

“Some still believe that many other negroes perished in the burning of their section at an estimated loss of $1,580,000, and that these will never be known. There are vague reports also that negroes’ bodies were thrown into the river and that others were buried outside the city….

“Tonight a reconstruction commission, formed by citizens, announced that the mile-square burned area would be rebuilt. A thousand business men will contribute to start a city-wide fund for the rehabilitation of the devastated district.

“In the meantime the City Government, the police and the Sheriff’s office, are under heavy fire as having by incompetent handling of the situation brought shame upon the community.

“Before returning to Oklahoma City this afternoon the Governor ordered the immediate impaneling of a Grand Jury with plenary powers to investigate the uprising. He stated that the Attorney General and every agency of the State government would co-operate to impose the fullest penalties of the law on those guilty of instigating the riots. He especially asked an inquiry into the conduct of the Police Department and the Sheriff’s office, which he condemned.

“In accordance with the Governor’s direction, Judge Valjean Biddison ordered the Grand Jury investigation to begin June 8. It is planned to call large numbers of witnesses, white and black, in an effort to fix responsibility for the outbreak.

“A host of bankers, business men and civic leaders assembled in mass meeting to organize city-wide relief for the thousands of negroes, rendered homeless and destitute by the destruction of the negro quarter.

“A committee of seven was appointed to assume charge of the work of relief and restoration, in co-operation with the Red Cross, which has worked unceasingly for thirty-six hours to alleviate the sufferings of the dispossessed blacks.

“Judge Loyal J. Martin, ex-Mayor, who was later chosen Chairman of the committee, said at the mass meeting:

Tulsa can only redeem herself from the country-wide shame and humiliation into which she is today plunged by complete restitution and rehabilitation of the destroyed black belt. The rest of the United States must know that the real citizenship of Tulsa weeps at this unspeakable crime and will make good the damage, so far as it can be done, to the last penny.

We have neglected our duties and our City Government has fallen down. We have had a failing police protection here, and now we have to pay the costs of it. The city and county is legally liable for every dollar of the damage which has been done. Other cities have had to pay the bill of race riots, and we shall have to do so probably, because we have neglected our duty as citizens.

“Loud applause greeted his declaration that most of the damage done to property was done by ‘criminals who should have been shot on the spot.’ He urged that the commission determine whether city and county authorities would be able to cope with the situation after the troops leave. Then he went on:

If the police authorities cannot take charge of the city, we’d better get the American Legion on the job and have a hundred men in readiness for outbreaks.

“Judge H. L. Standeven said the entire city would have to take part in the burden of reconstruction….” (New York Times. “Tulsa in Remorse to Rebuild Homes; Dead Now Put at 30.” 6-3-1921, p. 1.)

June 2: “By Associated Press. Tulsa, Okla., June 2. At a meeting in the municipal building today various Tulsa citizens charged that a complete fall down of the city and county law enforcement officials was responsible for the rioting and incendiarism here Tuesday night and Wednesday morning which so far has resulted in the known deaths of nine whit men and 18 negroes, the wounding of nearly 300 persons, and fire loss to negro property estimated at $1,500,000….

“‘Most of this damage was done by white criminals who should have been shot and killed,’ Judge Martin said before he was selected chairman of the relief and rehabilitation committee.

“‘As the final outcome, we mush rebuild these houses, see that these negroes get their insurance, and get their claims against the city and county. But the first thing we must do is to provide for them all the relief possible in the way of housing and food.’

“Maj. Hopkins told the meeting he had just returned from the fair grounds, where several thousand of the negroes are under guard and protection, and said sanitary conditions there were very bad. He said that the houses in which many of the negro women and children refugees slept last night had not been swept at 11 o’clock this morning, that there were only two uniformed guards at the fair grounds and that the negroes were not working to care for themselves.

“Many negroes left Tulsa today. The Red Cross offered to provide transportation for any destitute who wanted to leave, although no effort was made to have the negroes leave.

“It rained here quite a bit today and added to the hardships of the negroes whose homes were destroyed. Many of them, feeling free to move about under protection of a white badge, stamped ‘police protection,’ moved about in the district where their homes had stood, carrying bundles through the rain as they trudged along in mud seeking for a resting place for the night, mearns of leaving Tulsa or seeking for relatives.

“Linemen were busy in the mile square devastated district today restoring power and communication wires.

“The list of wounded mounted gradually as persons who previously had not been treated called on physicians. The approximate number was placed at 240, with the belief that many more than that were hurt but did not report their injuries.

“As rapidly as a negro at the fair grounds is sponsored by his or her employer a ‘police protection’ tag is issued, and the prisoner released. It is hoped in that manner to thin the ranks to where the five negro officers of Tulsa county can identify negro participants in the riot.

Think Many Burned.

“Belief was expressed by officials that the bodies of all the negroes killed would not be found as it was thought that a number were burned in their homes. Then, too, reports were received at military headquarters that a number of negro bodies had been thrown into the river and others buried outside the city.

“Physicians treating wounded negroes at hospitals said a score could not recover.

“Outside the killing and wounding in the series of race battles, the situation of thousands of homeless negroes presented the most serious condition and one which will give authorities the biggest problem.

“All that was left this morning of the hundreds of negro homes bunched in the section fired by white rioters was a blackened waste, a curling column of smoke here and there and a few shattered walls….Virtually no buildings escaped….

“Officials hope to clear up just what led to the first shooting Tuesday. A newspaperman who was at the courthouse at the time said about 25 white men gathered on the south side of the building. Three of the leaders entered the courthouse, he said, on the top floor of which Dick Bowland, a negro, was being held for an alleged attack upon a white girl in an elevator of a downtown building. Most of the white men were not armed, according to the newspaperman.

“Sheriff McCullough met the three men who entered the building and warned them away, with the declaration that the negro would be protected at any cost. The prisoner was in a cell at the top of a winding stairway which could have easily been held by a few men against a mob.

How First Clash Came.

“Meantime about 30 negroes, some armed, gathered in little groups west of the courthouse. Barney Cleaver, negro, a veteran police officer, went among the gathering negroes and counselled them to disperse. At this time there apparently was no concerted action among the negroes.

“Most of them started to leave but were called back by a few leaders. Twice again the majority of the negro mob moved away, but each time they returned at the appeal of the few who were determined to stay.

“By this time the white crowd had been reinforced by curious persons. Then some broke, running eastward, shouting: ‘Let’s get guns.’

“The negroes moved away and took a stand about three blocks away.

“The white crowd remained near the courthouse, however, receiving reinforcements.

“Then armed negroes appeared in motor cars racing past he courthouse. The whole mob then moved away from the courthouse and it was a brush between skirmishers in an alley that precipitated the general shooting.

“The two forces consolidated soon afterwards and the negroes were driven through the business district back to their quarters. They took up a stand across the Frisco Railroad tracks, about a thousand strong, and a battle took place when the white rioters lined up behind buildings on the other side of the railroad tracks.

“Finally, fires were started by the whites and the negroes dislodge.

“The matter of collecting insurance on the properties in the negro quarter today was in dispute, the insurance men holding that their policies on the approximately $1,500,000 worth of buildings destroyed did not recognize mob violence as a destructive agent. It was regarded as possible that some of the negroes might seek to recover from the city of Tulsa, seeking to establish that the city was negligent in not having provided sufficient protection and therefore was responsible for the losses.

“The military forces headed by Adjutant General Barrett started a check of the list of dead which unofficial estimates placed at somewhere near 100, most of them negroes. Belief was expressed by all officials that the disturbance would not recur.

“When the military forces combed over the burned negro quarters a number of negro bodies were expected to be found. This morning the bodies of 15 negroes lay in morgues.

“Thirteen white men were arrested by National Guardsmen in the negro quarter today and sent to the city jail for investigation. It was said all men had in their possession property which apparently had been taken from houses which the flames did not reach, but from which the negro occupants fled in fear. May such houses were entered, according to guardsmen, and trunks and cabinets broken open.
Identified Dead.

“A final check of the morgues today definitely fixed the number ow white dead at nine.

F. M. BAKER. Haviland, Kan., who died at a local hospital last night at 9:30 o’clock.

ERNEST AUSTIN, 39 years, 10½ North Main Street, an employee of the Pathe Phonograph Shop, who was previously identified as F. M. Baker. His former house is in Southton, N.Y., where his aunt, Mrs. Garry Worden, lives.

WALTER DAGGS, manager of the Pierce Oil Corporation of Tulsa.

ARTHUR JONES. Wyona, Okla.

CLEO SHUMATE. Tulsa.

CARL D. LOTSPEICHE. 28, Tulsa.

HOMER C. CLYNE, 16 years old, Tulsa.

An unidentified man about 40 years old, at a local undertaking parlor.

Identified negroes:

JOHN WHEELER, night porter, First National Bank, killed while on way to work Wednesday morning. He was struck by a stray bullet and killed instantly.

Dr. A. C. JACKSON, shot to death while running from his burning home. He was one of Tulsa’s most prominent negro physicians and surgeons.

WILLIAM TURNER, 35, shot through abdomen, died at hospital last night.

GEORGE JEFFREY or Jeffries, 36, shot through abdomen; died in hospital last night.

GREGG ALEXANDER, 26, shot in back, died at local hospital last night.

Holding of Funerals in Churches Forbidden

“Tulsa, Okla., June 2. – Mayor T. D. Evans tonight issued an order revoking all special police commissions. The mayor acted under instructions from General Barrett who earlier in the day publicly stated that many of the ring leaders among the white rioters and men who did most of the shooting carried arms as special officers.

“A military order tonight forbade holding of funerals, of those killed in the riot, in churches. The order, signed by Major Byron Kirkpatrick follows:

Owing to present conditions in Tulsa, and Tulsa County, funerals of those killed during the riots will not be held in churches of the city. Many of these churches are used as camps for refugees and it is against the policy of the military department to allow the use of same for funerals under the conditions of emotional stress which still prevail within the city.

(Assoc. Press. “Tulsa Officials Blamed For Outbreak.” San Antonio Express, TX. 6-3-1921, p. 8.)

June 2: “(By Direct West India Cable Co.) Tulsa, June 2. – It is estimated that persons were killed and 500 wounded in the race riot here. Three thousand negroes have been rendered homeless….

Cause of Riot.

“New York, June 2. – Negro leaders here attribute the Tulsa riot to the desire of the whites to grab negro home sites for oil wells.” (The Gleaner, Kingston, Jamaica. Serious Race Riots….Cause of Riot.” 6-14-1921.

June 3: “Tulsa, Okla., June 3. – At a meeting in the municipal building yesterday evening various Tulsa citizens charged that a complete fall down of the city and county law enforcement officials was responsible for the rioting and incendiarism here Tuesday night and Wednesday morning which so far has resulted in the known deaths of nine white men and 18 negroes, the wounding of nearly 300 persons, and fire loss to negro property estimated at $1,500,000

“Brigadier General Barrett commanding the state troops in Tulsa county under a declaration of martial law by Governor J. B. A. Robertson, was equally emphatic in charging that a complete fall down of the local peace officers was responsible for the rioting and said that the factors which led to it were an impudent negro, a hysterical girl and a yellow journal reporter….” (Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Commandant of Guardsmen Says Local Officers Alone to Blame.” 6-3-1921, p. 1.)

June 4: “Tulsa, June 4. – The last state guardsman, mobilized here to put down the race war of Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, which cost 31 lives and approximately $1,500,000 in property loss, were withdrawn this morning, when 325 Tulsa militiamen entrained for Ft. Sill, leaving the city in control of city and county officials, reinforced by deputized former service men. The local guard units were ordered to Ft. Sill for the encampment of the Oklahoma militia beginning tomorrow.

“Business and social life here was fast being restored to normal following the lifting of martial law late yesterday afternoon.

“Preparations for a grand jury investigation to fix the responsibility for the race outbreak, which will begin June 8th, were being made today by the county attorney assisted by a committee of the Tulsa county bar association….

“The death of Robert Hanson, 27, tool dresser, brought the list of white dead up to ten today.

“The bodies of 21 negroes have been found. There are many here who declare that more negroes were killed, that the bodies were burned or destroyed, but investigation of these reports leads to nothing.

“For the most part negroes were back at work and individual employers were caring for their own workers. Those who did not have jobs were ordered to accept work cleaning up the city or go to jail as vagrants.

“The Citizens Committee of Welfare met again today in an attempt to formulate a plan of reconstruction of negro homes, but nothing definite had been decided upon this morning.”

U. S. To Investigate
(By the Associated Press)

“Muskogee, June 4. – That the federal investigation of the race riot at Tulsa, ordered yesterday by Attorney General Daugherty, probably will be a special one and will not come through the regular channel of the next term of federal court at Tulsa, was the opinion expressed today by Frank Lee of this city, United States Attorney for Eastern Oklahoma.” (Associated Press. “Last of State Guardsmen Leave Tulsa Quiet and Orderly Again.” Ada Evening News, 6-4-1921, p.1.)

June 4: “Tulsa, Okla., June 4. – Thirty white men have been arrested and are being held for investigation as suspects in connection with the race riots here. Police Chief Gustafson announced this afternoon. Another white man, arrested by State Guardsmen on a complaint of inciting riot, is also being held. Police officials refused to reveal the names of the men.

“The thirty whites under arrest are alleged to have been around plundering the devastated negro district. About seventy-five men have been taken into custody in the last two days on various charges, but many of them were released.

“Chief Gustafson declared that drastic measures would be taken against all looters. ‘We are keeping a close record on all property recovered,’ he said, ‘and as negroes identify their belongings we will demand that they swear to warrants for the arrest of the vandals. Prosecution will follow.’

“State guardsmen mobilized here to put down the race war were withdrawn this morning, leaving he city in control of city and county officials, reinforced by deputized former service men.

“Business and social life here was fast returning to normal following the lifting of martial law late yesterday and many negroes were back to work..

“Preparations for a grand jury investigation June 8 to fix the responsibility for the race outbreak, which resulted in the death of thirty-one persons and a property loss estimated at $1,500,000, were made today by the County Attorney….

“Many pitiful tales of the misery and suffering of the negro refugees were told today. Some ventured into the burned district to come away with small bandana handkerchief bundles filled with their entire salvage from once excellent homes. In a prominent hotel yesterday the porter, being passed by the manager, summoned the courage to say: ‘Boss, I’se getting’ kinda weak.’ It was found he had been shot through the side and for twenty-four hours had feared to reveal his injury lest he be taken for one of the rioters and summarily executed.

“Homes for thousands of negroes made destitute by the race rioting will be rebuilt by Tulsa business men, but a general plan of reconstruction was still being sought today by members of the Citizen’s Committee of Welfare, named for that purpose, and out of the burning of the negro section the negroes will profit, in one respect, for the business interests of the city are determined that a better and more sanitary section shall be erected.

“Some prominent men object to rearing a new negro settlement on the ashes of the area destroyed, and suggest that land be bought in the northern section of the city where homes could be built with a view to city planning.

“Judge L. J. Martin, Chairman of the committee, declared that 1,000 Tulsa men should volunteer each to build a negro a home. He said it would require not more than $1,000 for a home.

“The relief work among the negroes was thoroughly organized today, and most of them had left the detention camp at the fair grounds. White employers gave them shelter at their homes and business places.” (New York Times. “Thirty Whites Held For Tulsa Rioting.” 6-5-1921, p. 21.)

June 5: “I. W. Tubbs of Myrtle, Pa., has received the following letter from his son, Claude, who is employed as a carpenter and builder at Tulsa, Okla., telling of the race riot in that city recently:

Tulsa, Okla., June 5, 1921,
Dear Father, Mother and All:

….I suppose you have read of our trouble out here. I sent you two papers. When we awoke Wednesday morning, it sounded like the Fourth of July. I told Doll we had overslept and it was the Fourth. We soon learned the trouble. Negroes were coming up the Santa Fe railroad by the hundreds. Some were armed. The white people had bought, and in some cases broken into the hardware stores and taken all of the firearms and shells in town. The report was that negroes were coming in from other towns. I went over to Steve Owen’s and hot his shot gun and stood guard. The people just north of [slur] town moved out. Fire had been set on the south side and the wind was driving it north. It was reported that the fighters were coming this way so a neighbor and I took the Ford and went to the corner of Washington and Peoria streets. There was a small army of whites and much shooting so I got behind that big bill board fence, I saw one negro shot.

When it began to quiet I came home and we went with five car loads of officers out north two miles and one and a fourth miles east and there we could see many. There was a concrete house up there and some thought they would put up a battle there. There were about 1000 negroes and as many white flags. So we went up and searched them all and I talked with some of them and found out they had had nothing to eat since the day before. About that time Mr. McCullom came and we stayed all day except when one of us went to get food tor them. Mr. McCullom got a lot of milk and a little later the town people began sending trucks with food and milk.

It was the saddest sight that I ever saw. The negroes were afraid the white mob would come and clean up on them. There was a time when I was alone with them and they would crowd around me and ask if there would be guards sent and if I was going to leave them and I told them that if they came to do them harm, I would die with them before I would go and leave them. Practically all of them were innocent and didn’t know anything about the trouble until the firing began. One real old lady told me that when she left her house was on fire; and she had washed and paid for it. Another young woman with a young baby had stayed until when she left she came over floors so hat that the soles of her shoes were nearly burned off.

About 6 o’clock the order came to bring them all to the fair ground. Many of them had to walk. My Ford was at home so I walked in and got it and picked up all I could. Made several trips and took those who could not make it on foot. That old Ford never had loads equal to that. When about 9000 people are run out and have to be taken care of it means something, but all Tulsa turned out to help. The churches and convention hall were all filled with negroes. Claude.”

(Bolivar News, NY. “Writes About Race Riot at Tulsa, Okla.” 7-7-1921, p. 9.)

June 6: “Tulsa, Okla. June 6. – For the first time an official list of casualties occurring during the race riot which raged in Tulsa Tuesday night and Wednesday morning was made public Saturday night by national guard officers. The list places the number of known white dead at nine and the negro at 26. The unknown white severely injured is placed at 16 and the slightly injured at 60. Negroes severely injured were 72, slightly injured 163.” (Daily Herald, Gulfport, MS. “Official Death List of Tulsa Riot Given.” 6-6-1921, p. 1.)

“June 6: “Tulsa, Okla., June 6. – Misuse of the word ‘assault’ by a newspaper in reporting a charge made by a white elevator girl against a negro youth is held to have caused the race riot here in which thirty lives were lost and millions of dollars worth of property was destroyed. Trouble started when the negro boy stepped on the girl’s toe. She is said to have slapped him and then to have caused his arrest on a charge of assault.” (Daily Herald, Gulfport, MS. “‘Misuse of Word’ Held as Cause of Tulsa Race Riot.” 6-6-1921, p. 1.)

June 6: June 11 paper: “The real extent of the Tulsa riot losses was greatly minimized in press reports, according to a former Fayetteville [AR] man who lives at Tulsa and who wrote a long letter to his parents here graphically describing the race war, its cause and its effect. For obvious reasons the name of the writer is withheld.

“Last press reports listed the dead at about thirty. The Tulsa citizen in his letter says the rowdy white element burned the negro district after the better class whites had already corralled the negroes in stockades. He said that from a survey he had made he judged from 100 to 200 negroes were killed and 300 hurt and ten whites were killed and 100 hurt. The letter follows:

Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Monday, Evening, June 6, 1921.

Dear Folks:

I would have written you ere this about the race riot we had here last week did I not know that some of you from home had phoned over and learned that I was out of the city at the time it occurred. Business called me to Little Rock and Pine Bluff on the night of the trouble – leaving here on a train at six o’clock and the riot starting at ten o’clock.

Soon after my return Thursday noon – finding my family safe of course, I set out to learn the real facts and to see with my own eyes what I had been told was one of the worst race riots that has ever occurred in this section of the South and Southwest and the United States for that matter. I could hardly believe what I had heard had happened, although I was aware of the fact that should one ever start here that it would be the most disastrous one a person could imagine because the class of people who make up Tulsa are so different to any that I have ever seen in all my life. Since coming to Tulsa several years ago I have learned that the then new slogan ‘Tulsa Will’ is a true one and never yet have I seen them start a job and leave it unfinished.

Last Tuesday nigh a band of from one hundred to two hundred negroes armed with high powered rifles walked from their section of the city to the cunty courthouse intent on preventing the rumored lynching of a negro man who was confined there during the day for an attempted assault on a white elevator girl the night before in a downtown office building. These negroes were naturally of the mean, low-brow class, full of Choc Beer and looking for trouble. They were informed by the sheriff that the negro in question was in no danger and that they must disperse immediately or there would be a terrible situation arise momentarily from their actions should the citizenship of the city learn of it. The sheriff was hooted down by them before he had time to warn them further. By this time a number of curious white persons, among them women and children returning from theatres and other down town places of amusement, had gathered to ascertain what was taking place. Soon the news spread like wildfire and the white persons, knowing what was about to take place, began to flee for safety and to places where they might find arms and ammunition. It was while this was taking place that the negroes started firing into them. One prominent young man in the oil business was killed and any number of them injured. This was the straw that broke the camels back and was like touching a torch to an oil tank. ‘Tulsa Did’ and ‘Tulsa Will’ again if the occasion ever presents itself.

It was a terrible night that followed. A number of warm personal friends of mine who were out that night – having offered their services to the police department to assist in quieting the city, have told me that they never saw a more frenzied mob of white people in their lives and that they were positive that no one else ever did. The new spread into all parts of the city in a few minutes and men flocked to the business district in their automobiles bringing with them all the firearms they had in their own homes and stopping at the homes of friends who they thought might possess them. After several hundred, yes I might say two or three thousand of them had gathered in the heart of the business district it was discovered that they were sadly in need of more guns and ammunition. By this time the negroes had retreated to their own domains to fortify themselves. It was then decided by the whites that it would be nothing short of a massacre for them to attempt to fight the then raving blacks with their present equipment. A rush was made on all of the hardware stores and pawn shops in the city for fire arms and a call was sent out to several of the large refineries and oil companies who were known to have a large store of fire arms on hand and left over from war days when so many men were required to guard their properties from being burned by German sympathizers. It was surprising the bountiful supply that they soon found themselves the proud possessors of. The entire stocks of supplies on hand in all the hardware stores were taken by the ‘breaking into route’ without any questions being asked by anyone.

After the white people had organized themselves the best they could they then moved rapidly toward Greenwood avenue, the heart of the negro business section…. It was then about two o’clock in the morning and it was at this time that so many white people were killed – when they first started into the negro district. The blacks had concealed themselves in the interim in such places as pipe yards, box cars, in hotel windows and every conceivable place where they could ‘snipe’ the whites as they came into the district. They fought hand to hand until the dawn of day with the whites taking full possession of everything and arresting, disarming and placing in stockades every negro who held up his hands, the others they killed in their tracks, their bodies being allowed to lie in the open hot sun until the afternoon.

It was not until after daybreak that an apparent lower class of white people began to appear on the scene and start what proved to be the most terrible aftermath that this country has ever seen to a race riot. They started burning the colored district and looting the houses of all their valuables and some of them were furnished much better than a persons would ordinarily think. The result of the disturbance was that from five hundred to one thousand homes, the entire business district of four or five blocks or more, all the colored churches but one, all but one school house and every colored hotel in thee city was burned to the ground, rendering homeless an estimated nine thousand people.

In all I think there must have been as many as twenty or thirty blocks burned. No one is blaming the whites for the negroes that were killed because one side had to conquer, the only blame that is put on the white people is the arson they committed when they burned that end of town which will cost the city and citizenship an estimated million and one half dollars to rebuild. This of course falls upon the tax payers and wealthier class of Tulsa’s people. All of the burning and looting was the work of vandals – composed of gamblers, bootleggers, high jackers, etc. The better element, who stood up like men and fought the negroes off their feet and made them surrender, leaving the negro district absolutely void of its population, quit when they had accomplished their motive and it was immediately following this that the other class took up their work of firing and looting the district.

The first reports about the riot were the most correct of any that has ever been given out as it was decided later to keep out of the press the real facts of the disaster. There is no question from a survey that I have made but there were in the neighborhood of from one hundred to two hundred negroes killed and about ten whites and perhaps ten times that many injured. There were probably three hundred negroes wounded. Hundreds of them left the city and will never return. All roads leading out of the city have yielded forth their scattering dead having died from injuries received in the battle.

“The citizenship of Tulsa, through the organization of its welfare committee and kindred civic organizations, has already begun steps toward the rebuilding of the devastated area and ere many months Tulsa will have forgotten, in a way, that terrible night of May 31st, 1921.

(Fayetteville Daily Democrat, AR. “Extent Tulsa Riot Losses Suppressed, Citizen Writes Here.” 6-11-1921, p. 1.)

June 6: “Tulsa, Okla., June 6. – R. L. Osborne died this morning at a hospital from wounds received when he was shot by a guard, last night. According to military authorities Osborne was a member of an automobile party which failed to halt when commanded to by guards patrolling the road. His death brings the number of known white victims of the race riot to eleven.” (Daily Herald, Gulfport, MS. “Riot at Tulsa, Okla., Last Week Claims Another Victim.” 6-6-1921, p. 1.)

June 7: “Tulsa, Okla., June 7. – Attorney General S. P. Freeling arrived here today and immediately started an investigation into the race fighting and incendiarism of a week ago, which took a toll of thirty-three lives.

“The first step toward prosecution of alleged leaders of the race riots and subsequent burning of the negro district was taken today with the filing of charges against K. B. Strafford, a former hotel proprietor, and three other negroes, none of whom is in custody. They are charged with rioting.

“Extradition papers for Stratford, who is in Independence, Kan., were forwarded by the County Attorney to Governor Robertson who was asked to make a requisition on Governor Allen of Kansas for the return of the negro. Stratford has refused to return to Tulsa….

“Another angle of what led up to the first shooting last Tuesday night developed today, when Tolly J. Elliott, proprietor of the largest negro store in Tulsa, declared at a meeting of the Ministerial Alliance that he telephoned Mayor Evans at 9 o’clock that evening that an excited crowd was gathering in the negro quarter. He asserted that Mayor Evans replied he was in touch with the situation through the Police Department and that the police had the situation well in hand. Mayor Evans later said he had no recollection of the telephone call.

“Orders have been issued by the Police Department that, beginning tomorrow morning, all negroes found on the street without identification cards will be arrested and placed in a detention camp.” (New York Times. “Begin Prosecution of Tulsa Rioters.” 6-8-1921, p. 7.

June 8: “At the request of the Tulsa real estate exchange and other organizations, the mayor and city commissioners at their regular meeting Tuesday morning extended the fire limits to include a large portion of the devastated district in ‘Little Africa.’” (Tulsa Daily World, OK. “Burned District in Fire Limits. City Ordinance Extends Boundaries as Protection Against Fire. Bar Frame Buildings.” 6-8-1921, p. 2.)

June 9: “Tulsa, Okla., June 9. – Twelve men tentatively accepted as jurors were in the box today, and it was expected to complete selection of a special grand jury to investigate the race riot here last week, and with S. P. Freeling, state attorney general, in charge of the inquiry, to begin calling until he obtained the ‘exact facts.’

“The attorney general’s court of inquiry, dealing particularly with the conduct of local officials, was in session again yesterday, but the evidence was kept secret.

“An indication of the turn of the grand jury investigation possibly will take developed in the examination of prospective jurymen. The veniremen [jurymen] were asked if they would return accusations against officials if evidence was produced to show that they had been negligent in taking steps to prevent the riot and they also were questioned as to whether race prejudice would affect their decision.” (Dubuque Times-Journal, IA. “Jury Selected To Probe Race Riot in Tulsa.” 6-9-1921, p. 1.)

June 9, Associated Negro Press: “Tulsa, Okla., June 9. – Tulsa lies stricken unto death. The city is literally in sackcloth and ashes and it seems like a veritable miracle that it has escaped complete destruction. Whatever it enjoyed in the matter of thrift, enterprise and a fair name has been, for the moment at least, destroyed by a wanton, fiendish mob, actuated by jealously and race hatred, which sought to wipe out the Negroes and their section of the city for the simple reason their prosperity and intelligent development was becoming too evident to suit the wishes of a certain element of whites.
Whole Truth Not Told

“But little of the real truth has reached the outside world concerning the whole, horrible affair. The attempted rape incident has turned out to be nothing more than a discovery of the fact that a giddy white girl had become infatuated with a comely young Negro lad of scarcely more than 20 years of age. He was arrested at the instance of a group of white men and the charge of attempted rape was lodged against him. The boy is yet in jail but the girl has disappeared and the rape charge is about to fall to the ground.
Negroes Fear Lynching

“It is true that shortly after the arrest of the young colored man a small number of Negro men gathered in the vicinity of the jail. Tulsa Negroes had decided that no lynching should take place in Tulsa without a blood sacrifice to prevent it. Rumors had reached the colored section that a lynching would be attempted by the whites. When the colored men arrived in the vicinity of the jail they found a number of white men who immediately assumed a hostile attitude toward the colored men. It was not long before trouble started and the riot well under way. The Negroes fearing that their suspicions that a lynching was to be effected was about to be confirmed fought with great desperation and courage.
Negroes Outnumbered

“Within a short while the Negroes were outnumbered b the whites and they began an orderly retreat which carried them to the north side of the Frisco railroad tracks where they made a stand so valiant and death dealing that a S.O.S was sent out by the chief of the local police for soldier help. In the meantime the casualties were mounting up with the odds in favor of the colored combatants. It was near midnight when the militia arrived on the scent. This turned the tide of battle to the whites again. The Negroes retreated. Then it was that the white hoodlums began to apply the torch to the business concerns of the colored people located along Greenwood avenue.

Prominent Negroes Killed

“It was but a short step from the business section to the better residential section in this locality. Here three prominent colored men met death defending their homes from the torch bearing mob. Dr. A. C. Jackson, the leading colored physician of the city, was killed on his doorstep and his well appointed home touched by the torch and totally destroyed by the fire that followed. The same fate befell Wesley Williams, the wealthiest Negro in Tulsa and the owner of the Dreamland theater, also destroyed by fire. Williams was reputed to be worth more than $200,000. Dr. John Wayne died fighting protecting his home which was destroyed by fire. John Wheeler, one of the oldest employees at the First National, was killed by a stray bullet while on his way to the bank Wednesday morning. No colored man in Tulsa was more highly respected than John Wheeler. He had been in the employ of the First National for a long number of years and was one of the familiar and popular figures of the city. He was buried with signal honors, the officials of the bank attending in a body.
Thousands Made Homeless

“The fires spread. White brutes applied the torch while the militia busied itself with the disarming and arresting of such Negroes who were unlucky enough to fall into their hands. In a short period to time a great host of defenseless women and children were being driven helter skelter by the unfeeling mob or made prisoners by the militia and police. The new Mt. Zion church, recently built at a cost of $85,000 was partially destroyed by fire. It was dedicated on the 10th of last April and is said to be the largest church structure owned by colored in the state of Oklahoma.

“Governor Robertson declared a state of martial law early Thursday morning. He was greatly affected by the condition of things which met him upon his arrival. He openly declared that a competent sheriff and a les cowardly chief of police would have put an end to the trouble without much effort. He has ordered an investigation and declares he is going to the bottom of the trouble to determine its origin and the causes which led up to the riot.

Plans for Relief

“An elaborate plan for relief has been devised backed by the local chamber of commerce and prominent citizens. It is proposed to raise a fund of $500,000 at least for the purpose of rehabilitating the Negro section and thereby restore, as near as possible, normal if not better conditions for that end of the city where the colored people lived. The Chicago Tribune has contributed $1,000 to the fund.

Jealously Main Cause for Riot

“The main cause for the riot goes back of the arrest of the young colored man who provided the immediate reason for the outburst. Retail dealers in the main section of Tulsa have long been envious of the business enterprises which the Negroes were sustaining out in their section. And then again while the colored people were doing the menial domestic work in Tulsa they were making a more prosperous showing, on the whole, than the ‘poor whites.’ These situations added to the devilish work of agitators made it rather easy to start a conflagration of hate and prejudice whenever a match was applied to the strained conditions. The discovery of a love affair between a white girl and a colored youth furnished the match and Tulsa lies today stricken to its very heart.

Order Now Maintained

“There have been no outbursts during the week. The authorities are now awake, thanks to the courage and vigilance of Governor Robertson, and it is not now expected that rioting will be resumed. The investigation and the relief work are to start at once.” (Associated Negro Press. “Envy and Jealousy Principal Cause of Tulsa Race Riot.” Phoenix Tribune, AZ, 6-11-1921, p. 1.)

June 10 edition of Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City: “The Negro district of Tulsa was confined to a section of land, about a mile square, in the northeastern portion of the city. It, more directly speaking, laid between the forks of the Midland Valley, Frisco and M. K. & T. Railroads. The business and industrial section of Tulsa has in recent years built up to the Negro belt, which when it was first located was an insolated spot in the lowlands. With the coming of the oil boom and the rapid expansion of the business district of Tulsa, it was soon discovered that the only available trackage property left in the city was completely covered by the Negroes in this black belt.

“Some time ago the Railroads attempted to purchase a large tract of land, beginning at Archer and running north and east for depot and terminal purposes. The attempt failed. Individual Negroes had been offered large sums of money to release their holdings along the railway right-a-way, but to no avail. In fact, the inhabitants of this most prosperous black community each year proceeded to get a firmer hold upon this much coveted section, by the erection of permanent brick structures and the increase in land holdings. To show that the natural trend of the business district was in this direction is but for one to go one block east past the Negroes and observe that the industrial section had been continued from that point.

“Greenwood, the principal street in the Negro district, was paved and was at night a seething mass of black folks, equal to Chicago’s State street or Beale Street in Memphis. The statement that the Negroes lost one and one-half million dollars worth of property in the colossal tragedy of June 1st is an erroneous statement. In the loss of over 700 homes and 200 business houses the Negroes of Tulsa have sustained a loss of over four million dollars. Two of the finest hotels that the Negroes own in America went up in smoke. The Welcome Grocery Store carried as large a stock of groceries as did any retail white store in Tulsa. Mrs. Williams, who owned the Dreamland Theatres in Tulsa, Muskogee and Okmulgee, was perhaps one of the foremost Negro business women in the United States. She has one three-story brick on Greenwood, which housed her big confectionery and the other floors were used for offices for the professional men of the race. Farther down on the street was her theatre, the pride of the Negroes of the city. The street had located on it three drug stores and two newspaper plants, The Tulsa Star had a plant worth fully $15,000.00. Fully 150 business houses lined this street alone, that required a Negro traffic officer to stand in the streets all day long, directing the busy activities.

“Now, on Friday, June 7th, the city commissioners of Tulsa extended the fire limits to include thirty-five blocks of the devastated area, according to the Tulsa Tribune. This action is accepted as meaning ‘THAT THE OLD BLACK BELT HAS BEEN ABOLISHED AND THAT THE CREATION OF A NEW NEGRO DISTRICT, FARTHER OUT AND REMOVED FROM THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WILL BE MANDATORY!’

“Anyone who believes in circumstantial evidence might have a remote idea from this latest move that the vandals who looted the burning homes of Tulsa’s bleeding populace, last Wednesday were not the only culprits aloose and extant on that frightful morning of hell and arson. In the judgment of the writer, if Tulsa was really repentant, if she was sincere in her cry of ‘restitution,’ she would have covered her tracks at least for the moment. The tracks which show in their drift that Tulsa not only preying upon the lives of its black citizens, not alone did she want the furniture, the jewels and the money and draperies in black homes, but this latest FIRE LIMIT ORDINANCE SHOWS PLAINLY THAT TULSA COVETED ALSO THE VERY LAND UPON WHICH BLACK MEN DWELT.

“There are today in the jails of Tulsa over one hundred and seventy-five white persons who are charged with looting. All up and down North Detroit the officers have gone into white homes and taken out pianos, jewelry, carpets, silver-ware. One white woman said that she saw a white man go into one black man’s yard and drive away in his automobile. As far east as east Tulsa, across the river, many loads of the effects of black folks have been recovered from the vandals who, according to the story of the refugees, took their look in the presence of the Home Guards of Tulsa.

“For example, Dr. P. S. Thomson, a Negro druggist, who before the conflagration, owned a beautiful home, about a $10,000.00 stock of drugs, and who in his establishment for the past five years has employed at least six members of the race, tells this story: He says, ‘About seven o’clock in the morning the Home Guards set fire to the buildings on Boston Street. I could see them in their uniform before they reached my place. Finally they came to my establishment and broke open the door and ordered me out. They put me in an automobile which was at the front door. Before we drove away the looters, in plain view of THE HOME GUARDS AND MYSELF, TORE OPEN MY CASH REGISTER AND WERE PRIZING OPEN MY SAFE.’

“The business of Dr. Thompson is entirely destroyed. Men followed in the wake of the looters and set fire, for the obvious purpose of covering up the vandalism of the cowardly wretches who having now scattered, will never be apprehended.

“Dr. Arthur Jackson, ex-president of the State Medical Association, was shot down by a white boy about sixteen or seventeen years old, according to eye witnesses. He was rushing up out of his basement of his home, which was in flames, with his hands in the air. Two loads from a shot gun was his return for appearance on the street. He was not killed instantly. His body was thrown in a truck and he was dumped at the Convention hall, where after hours of suffering without medical attention he died from loss of blood.

“Another shameful incident, which shows that murderous intent of the men in the airships, is told by Dr. Payne and Robinson. These two men with their wives succeeded in reaching the open country. They were finally spotted by the air murderers who showered load after load of leadened missiles upon them. They finally reached the woods. Dr. Thomson and his wife, however, were saved by leaping into a creek and remaining there all day long, with nothing above the water but their noses with which to breathe. Thompson and wife effectually eluded pursuit by the hundreds of whites who swarmed the country-side, by hiding in the thickets.

“W. I. Brown, a porter on the Katy Railroad, and who reached Tulsa Wednesday morning with the National Guard, recites this story: ‘We reached Tulsa about two o’clock. Air planes were circling all over Greenwood. We stopped our cars north of the Katy depot, going towards Sand Springs. The heavens were lighten up as plain as day from the many fires over the Negro section. I could see from my car window that two air planes were doing most of the work. They would every few seconds drop something and every time they did there was a loud explosion and the sky would be filled with flying debris.’

“There seems to be no accurate statement as to the actual death list on either side. Gordon Grady, who reported the affair in a statement in the McAlester News-Capital, says: ‘I saw dead bodies hauled away on trucks until I was sick and scores of Negroes lay in the streets until late in the afternoon. A letter from a prominent Negro in the city of Tulsa to the writer states that from what he can learn on the ground, about one hundred were killed, equally divided between the two races. According to the Tulsa papers, Tuesday, the authorities are beginning to find the dead bodies of Negroes out in the rural districts, which bear out the charge that black men were ruthlessly shot down who were not engaged in the conflict.

“Our investigator, a white man of unquestioned honesty and integrity, states that the newspaper statements about Sarah Page, the white girl, about whom all the trouble falls, are untrue. He found, upon investigation, that she was a married woman who had left her husband in Kansas City. Sheriff McCullough is quoted a stating that two months ago he served divorce papers on her, for her husband. The sheriff is further quoted as stating that if half of the charges alleged in the petition of her husband for divorce, are true, that she is a notorious character. Our investigator went far enough to interview the proprietor of the building, where the alleged attack is supposed to have taken place. He talked with the white man who went to the girl when the difficulty happened. ‘SHE WAS NOT BRUISED OR HER CLOTHING DISARRANGED IN ANY WAY’ stated this honest man. The gentleman who owned the building said that the affair had happened two days prior to the trouble of June 1, and that it was considered of such little consequence, so trifling, that he, himself, had not heard about it until the riot was on. The story of Dick Howland as told by many Negroes who say they know his story, is to the effect that when he entered the elevator, he stumbled and stepped on her foot. She immediately struck him, after he asked her to excuse him. She used, according to what Howland is alleged to have said, a stick or something that was laying in the elevator, and he grabbed her arm to keep her from striking him again before he left the elevator. Our investigator also attempted to locate Sarah Page, but she has gone and no one seems to know her whereabouts….” (Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City. “Loot, Arson, Murder.” 6-10-1921, p. 1.)

June 11: “The Tulsa race-riot is as widely and repeatedly commented upon in the American press as any news event that has taken place since the Harvey speech. Out of a mass of newspaper comment generalizing on the ‘barbarity of civilization’ four points stand out: first, a demand for organized education, Federal if necessary, that will counteract race-hatred; second, a call for more vigorous law enforcement and better policing, and stern prosecution of the guilty. The same editorial stand of the Tulsa Tribune (Dem.) and widely quoted statements from its editor have apparently done much to temper what might have been harsh criticism in the press, if this attempt ‘to atone’ had not been visible in the words and deeds of the citizens of the ‘disgraced’ city.

“The Springfield Republican (Ind.) calls attention to the fact that the Republican party in its national platform ‘urged’ Congress ‘to consider the most effective means to end ‘lynching’ and that declaration, it believes, is broad enough to include ‘a fresh survey’ of the situation. An educative process applied with patience, courage and organization’ great enough to create ‘an over-whelming public sentiment’ against lynching, the Baltimore American (Rep.) thinks, is the only thing that will stop it. With this opinion the Jersey City Journal (Ind.) is in sympathy and the Minneapolis Journal (Ind. Rep.) also feels that ‘the fundamental ‘education of Americans away from mob mind and action’ is the solution. To bring this about the New York Call (Soc.) summons ‘the whole working class movement of the United States’ to ‘take the initiative,’ while the Baltimore Sun (Ind. Dem.) insists that ‘the remedy’ must be backed up ‘by a fixed and steady determination on the part of the people to master the race problem on the basis or reason and understanding.’

“To the New York Evening Post (Ind.) the question is ‘essentially one of efficient government and administration’ and if the states and local officials cannot handle situations growing from ‘the accentuation of racial rivalries’ then ‘an irresistible demand will arise for national action.’ The Tulsa Tribune (Dem.) states the facts badly when it says the results of the riot are ‘an exhibition of one conspicuous and hideous fact: that there here is an element in Tulsa that has not been taught to respect the law.’ The St. Joseph (Mo.) News Press (Ind.) attributes the trouble ‘not so much to racial intolerance as to a kind of blind spirit of lawlessness,’ and the Greenville (S.C.) Piedmont (Ind. Dem) considers those ‘chiefly responsible’ the city and county officers ‘charged with enforcement of the law.’ Had the police and sheriff not been ‘negligent,’ declares the Pittsburg Leader (Prog. Rep.) ‘there would have been no gathering at the jail, no fight, no riot, no murders, no destruction of the town by fire.’ With this example before them the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune (Ind. Rep.) suggests that ‘every chief of police and every sheriff’ now ask himself ‘how is my force organized to prevent a similar orgy of murder and arson?’ For where ‘an impudent negro, an hysterical girl and a yellow journal reporter’ can cause the murder of thirty people and the destruction of hundreds of homes there must be, says the Norfolk Virginian Pilot (Ind. Dem.) ‘something fundamentally wrong with the police system and with the public opinion which is back of that system.’ Indeed, ‘wherever mob violence readily gains headway,’ observes the Boston Transcript (Ind. Rep.) ‘it is the fault of our police system,’ and while ‘ultimately perhaps we can eliminate the fundamental causes of race riots’ the Baltimore News (Ind.) considers that ‘we certainly ought to be able to develop pretty generally throughout the country a type of police service which will not only prevent race rioting from becoming serious in most cases, but will afford us real protection as well against other kinds of lawlessness and disorder which we seem subject to.’

“The Chicago Tribune (Ind. Rep.) goes back of the officials and the system itself and lays the whole trouble to ‘corrupt politics.’ Taking up this statement of the Indianapolis News (Ind.) quotes, in connection with it, the statement of the Governor of Oklahoma, who has asserted that if either the sheriff or the chief of police had had ‘the nerve’ the whole thing ‘would not have happened.’ The News therefore concludes that ‘with strong, clean local governments there would be little probability of general rioting.’ The Columbus Dispatch (Ind.) echoes this sentiment in the statement that the ‘result proves Tulsa voters guilty of a very serious lapse in the exercise of their power of intelligent selection.’

“There appears to be some hope in the fact that ‘with heartening swiftness Tulsa has turned to repentance.’ This suggests to the Globe at least one remedy. ‘Every dollar in damage,’ it says, ‘ought to be made good and every individual guilty should be punished.’ As this seems to be the attitude of Tulsa citizens the Pittsburg Chronicle Telegraph (Rep.) has faith that there will be no immediate repetition of the outbreak. That the city in some measure ‘can set herself aright before the world’ the Harrisburg Telegraph (Rep.) believes if she sees to it that ‘the guilty are sought out to the last man and punished.’ To this the Wheeling Register (Dem.) agrees and it must be done, the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Ind. Dem.) asserts, if the city is to pay the debt she owes to the people of the United States.’

“Many of the Southern papers seem to feel that the North has not sufficient understanding of the negro and while he is sometimes inflicted ‘with summary punishment’ there, the Memphis News Scimitar (Ind.) asserts that ‘it is always with a sense of justice, however crude it may be.’ The Raleigh News and Observer (Dem.) suggests that perhaps the blacks were incited by what the Mobile Register (Dem.) calls ‘bolshevist propaganda that has been carried on among negroes quite extensively for some time.’

“For the rest, most of the Southern papers hold views similar to those expressed in the North. Neither the Oklahoma City, Oklahoman (Dem.) nor the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Ind.) has much to say for the negroes whom they seem to find the more guilty. The Oklahoman, however, concludes: ‘It is true that strictly speaking this is a white man’s county, but the law guarantees protection to all, and all should have it.’” (Chronical-Telegram, Elyria, OH. “Daily Editorial Digest. The Answer to Tulsa.” 6-11-1921, p. 10.)

June 12: “Race riots, such as that which took place in Tulsa a couple of weeks ago, cost something more than misery and loss of life. The St. Louis Post Dispatch, in a recent editorial, reviewed the financial obligations entailed by such disregard of the law. The editorial follows:

Ordinarily, what goes on at an East St. Louis election would not interest the people of Tulsa, Okla., but something was done at Monday’s election of the East Side which Tulsa should find interesting and instructive.

At that election a bond issue of $454,000 was voted to pay for part of the damage done in the East St. Louis race riots five years ago. The bonds are to run for 20 years. For 20 years all the taxpayers of East St. Louis will be paying for the work that a mob did five years ago.

Whether or not, under the Oklahoma law, sufferers from mob violence are able to get judgments against the city, as sufferers from the East St. Louis mob violence have obtained judgements against that city, Tulsa will pay for its day of murder, terrorism and arson. Like East St. Louis, it will be paying years from now, when the costly cause has been all but forgotten.

Unfortunately, though, the cost is not paid by those who did the damage. Race rioters, mostly, are not taxpayers. They destroy with a free hand because they have nothing which may be destroyed. They riot in the confidence that when the price is to be paid the community to which they contribute nothing will have to pay it. At that, there is a measure of poetic justice in the penalty which the community incurs because it is community encouragement of or indifference to riotous elements and community countenancing of riotous acts that lead to mob damage and its entailed cost.

The only way that a community can get any return for its money in the matter of riot damages is by inflicting such punishment upon rioters that future riots will be prevented, but communities have not yet risen adequately to the duty of collecting their due by punishing rioters and thus discouraging riots.

(Joplin News Herald, MO. “What Race Riots Cost (Editorial).” 6-12-1921, p. 16.)

June 13: “Tulsa, June 13. – Oklahoma cities and towns are not liable for damages arising out of property destruction or loss of life in riots, according to an opinion of the legal committee of the board of public welfare here, which investigated the possibility of Tulsans recovering damages as a result of the recent race riot. The legal committee went exhaustively into the legal aspects of the case gut its finding held that the liability of municipalities and county governments went no further than moral responsibility. ‘It is the conclusion of your committee that there is no legal liability resting on this city by which it can be made to respond in damages for the destruction wreaked by the recent riots,’ said the report. ‘In the case of the county, the principles governing its liability are even more stringently enforced.’

“‘We regret that we found the law otherwise,’ the committee said further, ‘but we believe that from a moral standpoint Tulsa is responsible for the damage.

“‘Since a municipal corporation in preserving order or preventing crimes or in general enforcing police regulations is in reality exercising attributes of sovereignty and acting as a state agency, it has been uniformly held that under common law principles it enjoys the immunity of the sovereignty from being held liable in damages for dereliction of its officers or agents in performing such public functions.’

“The committee is composed of Judge H. L. Standeven, Horace H. Hagan, Judge L. M. Poe and Albert Bell.

“The decision is expected to have a vital bearing on reconstruction plans here because it was at first believed that the city and county could be forced to pay for negro homes destroyed by fire during the riots.” (Associated Press. “Oklahoma Towns are not Liable for Riot Loss.” Ada Evening News, OK. 6-13-1921, p. 4.)

June 14: “The bloody race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been described as the worst in the history of the country, but there have been others in the Northwest in recent years which reached greater extremes of violence. The entire negro quarter of Tulsa was burned, but no public buildings were attacked and destroyed, as in some of the previous instances. Attorney-General Daugherty is reported to have ordered an investigation, but the cause of the rioting both in this and in previous instances is obvious in advance of such inquiry. If a negro had attacked a negro woman, or a white woman, there would have been no such violent disturbance and probably nothing but an arrest and a trial would have followed. But at Tulsa a negro attacked a white woman, other negroes armed themselves to protect him, white men seized torches as well as guns, and the inevitable followed.

“What we call race prejudice is responsible for these violent outbreaks. The abnormal occupation of a common territory by two distinct races brings friction and breeds animosity. The climax comes when a serious inter-racial crime is committed and there follows something suggestive of an explosion of TNT. What is to be done about it in the case of the negroes, who are already among us in great numbers, nobody knows; but we can provide against added difficulties of a similar sort by rigidly restricting the influx of Japanese and other Asiatics. Africa is here, presumably to stay, but we can at least put up the bars against Asia.” (The Twice-a-Week Democrat, Caruthersville, MO. “Race Prejudice (Editorial).” 6-14-1921, p. 1.)

June 15: “Tulsa may be thoroughly ashamed of herself, as reported, but that will bring mighty little relief to the principals in the funerals of her thirty-one riot victims.” (Marion Daily Star, OH. “Editorial.” 6-15-1921, p. 6.)

June 16: “Tulsa police are to be disciplined for inefficiency and misconduct in the Tulsa riots. They seem to have labored under the impression that law abiding citizens were the real offenders instead of the rioters.” (Steubenville Weekly Herald. 6-16-1921, p. 2.)

June 17: “Most of the property that was owned by Negro business men and a large portion of the residential section will revert into white ownership on account of the inability of the present owners to derive any income with which to liquidate the mortgages up on the property. For example, J. B. Stratford had an original mortgage on his property, where the hotel was located, in the amount of $65,000. This is said to have been reduced to $20,000.00 or there-abouts. He was reducing this at the rate of $450.00 per month. The property producing no income now will of curse revert to the mortgagee. This condition applies to perhaps 75 percent of the Negroes’ Tulsa holdings. Tulsa at its best was a newly settled section and this condition would apply to about the same percentage of white people, were the same disaster to meet them.

“Another problem that involves thousands of dollars, is that in the burning of the homes, many had their bank books destroyed. John Simth [Smith?], who ran a boot black stand on Greenwood, in the Dixie Theatre Building, had in the bank, according to his wife’s statement, over $300.00. The bank book was destroyed and the bank where they had their fund has to date refused to acknowledge their account. They are in Oklahoma City today, without funds or work.

“It is said that the City of Tulsa has refused a building permit to Goodwin, the undertaker, who desired to replace his building. It is not known as to whether Goodwin desired to rebuild a fire proof structure, and that he was refused on this ground or not. According to the Tulsa World the city is taking advantage of many unfortunates who are thrown out of employment. O. A. Steiner, street commissioner, made a bunch of refugees in the Fair Grounds unload several loads of crushed rock, last Monday, receiving in return ‘THREE SQUARE MEALS AND A BED.’

“The city’s investigation promises to result in a farce, since the appointment of another investigation committee by Mayor Evans. The first committee appointed in a mass meeting will be disposed, if the mayor’s will is done. The first committee has been strong in its denunciation of the city government. It has not failed to say unreservedly that LAW AND ORDER COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED IN TULSA ON JUNE 1ST. The new committee is expected to reverse this verbal expression of an outstanding fact. In other words, the mayor and the police purpose to INVESTIGATE THEMSELVES.

“The local Knights of Pythias lodge, of the City of Tulsa pays an amazing tribute to the looters and arsonists who pillaged and murdered unarmed Negroes, as will be shown by this excerpt taken from resolutions published in the Tulsa World, June 14th. It follows.

We, unhesitatingly, commend and approve those representatives of constituted authority, officers, and white citizens of Tulsa, who so successfully and effectively fought the battles for Tulsa, and for the restoring of law and order on that fateful occasion, and won. To those who suffered, and to those who died that beautiful Tulsa might live in peace and security, we pay tribute of respect and honor. May their noble sacrifice ever be fresh and inspiring in memory. To all such splendid and courageous citizens, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, who responded instantly to the call for service and marched shoulder to shoulder in the performance of every duty, WE HAIL YOU AS HEROES! You saved our people; you saved our property; you saved our city. And we pledge to these, one and all, their families and loved ones, our sincere gratitude, helpful assistance and kindly remembrance.

“According to a statement made by a prominent business man who formerly operated a fine $5000.00 barber shop in Tulsa, which was completely destroyed in the riots of June 1st, nine fine automobiles, the property of Tulsa Negroes, have been located in Arkansas. Jackson, the undertaker, was successful in locating his big ambulance through a white man who came to him and suggested that he could locate it. He went with the man and the car was located in the residence district. Jackson left his man standing on the ground waiting for his money that he never will get.

“It is rumored that the two bodies found in the ruins of the Stratford were while looters who stayed in the burning building too long, the walls fell in on them.

“Many Negroes are still in the Tulsa hospitals, according to the statement of Mr. Dan Farmer, one of the refugees, and who worked in one of the hospitals during the few days succeeding the riot. Several who rushed from their homes were burned almost from head to foot and they lay there in the hospital covered over with grease to ease their pain.

“‘When the elephants roost in the trees, I’m going back to Tulsa,’ said one of the prominent physicians, formerly of that city, who landed in Oklahoma City Wednesday. He said most of the business and professional men were planning to leave the city for good as soon as they could adjust what little business that remained to be attended to out of the holocaust of fire. ‘I have now what is a vacant lot, where my house was,’ said this doctor. ‘I am going back and sell that, then good-bye Tulsa,’ said he.

“More than fifty per cent of the Negroes have left the city, according to the statement of this doctor. ‘It is humiliating to the greatest degree to the Negroes of the city to have to go around labeled with green cards as though they are dogs or some other kind of animals,’ said this doctor, and as soon as they are able, they all evince a spirit to shake the dust of Tulsa from their feet.

“‘I never saw so many kids in their teens with guns and pistols in their hands,’ said Dr. Jack Smitherman, who was one of the physicians who was herded into the concentration camps during the riot. Several of them wanted to shoot me, but older heads prevailed. One was shot right in front of me, however, to show that I was in grave danger. Four men were shot in front of the Convention hall. Frank Smith, another named Clark and Holderness were three whose names Dr. Smitherman remembered. Another man was shot on the other side of Brady street. Failure to hold up their hands was the cause of this shooting.

“Dick Rowland, according to Barney Cleaver, who was in Oklahoma City Sunday [June 12], on his way to Granite with prisoners, IS IN SOUTH OMAHA. He was released by the Tulsa authorities, no charges ever being placed against him. This bears out the statement on the Black Dispatch that the mob of white hoodlums at the jail were attempting to murder an innocent man. ‘HE WAS NOT IN THE JAIL WHEN THE MOB APPEARED THERE,’ said Cleaver, ‘but we could not afford to tell where he was.

“Sarah Page has vanished as completely as a mirage on a desert. The story still stands that all Dick Rowland was guilty of was stumbling and stepping on the foot of Sarah Page. She struck him with her hand bag, he grabbed her hand as he stepped out of the elevator.

“Refugees coming into Oklahoma City are giving much praise to Charles Page, prominent oil man of Tulsa, who it is stated, has been giving freely of his funds to the destitute blacks. According to Al Floyd, who reached Oklahoma City, Wednesday, Mr. Page has been issuing free transportation to Sand Springs and giving free meals to all who went there. Much praise is given to the Red Cross and the members of the white churches for the very active and sympathetic manner in which they have gone into the work of caring for the suffering and the needy.” (Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Dick Rowland In South Omaha, No Trace of Girl.” 6-17-1921, p. 1.)

June 17: “Tulsa, Ok., June 17. – Arrests of negroes charged in 64 indictments returned by the special grand jury charged with inciting race rioting began this morning when Sheriff McCullough sent out deputies to round up those indicated. Many were expected to be rounded up this afternoon while the sheriff said all would be in custody by nightfall.” (Greenville Banner, TX. “64 Negroes Indicted for Inciting Riot.” 6-22-1921, p. 6.)

June 17: “Tulsa, Ok., June 17. – On the strength of 57 warrants issued as a result of the findings of the special Tulsa county grand jury investigating the recent race riots, but two arrests have been made, it was disclosed Friday afternoon by county officers. Among those indicted, it is said, one is known to have been confined in the state penitentiary at McAlester for the past year, two have been found to be dead and four have for some time been confined in jail.

“Barney Cleaver, negro deputy sheriff, declared there are 3,000 less Negroes here today than before the riots.” (Butler Weekly Times and the Bates County Record, MO. “Arrests Made on 57 Warrants in Tulsa Rioting,” 6-23-1921, p. 8.)

June 18: “Tulsa, June 18. – Twenty-four more indictments growing out of the Tulsa race riots were returned by the grand jury, investigating the outbreak, to District Judge Biddison at noon today. Warrants for arrest are to be issued. It is understood that a number of whites are involved in the last list, charged with looting and arson.

“So far 88 indictments have been returned and of these the majority are for negroes. Officials say that many negroes named in the indictments have fled from the city, but determined efforts will be made to apprehend them….” (Associated Press. “More Indicted in Tulsa Rioting.” Ada Evening News, OK, 6-18-1921, p. 1.)

June 19: “Negro property owners are in complete harmony with the plans of the reconstruction committee to rebuild the burned district of Little Africa as an industrial section; they also agree with the committee that the proposed union station project as outlined is both feasible and desirable from their viewpoint as well as from the viewpoint of the whites. This attitude on the part of local negroes was displayed Saturday afternoon when nearly 100 leading men of the race met with the reconstruction committee at the city hall and offered their unreserved cooperation to the committee in its activities.

“Virtually all the negroes who spoke made co-operative, constructive and enlightening talks, and brought to the committee several points that are to be taken under serious consideration. Those of the negroes who spoke were E. I. Sadler, Rev. H. T. F. Johnson, Dr. R. T. Bridgewater, Dr. H. A Guess, O. W. Gurley, J. W. Hughes, F. R. Williams, Barney Cleaver, Geo. W. Hudging, E. N. Bryant and L. L. Latham.
Mayor Explains Work.

“Short talks, explaining the work of the committee so far and its intentions for the future, were made by Mayor T. D. Evans and members of the committee, who assured the negroes that the organization had been formed in the interests of rehabilitating the burned district. Not a note of dissension was expressed by the negroes.

“That the co-operation may be even more complete, these representative negroes announced during the meeting they would call a mass meeting of the negro citizens at the colored Baptist church at 3 o’clock Monday afternoon, at which time a committee of five members of their race is to be formed and authorized to work with the reconstruction committee in devising plans for the future of Little Africa. This committee is to be representative and is to possess power to speak for the entire negro population.
To Improve Sanitary System

“So far no new members of the reconstruction committee have been named. It has been decided to add several bankers and at least two wholesale men, and then form subcommittees to attend to the details of reconstruction work in the burned area. Mayor Evans will co-operate with Alva J. Niles, president of the chamber of commerce, in nominating the new members, and they will then be confirmed by the city commissioners as a body.

“The city commission at its regular meeting Tuesday will also take up the matter of providing better sanitation facilities in Little Africa. Commissioner O. A. Steiner has suggested that a number of sanitary toilets be provided and that all existing outdoor toilets be condemned.” (Tulsa Daily World, OK. “Reconstruction Plans Approved. Leading Negroes Meet With Committee – to Sanction Program.” 6-19-1921, p. 2.)

June 20: “Twenty-four more indictments growing out of the Tulsa (Okla.) race riots were returned by a grand jury investigating the outbreak. The total number of indictments now is 88.” (Evening Tribune, Marysville, OH. “News Bits.” 6-20-1921, p. 1.)

June 23: “Tulsa, Ok., June 23. – June Riot was the name of a fond black mother on a daughter born right after the racial disturbance in Tulsa…” (Daily Courier-Gazette, McKinney, TX. “Negro Baby Named June Riot after Tulsa Disturbance.” 6-23-1921, p. 4.)

June 24: “Tulsa, Okla., (Special to the Black Dispatch) – Rising up out of the ashes and the chaos of riot and disorder, that visited this city June 1, is an awakened and determined black man, with slogans of faith and hope upon his lips which bespeak of a tomorrow full of big things. To rebuild upon the ashes of yesterday a greater and a better Negro district in the city, is the slogan of the leadership among black folk. C. M. White of Denver Colorado, and head of the American Woodmen, one of the strongest Negro Insurance companies in America, is said to have made a tentative proposition to the Negroes of this city to place one-half million dollars towards a reconstruction program. Other financial agencies of the race will be called into action and at an early date the white real estate vandals who now prey upon the burned property of Negroes, will see their hopes vanish and a new and better district arise in the place of the one destroyed.

“No greater monument could be built to the honor of the UNBROKEN SPIRIT OF BLACK FOLK than this answer to the fiat of the Medes and the Persians who just now in the city of Tulsa are laying plans for a Union Station and other railroad projects on the devastated area with seemingly no thought of the fact that this land is the property of black men, and that it is for them to say how it will be developed and controlled.

“The location of the land where the city commissioners desire to shift the black folk is about one mile from Archer street, which was the south line of the Negro section. ‘We have just gotten a sewer out in the section where we now are,’ said one prominent Negro, Monday, ‘and I am sure if we were foolish enough to go out in the country where they have virtually commanded us to go, they will not place water, lights and paving out there in the next twenty years.’

“This same gentleman told of how some one in authority in Tulsa, illegally commercialized the sale of the ‘HUMILIATING IDENTIFICATIN CARDS.’ ‘Someone,’ said he, ‘got a bunch of these cards and went into the various districts and sold them to Negroes, idle and with questionable records and who could not have received such a card through the regular channels. These identification cards are issued on the presumption that every Negro works for some white man. At any rate, you are not free to pass on the streets of the Oil City unless you have one of these cards signed by some white man designated as ‘employer,’ J. R. Garrett, a colored district agent for the Exchange Insurance Co., was denied the right to the streets until his card was signed by the city attorney.

“A peculiar thing about the infamous ‘FIRE LIMIT ORDINANCE’ is the fact that it was voted for by every one of the city commissioners except by Newblock, the only DEMOCRAT on the commission. He is quoted as saying the ordinance was unfair and that it was also illegal.

“Dr. Bridgewater, perhaps one of the heaviest property losers in the conflagration is being attacked by the city papers for not acting properly under the directions of the Red Cross. The real fact is that Dr. Bridgewater is suffering from a nervous breakdown. He has done much real work since the riots in administering to the wants of his people. The newspaper accounts are calculated to loan the impression that he has refused to assist in any way, the relief work. Incidentally, it might be mentioned that Dr. Bridgewater is one of the heavy Negro property owners who refused to be bluffed in selling his holdings for a song and moving out into the woods.

“The officials of the Exchange National Bank of Tulsa, are reported as saying that since the riots of June 1, the Negroes of the city have drawn over a million dollars in cash from this one financial institution alone. There are eight strong banks in the city of Tulsa and it is safe to say that out of this number over three millions of dollars have been drawn by the depositors who have gone to other cities to bank their funds. Bank officials are said to deplore this feature of the affair which in its aftermath is leaving a mighty hole in their treasury. The officials of the Exchange National are reported as saying that they did not know its Negro depositors had so much money in their vaults until the run started.

“At a meeting held Saturday night in the First Baptist Church by Negroes, there was born an organization which will hereafter be known as the ‘EAST SIDE REALTY & RECON-STRUCTION COMPANY.’ This meeting and its deliberations is the answer of the Tulsa Negroes to the real estate grafters who plan now to confiscate the property of the Negroes in the devastated area. Saturday afternoon, the city authorities called the Negroes into a meeting at the city hall. This white reconstruction committee had a sly scheme to have all the Negroes execute deeds to a holding company that they had formed. They proposed to later valuate the land with a WHITE board of appraisers, giving the Negroes the advanced price that the property would bring as industrial property. The attitude of the Negroes was aptly expressed in the language of Prof. J. W. Hughes, principal of one of the ward schools, who in addressing the whites, spoke for the Negro group in opposition to the LAW OF THE MEDES AND THE PERSIANS. He refused to enter into their scheme and made this terse statement of what the Negroes proposed to do. Said Hughes: ‘I’M GOING TO HOLD WHAT I HAVE UNTIL I GET WHAT I’VE LOST.’ This slogan was adopted at the meeting held by the Negroes in the evening at the Baptist Church, almost to a man, the Negroes on Greenwood street propose to hold their property and rebuild on their land.

“Of course the fire limit ordinance is supposed to bar them from building anything but a fire-proof building; this they propose to do. The banks of the city and the white financial agencies have issued their fiat, THAT THEY WILL NOT LOAN ANY MONEY TO NEGROES TO REBUILD ON THEIR OWN PROPERTY. This withholding of financial assistance is supposed to be the solar-plexus.” (Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “To Rebuild Greenwood. Negroes Withdraw Millions From Tulsa Banks.” 6-24-1921, p. 1.)

June 25: “Tulsa, Okla., June 25. – Grand Jury investigation of the recent race riots here led today to the return of indictments against seven civilians and five of the city police, including Chief John Gustafson. Previously about ninety indictments had been returned in the investigation.

“Attorney General Freeling, who conducted the inquiry, told the court he could not fully concur in the jury’s findings, believing that accusations should have been made against other officials and alleged rioters.

“Chief Gustafson and the four policemen indicted with him also are charged with conspiracy to dispose of stolen automobiles, and the Chief in addition is charged with failure to enforce the prohibition law, failure to suppress vice and failure to enforce the law against the carrying of firearms.

“On request of the Grand Jury and of the Attorney General, District Judge Valjean Biddison, to whom the report was made, immediately ordered the suspension of Chief Gustafson from office. Judge Biddison announced that all the accused policemen stood suspended pending trial.

“The final report of the Grand Jury was comparatively brief. It found that the race trouble resulted from armed negroes marching uptown to defend Dick Rowland, a negro, from lynching; that no attempt had been made or was then being made to lynch Rowland and the crowd of whites assembled about the Court House was largely a peaceful one; that the armed negroes were responsible for the riot, and that the whites who took part in the fighting there later were not to blame.

“The jury further found that there were underlying causes of the riot, notably the spreading of ‘racial equality’ doctrine, among the negroes for a considerable time by members of their own race, and the storing of arms by them in a negro church and other places. It held, however, that the majority of the negroes were not implicated and were ignorant of the true facts.

“While it also found that the police had not properly enforced the law, either in the white or negro sections, the Grand Jury refused to place any blame on Sheriff William McCullough for the riot. It ‘deplored’ reports of the riot which had gone out through the newspapers and called on the citizens of Tulsa to demand law enforcement and competent officials.

“The seven civilian indictments were against alleged rioters and looters in the race trouble.” (New York Times. “Tulsa Race Riot Jury Indicts Police Chief.” 6-26-1921, p. 16.)

June 28: “Literature signed by the Communist Executive committee of the Communist Party of America, calling for the overthrow of the present United States government and the substitution therefor of the ‘Soviet Republic of America’; also urging the colored race to rise up in reprisal for the injury done to their race at Tulsa, Okla., was picked up this morning…[line missing] distributed in the night so that it might be found in the morning by the colored men on their way to work.

“The pamphlet is captioned, ‘The Tulsa Massacre.’ It describes what it terms the ‘ruthless slaying’ of 90 and wounding of more than 200 during the race riot at Tulsa and remarks that Capitalism can understand no language but organized power. ‘Only by reprisals,’ it states,’ by answering force with force will the business mob and their white guards, the Ku Klux Klan, etc., be restrained from continuing their brutal and cowardly assaults upon the Negro and working class population of the country.’

“The Negroes are in a worse state of slavery now than in 1861, the pap4r sets forth, and the labor unions are called upon to let down the color barrier so that the race may be uplifted.

“In closing paragraphs, the pamphlet argues:

Only by following our Russian comrades’ heroic example and establishing in this country the Soviet Republic of America will the black and white workers be able to live and work in peace and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Workers of America – Organize! Wipe out the ‘color line.’ Hail to the proletarian revolution! Down with the Capitalist system and the capitalist state! Long live the Workers’ Republic of America.

(New Britain Herald, CT. “‘Red’ Literature Found on Streets. Government Overthrow and Negro Reprisals are Taken Up.” 6-28-1921, pp. 1 and 9.)

June 29: “Tulsa, Okla., June 29.—Construction work has begun among Negroes on their property on Greenwood. Old man Phillips, who owned so much property on this street, started a big force of men to cleaning brick on his property this week. Mrs. Partee has started on her property at the foot of the street on Archer. O. W. Gurley stated to a Dispatch representative that he would begin reconstruction next week on some of his property.

“Negroes here are loud in their praise of Mr. Maurice Willows, Regional Director of the American Red Cross. Since Mr. Willows’ arrival from St. Louis, it is stated that he has directed most of the relief work to be done through the Negro relief committee and this has relieved the awful conditions that obtained, where Negroes had to stand in line, they alleged, for almost a day, only to get a few raks [an act of kindness?]. Prior to the new rule, one Baptist preacher stated that he stood in the line for five hours, finally getting three shirts given him which were too frazzled to wear. He stated that he threw them in an alley and retained to soiled and unwashed shirt he had on.

“One prominent Negro citizen says that Mr. Willows stated to him that he had been approached and asked by certain white parties to report the Tulsa disorders as a ‘NEGRO UPRISING.’ This he refused to do. ‘I have never seen more peaceable people in my life,’ Mr. Willows is quoted as saying, ‘and in all of my reports I have referred to this sad affair as the ‘Tulsa Disaster.’ It was Mr. Willows who had the guards removed. He is reported as saying they were nothing but a source of friction.

“The guards seemingly did not like this arrangement, which incidentally cut them off from the nice little slush they were taking in every day for doing nothing but stirring up trouble. They are reported as having gone down among the Negroes and asked them to petition the city for their return to duty. They used as their argument that there was a grave chance of the whites burning out the remainder of the Negro section and massacreing [sic] the rest of our people if they were not retained to guard them. The Negroes did not ask for their return. Monday night there was considerable shooting of guns on the top of Stand Pile Hill. The police and the sheriff’s department were called but when they arrived those guilty of the lawlessness were no where to be found. The Negroes declare that this demonstration was an act on the part of the frantic guard in an effort to terrify them and cause them to ask for the return of the trouble mak4rs. One of the guards over at the hospital is reported as saying that Dr. Bridgewater’s home had to burn yet. Dr. Bridgewater is one of the wealthy Negroes of the city whose home was not destroyed.

“One prominent Negro said that of the dead blacks in the disorders of June 1st, he was only able to identify four. This lends color to the position of the Negroes that there wa no concerted action in the defense made by any permanent organization of blacks. If this had been true, they maintain, there would be more black folk dead, who some one would know something about. This is one reason that the people over the country have not been able to get a list of the Negro dead. Most of them have never been identified.

“The heavy rains of the past three weeks have brought untold suffering to many of the homeless. The distress has been indescribable. Many were housed in the school house, but the accommodations there were inadequate and entirely insufficient. The Negroes are, however, still full of spirit and determined to FIND A WAY OUT OF THE DIFFICULTIES.

“As indicatory of the disposition of the irresponsible white youth of the city to still precipitate trouble, the story is told of a colored woman who went up town recently. Two white boys in front of her waited until she had gotten directly opposite her, one shoved the other right into her, almost knocking the old lady off the side-walk. Immediately the old lady collared the white ruffians and while choking them both red in the face, exclaimed: ‘YOU BURNED MY HOME YOU STOLE MY CLOTHES, BUT YOU LEFT MY NERVE.’ Two very crestfallen boys scouted off down the street when the portly old lady had released them from her firm grasp.

“Another black man is reported as observing a well dressed white man standing on the street. He went up to a policeman and said: ‘Than man has on my clothes.’ The man was arrested. Taken to the police station. A white tailor was called, who the Negro alleged had made the suit for him. Investigation by the police and the tailor disclosed the Negro’s name on the inside of one of the pockets where the tailor had placed it for the black man, when he made the suit.

“As an indication of how the banks of the city are beginning to suffer from the withdrawal of the funds of black men, we are informed that the officials of one bank carried one Negro into thee back office and prevailed with him for some time, this week, in an unsuccessful attempt to keep him from withdrawing a ten thousand dollar deposit.” (Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Discharged Guard Try To Get Fat Jobs Back.” 7-1-1921, p. 1.)

June 30: “Twenty-four years ago Grover Cleveland admitted that he could foresees no solution of the race problem. It sees as remote now as ever.

“There was a time when an attempt was made to create the impression that race riots were peculiar to the South and were, therefore, related to political conditions, but that theory has been upset by a careful compilation of facts. July 7, 1917, was the date of the greatest race riot in the history of the United States. East St. Louis, Illinois, was the scene. One hundred and twenty-five were killed and many more wounded.

“Seven were killed and many injured in a riot which occurred in Washington, D.C., July 19, 1919. On July 26, of the same year, 38 were killed and more than 500 in Chicago. In Omaha, Nebraska, in October, of the same year three persons were killed and many injured, and the mayor was hung but rescued in the nick of time. In Ohio, Illinois and Indiana race riots have been of frequent occurrence.

“The great Illinois riot in which so many people lost their lives, was precipitated by the importation of colored people from the South to take the place of white laborers. Chandler Owen, of The Messenger, told The Call, a New York Socialist paper, that a potent cause of the Tulsa riot, was due to recent unemployment which hit the whites harder than the blacks for the reason that the colored laborers can be procured for less wages and are therefore the last to be discharged.

“Because the white race predominates the responsibility for the proper solution of the problem rests primarily with the whites. They should get whole heartedly together, ban all political consideration, deal with the subject in a broad, humanitarian and American way, and put an end to lawlessness, rioting and lynching and every form of disorder that tends to provoke race prejudice.” (Woodland Daily Democrat, CA. “Preventing of Race Riots, Lynching Up To Whites Entirely.” 6-30-1921, p. 2.)

July 1: “(New York Herald). Because the word ‘assault’ long has been and is generally misused in the United States to mean rape, Tulsa, Oklahoma, endured a riot in which a million dollars in property was destroyed and thirty persons were killed.

“‘Assault’ does not mean rape, or anything like rape, though an assault may be part of the crime. It means a menace, as of a blow; if one man closes his fist, raises his arm and makes as if to strike another, he has committed an assault. If he strikes, and hits the other man, the blow constitutes the battery; assault and battery have been committed.

“There being a certain number of persons in every community to whom the word rape sounded harsh, it became common to use ‘assault’ in its place, just as in certain circles a few years ago women had limbs but no legs, and folks retired when they went to bed.

“A negro man in Tulsa stepped on a white girl’s foot and she upbraided him for his clumsiness. The negro answered back. A row resulted. The negro was arrested and a newspaper said he was accused of assaulting a white girl. A few lawless fools took the word to mean rape and started the trouble which, through weakness, stupidity or cowardice on the part of the authorities culminated in arson, murder and the necessity for the imposition of martial law.

“There are many words besides assault which have been abused in the manner in which it has been . In some cases they have been deprived in common acceptance of their original meanings; in other cases new meanings have been attached to them, until they convey no distinct signification to the mind. This state of affairs results from sloppy thinking, hasty speaking and writing, carelessness about facts and exact statement. It is the duty of speakers in politics, in the pulpit and particularly in the schools, and writers of every degree of literary pretension to put their own language on a higher plane of accuracy, and thus to raise the common level of our tongue. The tragedy of Tulsa has proved again that words are dangerous things.” (New York Herald. “A Word That Killed Thirty Men.” Boonville Standard, IN, 7-1-1921, p. 1.)

July 2: “(Special to The Tribune). New York, June 30. – Arthur Brisbane has the following to say in regard to the Tulsa riot:

In Oklahoma Negroes were killed, herded in barracks to save them from murder. Some say the white men wanted their oil lands. More probably say trouble started because white men out of work saw Negroes working.

Senator Medill McCormick [IL, Rep.] wants a committee to ‘report on race hatred’ in this country. The committee should go to the zoological gardens, and report what it finds there. The dog hates the fox, his cousin, and doesn’t hate the elephant so different. Human beings are animals and hate their brothers, as the dog hates the fox or the wolf. They will stop that when they stop being animals – that’s a long way off.’”

(Phoenix Tribune, AZ. “Brisbane Gives His Views of Riot in Tulsa June 1.” 7-2-1921, p. 1.)

July 4: “Tulsa, Okla., July 4. – Tulsa was again in a state of unrest today. Rumors began to circulate that negroes from Muskogee and surrounding towns were to celebrate July 4, invading Tulsa and starting another reign of terror. Negro women began to leave the city in numbers and not a single Tulsa hotel had services of negro help. Extra police patrolled the negro section.” (Indiana Daily Times, Indianapolis. “Tulsa In Fear Of Negro Riot.” 7-4-1921, p. 2.)

July 5: “Tulsa, Okla., July 5. – Tulsa deplores!

“The grand jury appointed to investigate the race riot of May 31 and June 1, following more than a week’s application to the examination of scores of witnesses, arrives at the conclusion that unless the conditions that caused the riot are not eradicated or minimized, it will be impossible ‘to attract capital for investment because of the hazard of such investment resulting from law violations.’

“The official report of the grand jury, signed by C. A. Cloud, the foreman and an oil man, fails to mention hazard to life, however.

“The Negroes are responsible, of course, according to the report. Altho whites assembled before the court-house where Dick Rowland, accused Negro, was lodged, they were not armed, as were the Negroes, say the jurors. Indirect, but vital, causes mentioned in the report are the dissemination among the Negroes of agitation for social equality and laxity of law enforcement. A paragraph in the report runs as follows:

We find that certain propaganda and more or less agitation had been going on among the colored population for some time. This agitation resulted in the accumulation of firearms among the people and the storage of quantities of ammunition…which led them as a people, to believe in equal rights, social equality and their right to demand the same.”

(Coshocton Tribune, OH. “Tulsa’s Grand Jury Deplores Hazard to City’s Property But Overlooks Human Life Factor.” 7-5-1921, p. 2.)

July 11: “Tulsa, Okla., July 11. – John A. Gustafson, suspended chief of police of Tulsa, went to trial in Judge Redmond S. Cole’s division of district court this morning on five accusations returned against him by the recent race riot grand jury.

“S. Prince Freeling, attorney general, Katherine Van Leuven of the attorney general’s office, and John Goldsberry, assistant attorney, all of whom were active in the grand jury investigation, are representing the state in the trial.

“A surprise was sprung when it was announced that Gustafson would stand trial alone. It generally was understood that Bay Ward and Roy Meacham, police officers, also under grand jury accusations, would go to trial with their suspended chief. Their trial will follow at the conclusion of Gustafson’s Considerable time was expected to be taken in the selection of a jury.” (Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Prince Freeling Prosecutes Tulsa Chief of Police.” 7-11-1921, p. 1.)

July 12: “Wewoka, Okla., July 12. – Thirty negro children who were injured or made homeless in the recent race rioting at Tulsa will be cared for at the Booker-T Agricultural college in this county. Their expenses will be paid until they have mastered the college course.” (Muskogee Times-Democrat, OK. “Care For Riot Victims.” 7-12-1921, p. 6.)

July 12: “The recent riot in Tulsa, Okla., the reported activities of the Ku Klux Klan, and the disclosures concerning negro peonage, give special timeliness to the creation of a new Commission of Negro Churches and Race Relations by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. The purpose of this action is to consolidate the influence of the churches in bringing about better relations between the white and the colored races in this country.

“The first meeting of the new commission was held in Washington, D.C., on July 12th, under the chairmanship of John J. Eagan, of Atlanta, Ga., who is president of the Atlanta Council of Churches and one of the leading Christian laymen in the South. A vice-chairman is to be named from the negro churches. The commission is made up of about one hundred leading representatives of the whit and colored churches, the majority being residents of the South.

“At the initial meeting in Washington the whole day was spent in discussing the distinctive contribution of the churches to bettering relations between the races. It was agreed that the Church, being committed to the principle that humanity is an organism, cannot accept as a satisfactory solution the theory that inter-racial conflict is inevitable, or that the races should be segregated from each other, or that they should be amalgamated, or that any one race is meant to have special privileges which are to be denied to others. The Christian solution, it was clearly seen, lies in the races living together in mutual helpfulness, service and goodwill….” (The Presbyterian of the South, Richmond, VA. “Churches Unite For Better Racial Relations.” 8-10-1921, p. 12.)

July 13: “Tulsa, Okla., July 13. – The first witness in the case of John A. Gustafson, suspended chief of police on trial for removal on charges brought by the race riot grand jury, took the stand shortly before noon today but did not get very far until a clash of attorneys resulted over a legal point….Attorney General S. P. Freeling outlined the state’s case this morning. He charged a plot on the part of the police with the knowledge and consent of the chief to permit automobiles to be stolen and thieves to escape to get insurance money. He reviewed the other counts of permitting houses of vice, liquor selling and failure to stop the riot charged against the chief….” (Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Attorneys Clast As First Witness Testifies Tulsa Fire [Police] Chief Case.” 7-13-1921, p. 1.)

July 14: “Tulsa, Okla., July 14. – Sheriff William McCullough testified today in the trial for the removal of Chief of Police John A. Gustafson, now suspended, that he had taken no steps to receive Dick Rowland, negro, held for an attack on a white girl, from the county jail because he said preparations had been made to protect him at the jail. He said: ‘It would have been impossible for the mob to have taken the prisoner from the county jail as we had a barricade in the jail and we could have shot members of any mob as fast as they came in sight.’

“He said he had been told by Police Commissioner J. M. Adkison and Chief Gustafson on the afternoon before the riot that there were signs of trouble and that he made plans to protect the negro. He said he had disarmed negroes and persuaded the first armed negroes to reach the court house to leave, and was in the process of trying to get others to leave when the shooting began. He said he ran to cover when the firing started as it was then out of the question to disarm anyone while so many were shooting. The sheriff said he talked with Chief Gustafson once during the night at the courthouse and did not see him again. He also said he stayed at the court house during the night of the trouble and was prepared to defend the negro prisoner with his life if necessary.

“A defense question as to whether he thought the police could have prevented the riot by disarming the negroes was objected to by the state and went unanswered….

“Judge John A. Oliphant [not the presiding judge] yesterday testified that four men whom he characterized as police and who he said wore stars, were the leaders of an arson squad which operated in the Tulsa district. He said he did not think the chief did his duty during the riot. Barney Cleave, negro deputy sheriff, who was formerly with the police under Chief Gustafson, testified that he and Sheriff McCullough disarmed negroes and indicated that they received no help from the police. Other witnessed…said they did not see the chief on the night of the riot while others said they saw him but did not notice any attempt on his part to prevent the threatened outbreak….” (Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Sheriff Testifies In Trial Of Chief Gustafson, Tulsa.” 7-14-1921, p. 1.)

July 15: “Oklahoma City, Okla., July 15. Fire loss resulting from the Tulsa race riot May 31 and June 1, was placed at one million five hundred thousand dollars and the loss of life from fire at one in a report made today by the state fire marshal.” (Wabash Plain Dealer, IN. “Official Report is Filed on Tulsa Riot.” 7-15-1921, p. 1.)

July 16: “Tulsa Okla., July 16. – Activities of C. O. Brady, recently on the police department payroll as an ‘under cover’ man and even more recently sentenced to the state penitentiary for five years for automobile theft, were bared in today’s session of the district court where John A. Gustafson, suspended chief of police, is fighting to clear himself of charges of failing to perform the duties of his office contained in an indictment returned by the race riot grand jury.

“Although various witnesses were called to the stand and told of automobile thefts and recoveries through the police department, none gave any testimony that in any way connected Gustafson with any illegitimate transactions.

“In conducting its cross-examination of these witnesses, counsel for the defense was content with asking a single question. ‘Do you know that the defendant in this case know anything about such deals?’ was the question. All answers were in the negative.

“Ray Dicken, star witness for the state when Brady was convicted, was expected to throw a bomb shell into the defense ranks, but his testimony failed to develop any sensational features so far as evidence against Gustafson was concerned….” (San Antonio Light, TX. “Fail to Substantiate Alleged Motor Plots Against Tulsa Chief.” 7-17-1921, p. 3.)

July 19: “Tulsa, Okla., July 19. – Police Commissioner J. M. Atkinson, late yesterday, testifying for the defense in the trial of John A. Gustafson, suspended chief of police for failing to perform his duty during the race riot here, said he believed ‘there were not more than 10,000 persons, both white and blacks, under arms during the riot.

“Atkinson testified that Gustafson was the ‘busiest man I ever saw the night of May 31, directing the work of deputizing citizens and sending out auto loads of deputies in charge of policemen to patrol the edge of the black belt, and to bring in all negroes.’

“Atkinson said by midnight there were 100 automobiles loaded with deputies and sent to the black belt. He testified that by 2 o’clock a.m., jail at the city hall was full of disarmed negroes and at that time they began to fill convention hall with negroes brought in.

“Atkinson declared on the stand that there was no evidence that there was no evidence that uniformed men w4ere bearing the torch. He said the testimony was all about men wearing stars. ‘We were unable to limit the commissions to our choice. Some of them might have lost their heads – they might have applied the torch. My orders, Gustafson’s orders and the order of Colonel Rooney of the National Guard, were to disarm everyone not properly commissioned and absolutely prevent looting and burning.’” (Port Arthur Daily News, TX. “10,000 Armed During Riot.” 7-19-1921, p. 6.)

July 20: “(By the Associated Press) Tulsa, July 20. – Police officers were called to the stand today by the defense in the trial of Chief John A. Gustafson, on trial for removal from the office on charges of having failed too stop the race riot and alleged connection with a police plot to permit thefts of automobiles to collect insurance and rewards.

“The testimony of the police officers was introduced in an attempt to show that the chief was busy on the night of the riot doing what he could to quell the outbreak and combat the state’s claims that the chief is responsible for the failure of the department to act promptly and effectively when a lynching threatened.” (Associated Press. “Police Testify in Tulsa Chief Trial for Riot.” Ada Evening News, OK. 7-20-1921, p. 1.)

July 21: “Negroes of the entire country are being asked to donate to a fund to be used in a legal fight to compel the city of Tulsa to reimburse negroes for property losses suffered during the race riots at Tulsa, according to the Rev. Fred Divers, pastor of the A.M.E. church of Joplin….A concert was given at the A.M.E. church Tuesday night by singers sent out under the auspices of the East End Relief Committee of Tulsa, the proceeds of which go to the legal fund.” (Joplin Globe, MO. “Negroes Raising Tulsa Riot Fund.” 7-21-1921, p. 2.)

July 22: “(By the Associated Press) Tulsa, July 22. – Contentions of the defense were sustained by District Judge Cole in his instructions to the jury this morning in the case of John A. Gustafson, suspended chief of police on trial for removal. Judge Cole said that willful neglect, by which is meant bad or evil purpose or inexcusable carelessness, must be shown by the prosecution to constitute grounds for removal. He also sustained the contentions of the defense that the chief cannot be held responsible for actions of subordinates in handling of the race riot unless done in his presence and at his direction. The jury was told that a decision reached by nine men stood as a jury verdict.

“The instructions were immediately followed by arguments in which Mrs. Katherine Van Leuven, assistant attorney general, opened for the state. The case is expected to be in the hands of the jury late this afternoon.” (Associated Press. “Tulsa Chief Is Winner Of Last Point In Trial.” Ada Evening News, OK, 7-22-1921, p. 1.)

July 22: “Tulsa, Okla., July 22. – John A. Gustafson, suspended Chief of Police, tonight was found guilty by a jury of having failed to take proper precautions for public safety on the night and day of the recent race riot here, and also guilty on another count of conspiracy to free automobile thieves and collect rewards. The jury deliberated six hours.” (Commercial Tribune, Cincinnati, OH. “Police Chief Guilty of Neglecting Duty In Tulsa Race Riot.” 7-23-1921, p. 1.)

July 23: “(By United Press) Tulsa, Okla., July 23. – John A. Gustafson, suspended chief of police, was to be sentenced today for failure to do his duty during the Tulsa riots. Gustafson was found guilty by a jury last night of charges of ‘failure to take proper precautions for public safety during the recent race riots.’” (United Press. “Tulsa Police Chief to be Sentenced Soon.” News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, IN. 7-23-1921, p. 1.)

July 24: “….the fact remains that Tulsa is not vindicated by the conviction of its chief of police of failure to suppress Tulsa lawlessness. The next step in Tulsa will be a matter of interest.” (Lincoln State Journal, NE. “A Goat.” 7-24-1921, p. 32.)

July 27: “Tulsa, Okla., July 27. – District Judge Redmon S. Cole today denied a motion for a new trial in the case of former Chief of Police John A. Gustafson, who was removed by a jury last week from his office in Judge Cole’s court on charges of failure to prevent the race riot here and complicity in an automobile theft conspiracy. Notice of appeal was filed by attorneys for Gustafson.” (Daily Ardmoreite, OK. “Latest.” 7-27-1921, p. 1.)

Aug 5: “Tulsa, Okla., (Special to the Black Dispatch) – Propaganda intended to embarrass certain members of the relief committee, who have taken an active stand against the attitude of the city of Tulsa and the white real estate board, in the matter of the retention of the Negroes’ property in the district where their property has been destroyed, is being scattered all over the country. Surprise has been exhibited by the white citizens of the community and city to find that certain members of the race are finding money available in other places than the city of Tulsa to reconstruct their homes and rehabilitate themselves. Quite recently a white lady rode down into Greenwood in her car and asked one of the prominent black men there who it was who was furnishing him funds with which to rebuild. ‘THERE ARE TWELVE MILLIONS OF NEGROES IN THE UNITED STATES,’ answered this wary gentleman, ‘AND WE ARE COLLECTING FIFTY CENTS APIECE FROM THEM FOR REBUILDING PURPOSES.’” (Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Propaganda Would Destroy Tulsa Relief Work.” 8-5-1921, p. 1.)

Aug 24: “Tulsa, Okla., Aug. 24. – (Special to the Black Dispatch). – Sentiment in favor of repealing the fire ordinance that is working such hardship on the riot victims of Tulsa is steadily growing. Most of the civic organizations that once favored the plan has recently gone on record to repeal the obnoxious law, conceived in prejudice, born in inequity to crush the vanquished and dispossess them of their vested property rights that are guaranteed in our boasted Constitution of the United States. Can Tulsa afford to sustain a law that keeps hundreds of its taxpayers in tents to be exposed to the cold winters that are common in Oklahoma. The spirit that prompts kind-hearted America to send succor to starving China, hungry Russia, stranded Armenia and heathens across the sea, should also enable them to see their brothers and neighbors in their own back yard who are doing a part of the labor, paying a part of the tax burden, living in tents; contracting disease, dying from exposure in an open air tent, when just the repeal of an unjust law would remedy the evil and save not only life but to some extent the reputation of Tulsa as a civilized community.

“Immediately following the great disaster, Tulsa published to the world that she would restore every dollar’s worth of property destroyed. The world thinks Tulsa is keeping her promise. Can Tulsa afford to deceive or attempt to deceive the public? Will Tulsa dodge her moral responsibility behind the technicalities of the law? ‘Whatsoever thou soweth, that shall thour also reap’ is staring Tulsa in the face. Will she shut her eyes and march blindly to her fate of a just retribution, or will she Christ-like confess her sins and ‘do unto others as thou would have others do even so to them.’ Tulsa is ambitious to be a city, a leader, a maker of presidents. Germany too, once upon a time, desired to be a leader, p precedent maker. She claimed partnership with God and superiority over all mere human beings. The rights of weaker nations were mere playthings. Her war lords strutted to and fro in vanity to see whom they might destroy. Wealth, science, power, training, organization, everything that man could devise was hers, but God is just, and he was left out. Today Germany, the great is humbled. Her war lords are fugitives and her innocent victims suffering a just retribution of moral and divine laws. Tulsa should recognize that the highway to greatness is along the line of justice to all. When Tulsa published to the world that ‘Tulsa will restore,’ did she mean to deceive the world or has something happened to bring about a change of heart. We wonder if the author of ‘Tulsa will’ meat Tulsa will dodge. – S. D. Hooker, Chr. Tulsa Relief Committee.”
(Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Tulsa Will?” 8-26-1921, p. 1.”

Aug 26: “Telephonic information with Dr. A. Baxter Whitby, president of the Oklahoma Branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, late Thursday, disclosed the fact that a sweeping and permanent injunction had been given the Negro property owners of Tulsa, who went into the courts and asked that a restraining order be entered against the City of Tulsa, prohibiting the City of Tulsa from the enforcement of the vicious ‘FIRE ORDNANCE,’ which was immediately passed by the city following the fire and riots, June 1. The case was heard before three of the judges of the county, sitting together. Their names follow: W. B. Williams, Albert G. Hunt and L. B. Biddison. The order was made permanent.

“The City of Tulsa demurred to the petition riled in the court by the Negro firm of lawyers, Spears, Chapelle and Franklin, but the demurrer was set aside and the injunction order entered. Attorney Elisha Scott of Topeka, Kans., and Judge J. W. Burnes (white) of Oklahoma City, assisted in the action for the Negro petitioners. Crowds composed of both black and whites filled the court room, but everyone seemed to take the affair in an orderly manner. The sentiment among the crowed of whites was in favor of the Negroes.

“The action of the court will permit the immediate erection of homes by Negroes in the burned area. Hundreds of the Negroes will be able to erect their homes and it is thought that the court action will add to the power of the blacks to secure building loans upon their property. The injunction order was entered by the court at two o’clock Thursday afternoon.” (Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Tulsa’s Negroes Win Permanent Injunction.” 8-26-1921, p. 1.)

Sep 6: “Tulsa, Okla., Sept. 6. (Special to the Black Dispatch) – Mayor T. D. Evans and the Reconstruction Committee received a huge bump when they ran into the district court with their second ordinance, designed to take the place of the former ordinance which proposed to deny black folk a chance to rebuild their homes in the burned area of the city. Thursday night at 9:30, the court rendered another decision which forever sets at rest the covetous spirit of certain elements of the city who have cast longing eyes at North Greenwood and the surrounding district. Immediately after the decision of the court, recently, which set aside the first fire ordinance, the city commission re-passed the same ordinance, with a view of dodging the technical grounds upon which the court had invalidated the statute. Thursday, when the commission was yanked into court by 12 Negro petitioners and taxpayers, the city was permanently enjoined from enforcing the ordinance of the general ground that the commission did not act in good faith in passing the same. Mather M. Eakes, local white attorney, appeared for the Negro petitioners. He alleged that the ordinance, as passed, was unjust, oppressive and ‘employs an unjust use of the police power.’ The court room was crowded during the course of the trial with black and whites, many victims of the riot. Eakes brought out the fact that the ordinance was not passed as a fire protection measure, but instead of establishing fire limits, the city commission intended to establish an industrial center. To prove his contention, Eakes placed on the stand Mary E. Seaman, city auditor. Her testimony was objected to by the city attorney, Frank Duncan. The court over-ruled the objection and she was allowed to testify. She stated that in a commission meeting the commissioners stated they were going to pass the fire ordinance for the reason that the district was ideally located for an industrial center. Many Negroes testified as to the health conditions in the district where they were barred from building. They stated to the court that lack of sewage facilities made sanitary arrangements impossible. Tents, they stated further, were the only way in which they were permitted by the city to house themselves. The coming winter would witness the death of hundreds of them were the court not to give the much sought for relief, so that homes could be erected upon the property owned in the district.

“The future attitude of the city in this matter was indicated by Mayor Evans, Saturday, when he stated that the city would not appeal from the decision of the court. He stated further that the building inspector would be instructed to issue building permits in the district to Negro property owners.

“The first of the trials for rioting that will be staged in the district court will be called during the fall term of the District Court which opens September 14, before Judge Redmond S. Cole. Harrison Basken and William Dixon, both Negroes, will be tried for alleged participation in the riots of June 1st.” (Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Kill Ordinance! Unjust, Oppressive and Prejudicial. Courts Hold City Did Not Act in Good Faith.” 9-8-1921, p. 1.)

Oct 12: “Tulsa, Okla., Oct. 12. (Special to the Black Dispatch). – Dr. A. Baxter Whitby, Oklahoma City, Okla., president of the N.A.A.C.P., and a member of the East End Relief Committee of Tulsa, Okla., was in Tulsa this week looking over the physical needs of the people. Dr. Whitby and the other members of the Relief Committee are working out plans by which they hope to help the Tulsa Sufferers to get out of tents and make them as comfortable as possible before winter. He expressed himself as being well pleased with the workings of the Committee.

“Dr. Whitby, Mr. C. F. Simmons, Boley, Okla., and Mr. S. L. James of Sapulpa, Okla., are N.A.A.C.P. representatives on the East End Relief Committee of Tulsa.

“The Red Cross has often been referred to as being ‘the Mother of the World,’ and a kind and faithful ‘Mother’ it has been to the Tulsa sufferers, for the smoke of the riot had not blown away before the Red Cross workers were on the scene doing what they could to relieve suffering humanity. As the Red Cross is the Mother of the world, so is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People the ‘Father of the American Negro,’ as a father watches over his children, protects and safeguards them, fights their battles in the criminal and civil courts of the land; so has the N.A.A.C.P. been and is trying to help our people in Tulsa.

“As soon as the news of the Tulsa Riot was hurled to the world, and the N.A.A.C.P. learned of our suffering and distress, like a true father, this Association came to our rescue with funds for legal protection and relief of the people of Tulsa who were made homeless and helpless; paying the attorneys in order that the Negroes would have this protection and not lose what they have been for years trying to gain. Dr. Whitby came as an ‘Elderly Brother’ and has done and is doing much to help the East End Relief Committee fight the battles of the Tulsa suffers. The thousands of Tulsa Negroes feel grateful indeed to know that they have such a kind and loving ‘father’ as the N.A.A.C.P. to help them in this their hour of greatest need and distress and shall always think of the N.A.A.C.P. as ‘The Father of the American Negro.’” (Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Tulsans Thankful For Aid.” 10-12-1921, p. 1.)

Dec 1: “Dr. A. Baxter Whitby and his valiant band of co-workers were busy money collecting the remainder of the money necessary to handle the case of the Negroes recently filed in the courts, which seeks to enjoin the city commissioners, park and library boards from denying the Negroes the right to the parks and libraries of the city. Over $200.00 was raised, Monday, in the personal canvass made to the business firms and public spirited individuals. According to a stamen made to the Black Dispatch by Dr. Whitby before leaving the city for Tulsa, Monday night, where he is interested in the riot cases, arrangements were also made by the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, to carry out the suggestion of the Black Dispatch in it editorial column last week, in seeking to stop the Katy Railroad in its attempt to encroach upon the school ground at Douglas High….” (Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Dr. Whitby Leads Fight For Better Conditions.” 12-1-1921, p. 1.)

A Few “Clippings” from Subsequent Years

1922, Jan 1: “One of the worst race riots in the history of the country broke out in Tulsa, Okla., on May 31. Before it was quelled the negro quarter of the city had been burned and 35 persons had been killed and many wounded.” (Pickard, Edward W. “Year 1921 Has Been An Unusual One In History.” Canton Daily Star, OH, 1-1-1922, p. 16.

1922, Jan 18: “Tulsa, Jan. 18. – For the relief of sufferers in the devastated district following the race riot here in January of last year, the Red Cross received $96,610.43 in cash and disbursed $93,118.35, also receiving and distributing $4,785 in merchandise, according to a complete report of his seven months administration submitted by Maurice Willows, Red Cross director of relief work.” (Associated Press. “Red Cross Got $96,610.43 For Race Riot Relief.” Ada Evening News, OK. 1-18-1922, p. 3.)

1922, Jan 21: Amongst the activities of the NAACP in 1921 were “…investigation and publication of the facts surrounding the Tulsa, Oklahoma riot in which fifteen thousand colored citizens lost their homes by fire. For the physical aid and legal defense of colored citizens of Tulsa, the Association collected and administered a fund of $3,500.” (Richmond Planet, VA. “The National Advancement Association Makes 12th Annual Report. Fought the Ku Klux Klan and Mob Spirit in America.” 1-21-1922, p. 5.)

1922, Feb 11: “The year, 1921, was fraught with much significance for the Negro. Has he carefully studied the situation, learned its lessons and is he preparing to apply them during 1922?

Let us see:

“There was the Tulsa riot in Oklahoma last spring in which was wiped out the finest section of that city because it was owned by prosperous Negroes. Scores of our best citizens were killed, their property destroyed by fire, thousands are homeless and poverty-stricken and many are scattered t the four corners of the country. Many are on trial for their lives since all this, because the brave, manly Negroes of that town would not let a member of their race be lynched on the silly charge of a hysterical, white woman. The dame procedure of prosecuting Negroes in court for defending themselves and property from attack by white mobs has taken place in the courts there, as in East St. Louis, Chicago, Washington City and other places.

“Does the race as a whole know the exact history of the Tulsa riot? Has there been any concerted, systematic effort made to do anything about it, or to get a true story of the whole outrageous affair before the American public? Has the Associated Negro Press taken up the case of E. J. Smitherman, editor Tulsa Star, as brave a man and able editor as we have. Did our Negro Business League which met in Atlanta, Ga., do or say anything to aid those Negro businessmen of Tulsa who had followed its teachings and established flourishing businesses in their home town?

“Who is there to take up the matter of supporting and defending our own, if we do not?….”
(Wells-Barnett, Ida. “New Year Outlook for the Negro.” Phoenix Tribune, AZ, 2-11-1922, p. 4.)

1922, Aug 2: “The anniversary of the Tulsa riot passed with no person yet in the penitentiary for a crime which involved the loss of thirty lives and $1,500,000 worth of property. The riot left a wiser Tulsa, but as usual in such cases it stops at that.” (Lincoln State Journal, NE. 8-2-1922, p. 5, col. 1, top.)

1922, Aug 12: “More than $7,000,000 remains in the war camp fund of the Knights of Columbus, according to a report made to the supreme convention by Supreme Treasurer Daniel J. Callahan. The report showed disbursements of $2,748,206.49 during the fiscal year just passed….

“The report of disbursements by the Supreme treasurer, exclusive of the war camp fund, showed that the order has contributed $6,979.82 to the Irish Relief fund, $2,229.85 to the Pueblo flood sufferers, $346.38 to the Tulsa riot sufferers, $205.00 to the European Relief Council fund, $170.70 to the Cardinal Mercier fund and $8,055.69 to the Italian Welfare Fund.” (Catholic Bulletin, Saint Paul, MN. “K. of C. War Fund.” 8-12-1922, p. 4.)

1923, May 31: “Tulsa, May 31. – With the statute of limitations expiring Friday, the second anniversary of the Tulsa race riot, more than three score of damage suits totaling nearly a million dollars, were filed here today by attorneys for negro property owners who claim the city is liable because they were not afforded ample police and fire protection. Bonding companies are named defendants with thee city in all cases. Attorneys for the negro property owners declared that a large number of additional suits will be filed Friday.” (Joplin Globe, MO. “Tulsa Race Riot Suits Filed Total $1,000,000.” 6-1-1923, p. 3.)

1936, Jan 4: “Chicago (ANP) – John B. Stradford, 74, teacher and businessman, who was indicted by the Tulsa grand jury for rioting after he fled for his life when his hotel was burned during the rioting in 1921, died here on Sunday. Efforts were made at the time to extradite him from Kansas, but through the ingenuity of his son, Cornelius F. Stradford, his release was secured by habeas corpus proceedings….” (Afro-American, Baltimore, MD. “Foiler of Tulsa Riot Charges Dies in Ill.” 1-4-1936, p. 18.)

1937, July 1: “Tulsa, July 1. – (AP) – District Judge Bradford L. Williams indicated he would dismiss Saturday 56 damage suits seeking several millions of dollars damages in a Tulsa race riot of 1921. The motions for dismissal were filed yesterday by B. C. Franklin and Elisha Scott, negro attorneys. The suits, naming two former city administrations headed by Mayors T. D. Evans and Herman Newblock, have been pending since 1923. The suits were brought following the race riots which listed 34 deaths.” (Ada Evening News, OK. “Suits Out Of Tulsa Race Riot To Be Dismissed.” 7-1-1937, p. 10.)

1952, Oct 4: “Tulsa, Okla., (ANP) – On Sunday afternoon, the newly constructed $100,000 Mt. Zion Baptist Church held its dedication on the same site where once stood a new $92,000 church destroyed by a mob during the infamous Tulsa race riot of 1921. Some 32 years ago, Mt. Zion and hundreds of Negro business houses and homes were burned by a mob of white hoodlums wantonly killing Negroes and destroying their accumulations. From the flames that enfulfed the Negro section of town came a grim determination to rebuild what the mob had town down. Today, Mt. Zion is a symbol of that faith and determination.

“Tulsa, Okla. (ANP)…It had taken the congregation seven years to build their first house of worship but it took a mob only one night to destroy it. Nothing was left except the ruins and the $50,000 mortgage.” (Thompson, Flossie. “Church Burned by Tulsa Rioters Now Restored.” Indianapolis Recorder, IN, 10-4-1952, p. 14.)

1961, June 2: “Forty Years Ago – 1921. Tulsa race riot death toll placed at 100. Mile-square area burned and thousands of Negroes homeless. County under martial law.” (Kidder, Joseph K. “Review of the News in Years Past.” La Crosse Tribune, WI. 6-2-1961, p. 4.

1968, March 13: “ ‘The Negroes may long remain slaves without complaining; but if they are once raised to the level of free men, they will soon revolt at being deprived of almost all their civil rights; and as they cannot become the equals of the whites, they will speedily show themselves as enemies.’

“The above passage seems to be the statement of an apologist for slavery, but it is, by no means that. In fact, the author was violently opposed to slavery. His name, Alexis de Tocqueville…His book, Democracy in America….

“One cannot say that the firs race riots or even the most severe in terms of damage and casualties have occurred in this decade. The spectre of the Tulsa riot in the early part of this century still hangs quietly in the background. And it does not hang alone….” (Rahe, Paul A. Jr. “Roots of Disorder.” Cornell Daily Sun, NY. 3-13-1968, p. 4.

1980, Oct 11: “According to a half-hour documentary from National Public Radio, America’s largest, most brutal riot occurred in North Tulsa, Okla., in 1921. ‘A Conspiracy of Silence: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921’ examines the smoldering tensions that erupted in the riot itself, and probes why it became one of the best kept secrets of race relations for over 50 years.

“The program, part of NPR’s Horizon series, will be broadcast on NPR member station KHCC 90.1 FM at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 21. The Horizons program pieces together the events leading up to the riot and examines the successful local cover-up of the event. Articles written about the violence and circumstances leading up to it, were torn out of newspaper files and all official records were expunged.

“Nothing was printed on the subject for 50 years until 1971, when a story by writer Ed Wheeler appeared in a local black magazine.” (Hutchinson News, KS. “Riot on radio show.” 10-11-1980, p. 3.)

1982, Sept. 5: “Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 by Scott Ellsworth (Louisiana State University Press –$9.95).

“For much of the latter part of the nineteenth century, what is now Oklahoma, was regarded as a haven for black Americans seeking escape from the nation’s obsession with racial prejudice. True, many prominent Indian families owned slaves, but with the end of the Civil War these slaves became adopted citizens of the tribes. With the entry of the white man somewhat controlled, there was plenty of room for red and black, with some adopted whites.

“The openings of Oklahoma lands for white settlement and statehood, changed all that. Soon the Ku Klux Klan flourished, oppression of human rights became widespread and lynch mobs frequently appeared. The cumulative results was the 1921 Tulsa race riot. Scott Ellsworth records the events leading up to the riot and by skillful application of oral history, he presents firsthand accounts of the riot.

“Some idea of the mood of the times can be seen in this excerpt from a newspaper account of a lynching of a white man:

Hundreds rushed over the prostrate form to get bit of the clothing. The rope was cut into bits and the mob fairly fought over gruesome souvenirs.

“Tulsa police stood by and kept curious onlookers from getting too close to the lynch party. They were reported helping to direct traffic at the scene.

“Two years later violence erupted and the Black district was left smoking and in ruins. Thousands of Blacks were rounded up and placed in holding areas under arrest. Armed whites were allowed to roam the streets. In the aftermath, one Black Tulsan was sentenced for carrying a concealed weapon, but no whites ‘were ever sent to prison for the killing, burning, and looting of the race riot of 1921.’ ….

“Ellsworth’s small book (150 pages) is filled with photographs. This is an exciting story of an event that was just one of the many blots on the race relations in America. Reviewed by Virgil Talbot.” (Talbot, Virgil. “Times Book Reviews. Brief Telling of a Dark Time in the History of Oklahoma.” Northwest Arkansas Times, Fayetteville. 9-5-1982, p. 8D.

1996, June 2: “Tulsa, Okla. – The race riot Tulsa once tried to forget was finally commemorated Saturday with the dedication of a memorial, and a ceremony in a church that had to be rebuilt after burning to the ground in the violence 75 years ago. ‘I feel wonderful, rejuvenated,’ said 92-year-old Robert Fairchild, a survivor of the June 1, 1921 riot who attended the anniversary ceremony.

“He was 17 years old when the thriving 35-block business district knows as the ‘Black Wall Street of America’ was torched by white mobs. Hundreds of homes were destroyed that day and estimates of the death toll topped 250….

“About 1,200 people attended Saturday’s service at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, which was destroyed in fires that broke out after the riot. The group then marched to the site of a new memorial that bears the names of black businesses burned in the riot. Organizers said an eternal flame on one side of the memorial symbolizes the resilience of the black community that later rebuilt. Water pouring down the other side of the black granite marker symbolizes healing, they said.

“Dr. Benjamin Hooks, retired executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, spoke at the ceremony. He said the events of 75 years ago should serve as a lesson. ‘We are reminded over and over again that those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat history,’ he said.

“Mayor Susan Savage, who is white, acknowledged that even though she grew up in Tulsa she did not know about the riot until she was an adult….

“Fairchild, who survived after fleeing the burning ruins of north Tulsa that day, said he still has doubts about whether noting the event will have a healing effect in the city. ‘We’ll have to wait and see,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot of bitterness yet.’” (Associated Press/Kelly Kurt. “Tulsa race riot commemorated 75 years later.” Hays Daily News, KS, 6-2-1996, p. A6.)

1997, March 13: “OKLAHOMA CITY — A resolution authorizing a study of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot will likely have some changes made to it in the state Senate, according to Rep. Don Ross.

“House Joint Resolution 1035 would create the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Reparations Commission. The nine-member panel would be directed to conduct a “historical study” and to develop “a historical record” of the riot. According to most accounts, 35 square blocks were destroyed and scores were killed during the disturbance.

“Ross successfully shepherded the measure through the House of Representatives Wednesday. Despite passage with strong bipartisan support, the measure encountered questions about concerns by some lawmakers that the resolution may have directed the commission to find that reparations are due to survivors. ‘We want this study to be a scholarly work that will — for the first time — chronicle what really happened during one of the darkest chapters in state history,’ said the Tulsa Democrat. ‘For this study to be legitimate, the commission members must have full academic freedom to study the events without any preconceived notions.’

“The resolution’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Maxine Horner, said she has already consulted with Ross. The pair said they have agreed to remove any sections of the measure that would appear to direct the commission to a foregone conclusion. ‘The commission should be able to make a recommendation for reparations based on their research,’ said Horner, also a Democrat from Tulsa. ‘However, it should also have the academic freedom to recommend that no reparations are warranted.’

“‘To send this commission to work toward a predetermined conclusion would be as intellectually dishonest as the concerted cover-up that has gone on for decades about the 1921 riot.’

“Ross also said he was grateful to the House for the trust members placed in him. ‘This resolution enjoyed strong support from members of both parties and all political persuasions,’ he related. ‘I appreciate the fact that the Oklahoma House of Representatives, with a strong voice, decided to remove the mystery from this sad chapter in our past.’

“‘Senator Horner and I look forward to Senate passage and final approval of this measure so these 75-year-old wounds can finally begin to heal.’” (Oklahoma House of Representatives, Media Division. “Changes Planned for Resolution Authorizing Study of 1921 Riot.” 3-13-1997 news release.)

1997, June 23: “….let’s insist that President Clinton forget about publicly apologizing, as well-meaning congressfolk put it ‘to African-Americans whose ancestors suffered as slaves under the Constitution and laws of the United States until 1865.’

“I know how anxious Clinton is to get his mucho-heralded dialogue on race begun with a bang, but absolutely no one who lives in black skin should take such a trendy salvo seriously. Here’s just one reason why.

“Ever since the horrific blast at Oklahoma City claimed 168 American lives, it’s been called the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil. How conveniently we seem to have forgotten June 1, 1921, when angry white citizens of Tulsa, Okla., manned places and dropped nitroglycerin on a 36-block thriving black business district in north Tulsa known as ‘Black Wallstreet.’ ….

“In just 12 hours in Tulsa, more Americans were killed by their fellow citizens than at any time since the Civil War. ….

“The Tulsa Tribune estimated deaths at 250. However, Ron Wallace, a Tulsa native and author of the book ‘Black Wallstreet: A Lost Dream,’ spent three years poring through family records and interviewing survivors, Ku Klux Klan members and historians. He says more than 3,000 African-Americans died. Bodies were buried in mass graves, stuffed in the shaft of a coal mine, tossed into the river. ‘Just recently, an Oklahoma television anchor talking about the Tulsa riot death toll, said the word ‘thousands,’ said Wallace. “For 75 years, they’ve been saying ’10 to 100.’ You cannot tell me that 10,000 people fought in the streets for 12 hours and only 10 people died.

“….You won’t read about the Tulsa race riot in the history books. As tragic as it is, it’s a story you have to search for. How deftly slavery has shaped the American soul. Because of its poison, still threaded through the blood and mindset of the servant and the served, whole chapters have been erased from our past.

“There are people who will feel a twist in their guts when they read about what happened in Tulsa, and people who will guffaw and turn the tale into a comic icebreaker tonight at a party. While we gather in tiny pockets to celebrate our freedom, many still celebrate our capture.

“Prez, don’t waste your time worryin’ ‘bout sorry. This knife has long ago reached and sliced through bone – and no string of syllables can begin to heal that kind of cut. You can say ‘I’m sorry’ a million times in that earnest Arkansas drawl of yours. But there are just too many people – black and white – who are too deaf or too dead to hear you.” (Smith, Patricia/Boston Globe. “‘Sorry’ just doesn’t cut it.” Altoona Mirror, PA. 6-23-1997, p. 6.)

1998, April 26: “Tulsa, Okla. – A government that offers reparations for ancient injustices is wanting to heal, repent and reconcile with the people who were victimized. Cash payments could help salve the bad feelings, scholars say.

“But watch out for harmful side effects: Reparations could offend the recipients, stir up memories of humiliation and loss, create new resentment and heat up the animosity all over again.

“The issue hits home in Oklahoma with a commission authorized by the Legislature to study the 1921 Tulsa race riot. Commission members will try to determine if reparations should be paid to survivors of the riot’s flames and deadly violence. ‘I don’t see any need that I’d be asking for any money,’ said Ernestine Gibbs, 95, a retired schoolteacher. ‘Where would the money come from, anyway? You’ve got to think about that.’

“Thirty-five blocks of businesses and homes burned down June 1, 1921, in a riot sparked by a white mob’s demands for the lynching of a black man. The casualty county runs from 35-300.

“Gibbs is among about 12 known Tulsa riot victims who are still alive. She does not expect the Oklahoma Legislature to make amends for arson and looting in the district where the ‘Black Wall Street of America’ once stood. ‘It doesn’t even dawn on me, because we’re doing all right,’ she said.

“Nationally, the debate has encompassed slavery, confiscation of American Indian lands and wartime internment of Japanese Americans. The state of Florida in 1994 granted $2.1 million in reparations from a riot that destroyed the black community of Rosewood, Fla., in 1923.

“Reparations get trickier when the wounds are old. The Tigua Indians, for example, in recent years began seeking a payback from the United States over claims to more than 4 million acres in Texas.

“Former death-row inmate Robert Lee Miller Jr., 38 of Oklahoma City is asking the Legislature to compensate him for the 11 years he spent locked up. Miller was found guilty in 1988 and sentenced to execution for the murders of two women in Oklahoma County. Prosecutors dismissed the case in January, citing insufficient evidence after DNA tests excluded Miller as the source of semen left at the crime scenes. ‘They could never pay me for what happened to me. You can’t turn back the hands of time,’ Miller said. ‘But I think compensation would give me a new start on life.’ Miller said he also seeks reparations so that no one else will be unjustly imprisoned.

“Sen. Kelly Haney, D-Seminole and Senate appropriations chairman, said the Legislature must keep priority on basic services such as education and prisons. Haney said it was too early to speculate about reparations. ‘Perhaps it’s worthy of consideration if we have available funds,’ he said.

“Rep. Don Ross, D-Tulsa, previously suggested that the city and state pay $3 million apiece in reparations for the Tulsa riot 77 years ago. Now he says that historians must pin down the damage before anyone can decide if, to whom, when, how and how much reparations should be paid. ‘I want a healthy discussion’ Ross said. ‘It’s a tough issue.’

“Historian Scott Ellsworth, who wrote a text on the Tulsa riot, said many people have qualms about using public money to pay descendants of victims. Others would rather not resurrect discussion about what they consider a horrible blot in the city’s past, he said. ‘Our history is important. We don’t have to be afraid of it,’ Ellsworth said. ‘We honor it by facing up to it and looking it squarely in the eye.’

“The Tulsa Race Riot Commission will report its findings back to the Legislature. Members decided to start with tangible tasks – such as determining property values – before tackling the emotional subject of reparations.

“Bob Blackburn, deputy executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, said the various forms of reparations include cash, apologies and museum exhibits. He said political leaders must decide whether the anticipated benefits outweigh the possible divisiveness. ‘Affordability would be the least of the issues, in my opinion,’ Blackburn said. He said to consider if reparations would ‘help the healing process, provide any positive step. It might. Or would it create greater problems?’

“A multiracial group of ministers is planning a repentance and prayer service on the June 1 riot anniversary. Organizers intend to take up donations from the crowd, soliciting ‘voluntary restitution’ to the 23 churches destroyed in the riot.

“Edward Linenthal, professor of religion and American culture at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, studies the steps communities take to preserve the legacy of a tragedy. The success of reparations requests has historically depended on how realistic and appropriate the requests are, and the political clout of the lobbying group, Linenthal said. Some victims will consider the idea of monetary reparations inadequate, he said. Others, meanwhile, will appreciate the official recognition of wrongdoing. ‘It’s very much tied up with how we not only as Americans, but people around the world, are dealing with some of the horrific events of the 20th century – how we should be careful custodians of the memory.’” (Pagel, Jean/Associated Press. Orange County Register, Santa Ana, CA. “Oklahoma ponders reparations.” 4-26-1998, p. 13.)

1999, Aug 6: “Tulsa, Okla. – Researchers have found 62 living black survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race riot, five times the number known when a commission began investigating reparations two years ago, the panel’s chairman said Wednesday.

“Archaeologists also consider excavation the only means left to confirm if a downtown cemetery holds a mass grave of riot victims. Tulsa Race Riot Commission Chairman Bob Blackburn said. ‘It can’t be proven conclusively until you actually dig,’ something the commission is not authorized to do, he said. ‘That’s a much more complicated issue, a much more emotional issue.’

“The 11-member panel will consider the archaeological findings, new historical data and any survivor testimony when it meets Monday.

“Historian John Hope Franklin, the son of a riot survivor and head of President Clinton’s national advisory board on race, is scheduled to address the commission, Blackburn said….

“The number of deaths and injuries long has been disputed, along with reports of airplanes dropping bombs on black neighborhoods and machine gun during into the crowds.

“Scott Ellsworth, a historian who wrote a book on the riot, is aiding the commission’s investigation. Records and oral histories have led him to conclude at least 200 to 300 people died in the fighting. ‘I think we are now convinced this is the largest single incident of racial violence in American history,’ he said.

“Ellsworth has created a series of maps that he said will enable him to walk the commission through the events of the two-day riot….

“A search for mass graves led researchers to Oaklawn Cemetery, where a man recalled seeing workmen burying crates holding numerous black bodies when he was 10 years old.

“Tests using ground-piercing radar and a magnetometer showed a ‘fairly significant’ amount of metal at an unmarked spot in what used to be a pauper’s burial field, state archaeologist Bob Brooks said. The metal could have come from straps or hinges of coffins or items buried with victims, he said.” (Kurt, Kelly/Associated Press. “Cemetery could hold clues for Tulsa race riot.” Daily News, Amarillo, TX. 8-6-1999, p. 17A.)

1999, Aug 11: “Decades have passed since race riots claimed the lives of hundreds of African-American people in Oklahoma, Florida and Illinois. The bodies have long been buried. The homes and churches destroyed by fire have since been rebuilt. But the pain and bitterness sown during a violent yesteryear still linger.

“In Oklahoma this week, members of the Tulsa Race Riot Commission are searching for a salve to heal old wounds. A 12-member panel is hearing the testimony of survivors and historians who describe in detail the 1921 massacre that some experts call the nation’s worst single incident of racial violence.

“Through their recollections and research, these witnesses are exposing truths that some had hoped to conceal. According to the testimony, white mobs killed 200 to 300 people, most of whom were black. Police officers and a National Guard unit helped burn 35 blocks of a thriving black business district, sources say.

“Commissioners on Monday authorized crews to excavate a cemetery where many blacks may be buried in unmarked graves. In January, the task force will recommend what – if any – reparations should be offered to survivors and victims’ families.

“The nation will watch as Tulsa seeks to reconcile its past. For that city’s story mirrors struggles witnessed across the country in the 1910s and 1920s when blacks moved to urban areas, seeking jobs and buying homes in traditionally white neighborhoods.

“The changes created tension and spawned horrific race riots. In Chicago in 1919, white mobs pillaged black neighborhoods. At least 38 people died – 23 of them black. Hundreds of others were wounded….

“Tulsa’s Race Riot Commission may determine that money is the most effective way to make amends for a disturbing past. Members may recommend offering tax breaks to minority-owned businesses. The state could establish a college scholarship fund for victims’ descendants or it could build a museum acknowledging the city’s history.

“But honestly confronting the past is a critical component to improving race relations in Tulsa and communities across the nation. For denying the truths or allowing history to distort them only allows long-standing anger to fester for another day.” (Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, IL. “Nation must face riots of past (Editorial).” 8-11-1999, p. 10.)

2000, Jan 27: “Tulsa, Okla. (AP) – A state commission will consider next week whether reparations are owed for losses in Tulsa’s 1921 race riot….

“The Tulsa Race Riot Commission will meet Feb 4, and Chairman Bob Blackburn said Wednesday he expects it will vote on reparations.

“The 11-member panel, which has spent two years investigating the riot, must made a recommendation about reparations to state lawmakers by Feb 7.

“A subcommittee of the commission has proposed a $33 million reparation package that would include scholarships, a museum and tax breaks to encourage business development in addition to direct payments to more than 70 survivors….” (Associated Press. “State commission set to consider riot reparations.” Odessa American, TX, 1-27-2000, p. 6.)

2000, Feb 5: “Tulsa, Okla. (AP) – A state commission recommended Friday that Oklahoma pay reparations for one of the nation’s deadliest racial clashes; a little-known, 1921 rampage by a white Tulsa mob that killed as many as 300 people, most of them black.

“The 11-member panel called for direct payments to survivors and victims’ descendants, scholarships and a tax-checkoff program to fund economic development in Tulsa’s mostly black Greenwood area and a memorial to the dead. ‘This way we will be helping people first, which is what we are supposed to be doing,’ said Tulsa Race Riot Commission member Jim Loyd.

“The panel have no specifics on how much the package would cost and offered no details on such things as who would get the scholarships. The recommendation is subject to approval by the Legislature, which created the commission….

“About a half-dozen of the 80 known riot survivors watched on Friday as the commission heard personal accounts, newspaper stories and a subcommittee recommendation before approving the payment of reparations.

“Ten of the 11 members voted in favor of the memorial and the scholarship after one commissioner left the meeting early. The vote was 9-1 on the direct payments and the tax checkoff.

“The riot broke out May 31, 1921, when a white lynch mob clashed with blacks who were protecting a black man accused of assaulting a white elevator operator.

“Over two days, white mobs set fire to homes, businesses and churches in Greenwood, a thriving black business district known at the time as the Black Wall Street of America. When the smoke cleared, the area lay in ruins.

“Many blacks left and never returned. The National Guard rounded up thousands of others and held them at the fairgrounds, convention hall and a baseball stadium.

“The commission, which included a survivor, historians, lawmakers and community members, held meetings for two years and agreed that it may be impossible to get a complete, accurate account of what happened.

“There is uncertainty about such things as how many died, whether a Tulsa cemetery holds mass graves, and what role the National Guard played.

“On Friday, some in the crowd shouted and others let out a low ‘no, no, no’ when Democratic State Rep. Abe Deutschendorf recalled a riot survivor’s account that the National Guard saved his life.

“For decades, the city ignored the riot. It was only in 1996 that it recognized its anniversary. The next year, the Legislature created the commission when Tulsa lawmakers raised the issue of restitution.

“In 1994, Florida set the precedent in reparations by paying up to $150,000 to survivors of a 1923 attack on blacks in Rosewood, Fla.

“In Arkansas, historians and residents are holding a conference next week to discuss a major race riot in 1919 at Elaine, Ark. The death toll has been put at anywhere from 20 to 200.” (Associated Press. “Panel recommends reparations for riot victims.” Odessa American, TX, 2-5-2000, p. 5A.)

May 31, 2000: “THE TULSA race riot of 1921, believed to be our country’s deadliest race riot, is remembered in a powerful documentary that debuts at 5:30 p.m. today on Cine max.

“Although the official death toll was placed at 36, the Red Cross and some historians placed the actual count at more than 300. Thousands of black residents were detained in camps. More than 40 blocks of the prosperous Greenwood community, known as “Little Africa” in the film, were looted and burned.

“Tulsa filmmaker Michael Wilkerson details the horrors of Oklahoma’s holocaust in “The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story” through interviews with survivors and historians and extensive research. An impressive array of actors – including Tulsa natives Alfre Woodard and Mary Kay Place, Bill Cosby, Ed Asner and Mike Farrell – brings firsthand accounts of the riot and its aftermath to life.

“Most of those accounts are from a journal from the late Mary Parrish, played by Woodard, Wilkerson said.

“Wilkerson, a former agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said he was inspired to tackle the project because a colleague had discovered accounts of the long-forgotten riot at the library and from a conversation with Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., on an airline flight five years ago….

(Bracht, Mel. “Tulsa race riot examined in new film Documentary debuts today on Cinemax.” The Oklahoman, 5-31-2000.)

Dec 6, 2000: “A long-awaited report to the Tulsa Race Riot Commission pursues the past along a middle path likely to draw a crossfire from critics on all sides.

“Called the “Scientific, Historical and Legal Analysis,” the findings of the commission’s paid and volunteer consultants were delivered to commission chairman Pete Churchwell’s office on Tuesday. The report discounts some dearly-held riot stories but re-enforces others. Most notably, it portrays local law enforcement officers and National Guardsmen as enthusiastic participants in the sacking of the city’s black Greenwood district on June 1, 1921, following a racially charged melee in downtown Tulsa the night before.

“Such an approach is likely to find favor among those pressing for financial restitution to riot survivors and their heirs. Reparations advocates, however, are likely to be disappointed that the report largely exonerates state officials and cites testimonials about the performance of National Guardsmen brought in from outside of the city.

“The riot commission is scheduled to take up the report at a meeting on Friday. Chairman Pete Churchwell has said the members will decide over the next two months whether to accept the conclusions in part or in their entirety, with a final summary by University of Oklahoma historian Danney Goble and Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Director Bob Blackburn. Churchwell said individual commissioners may also submit reports.

“Compiled and edited by former Tulsans Scott Ellsworth and John Hope Franklin, the 284- page consultants’ report presents few startling revelations. It does, however, cite many new sources to buttress established information and arguments. One is the unpublished memoir of William “Choc” Phillips, a teenager in 1921 who went on to a colorful dual career as a vaudevillian and a Tulsa police sergeant.

“Among the reports’ highlights:

“Death certificates have been located for 39 riot victims, including a still-born infant. Clyde Snow, an internationally known forensic anthropologist, speculates that more riot-related deaths could be discovered once hospital and probate court records are thoroughly researched. Ellsworth, who began studying the riot in the mid-1970s, says he now thinks an estimate of 75 to 100 is reasonable.

“State Archeologist Robert Brooks and OU geophysicist Alan Witten report that searches using ground radar and other technology, followed by core sampling, could not substantiate claims of mass graves in Oaklawn Cemetery, Newblock Park and Washington Cemetery. One promising spot in Newblock Park turned out to be an old basement. One in Washington Cemetery proved to be a layer of clay.

“Permission for an excavation in Oaklawn was sought based on a witness’ childhood recollections and further seismic tests. The excavation attempt was stopped when old cemetery records revealed bodies of non-victims had been buried in the spot immediately before and after the riot. Brooks and Witten suggest a small dig to resolve the matter.

“Snow said burning bodies in the city incinerator, as some have suggested, would not have been feasible because of the facility’s capacity and logistical considerations.

“A statistical analysis of the 39 death certificates reveals the whites tended to be young, single and relatively rootless while the blacks were older and more likely to be long-time residents of Tulsa. Only two of the 13 whites were born in Oklahoma and only three of them were buried in the city. Most appeared to have oil field-related jobs.

“Ellsworth, in an introduction, compares the riot to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and writes extensively about a ‘culture of silence’ concerning the riot. While downplaying claims of a concerted cover-up, Ellsworth says the event described in a 1949 Tulsa World article as the most horrifying event in the city’s history was rarely discussed.

“Ellsworth and local historian Dick Warner, writing separately, concluded that stories of aerial bombardment and strafing were probably exaggerated. ‘It is within reason that there was some shooting from planes and even the dropping of incendiaries,’ Warner writes, ‘but the evidence would seem to indicate that it was of a minor nature and had no real effect.’” (Krehbiel, Randy (Staff writer). “Tulsa Race Riot: Experts provide findings to panel.” Tulsa World. 12-6-2000.)

May 29, 2011: “A lot has changed in 90 years. Some hasn’t. Ninety years ago on Monday, an incident set in motion events leading to the most destructive episode in Tulsa’s history….A mistrust of local authorities led blacks to arm themselves and go into the heart of white Tulsa to defend Rowland, whose life they believed to be in danger.

“More than whatever Rowland might or might not have done, though, hotheads in the crowd were stirred up by the sight of black men with guns on their turf. The Negro Invasion, early accounts called it. The most accepted version of the riot’s flashpoint is that the first shot was fired accidentally in a struggle over a pistol; in the confusion and mayhem that followed, Rowland was all but forgotten in his jail cell at Sixth and Boulder….

“One of the worst race riots in the nation’s history occurred in Tulsa over a 14-hour period on May 31 and June 1, 1921. Dozens of people were killed, hundreds were injured and thousands were left homeless. Most of the segregated black business district, known as the Greenwood District, was destroyed.

“Although the riot itself lasted only 14 hours, its repercussions are still felt today. The Tulsa World has created a website – tulsaworld.com/raceriot – containing a wealth of information for students, historians and others who wish to learn more about the Tulsa Race Riot….” (Krehbiel, Randy. “Tulsa Race Riot legacy still felt in the city.” Tulsa World, 5-29-2011.)

July 19, 2014: “TULSA, Okla. — They called it Black Wall Street. It was only a 1-square-mile area on the north side of Tulsa, but for blacks in the 1900s, Greenwood was everything the South was not. Filled with black lawyers, doctors and business owners, flush with prosperity, here was an area where African-Americans finally had a chance to make something of themselves, escaping the harsh racism of a nation that deprived them of even the most basic dignities.

“A dollar would circulate 19 times before leaving Greenwood, a byproduct of the segregation laws, which kept blacks from shopping anywhere else but also united the community financially. There was affluence and education in Greenwood not seen anywhere else in the country for African-Americans, and each day more people were coming to carve out a piece of the dream for themselves, adding to the prosperity of the neighborhood….

“This was the town Olivia Hooker was born in, the place she called home as a little girl, an African-American child oblivious to the racism plaguing the country until the day in 1921 when all of her neighborhood would be wiped off the map in the space of a day: the bank, the elegant brick homes, the Red Wing Hotel, Mann’s Grocery, the Dreamland Theatre, even her father’s department store, the Sam D. Hooker Store at 124 Greenwood Avenue.

“On May 30, 1921, a young black man was accused of assaulting a white woman. That accusation was the tipping point for a town already reeling from racial tension, and would turn into the worst 24 hours in the city’s history, known as the Tulsa Race Riot.

“Hooker is 99 now, a retired teacher living in White Plains, New York. But when the riot happened, she was 6, exposed for the first time to the brutal realities of discrimination and hatred. She was devastated. ‘And so when this terrible thing happened, it really destroyed my faith in humanity,’ she said. ‘And it took a good long while for me to get over it.’

“There are fewer than a dozen survivors of the riot, which Hooker refers to as “the catastrophe.” And for nearly a century now, the survivors have been seeking reparations for the destruction of their homes and businesses. Despite their best efforts, they have come up empty-handed.

“Experts and historians may have differing accounts of what happened, but they all agree on one thing: It’s likely that the survivors will die before they receive what they are seeking….” (Mullins, Dexter. “Survivors of infamous 1921 Tulsa race riot still hope for justice.” Aljazeera America, 7-19-2014.)

June 1, 2017: “The Tulsa race riot was a large-scale, racially motivated pogrom on May 31 and June 1, 1921, in which a group of whites attacked the black community of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Greenwood District, the wealthiest black community in the United States, was burned to the ground. Over the course of 16 hours, more than 800 people were admitted to local white hospitals with injuries, the two black hospitals were burned down, and police arrested and detained more than 6,000 black Greenwood residents at three local facilities. An estimated 10,000 blacks were left homeless, and 35 city blocks composed of 1,256 residences were destroyed by fire, resulting in over $26 million in damages. The official count of the dead by the Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics was 36, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300.

“The events of the massacre were long omitted from local and state histories: The Tulsa race riot of 1921 was rarely mentioned in history books, classrooms or even in private. Blacks and whites alike grew into middle age unaware of what had taken place. With the number of survivors declining, in 1996, the state legislature commissioned a report to establish the historical record of the events, and acknowledge the victims and damages to the black community. Released in 2001, the report included the commission’s recommendations for some compensatory actions, most of which were not implemented by the state and city governments. The state passed legislation to establish some scholarships for descendants of survivors, economic development of Greenwood, and a memorial park to the victims in Tulsa. The latter was dedicated in 2010.

BACKGROUND

“Post-World War I northeastern Oklahoma had a racially and politically tense atmosphere. The territory, which was declared a state on November 16, 1907, had received many settlers from the South who had been slaveholders before the American Civil War. In the early 20th century, lynchings were common in Oklahoma, as part of a continuing effort by whites to assert and maintain white supremacy. Between the declaration of statehood and the Tulsa race riot 13 years later, 31 persons were lynched in Oklahoma; 26 were black and nearly all were men and boys. During the twenty years following the riot, the number of lynchings statewide fell to two.

“The newly created state legislature passed racial segregation laws, commonly known as Jim Crow laws, as one of its first orders of business. Its 1907 constitution and laws had voter registration rules that disfranchised most blacks; this also barred them from serving on juries or in local office, a situation that lasted until the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, part of civil rights legislation passed by the U.S. Congress. Major cities passed their own restrictions.

“On August 16, 1916, Tulsa passed an ordinance that mandated residential segregation by forbidding blacks or whites from residing on any block where three-fourths or more of the residents were of the other race. Although the United States Supreme Court declared the ordinance unconstitutional the next year, it remained on the books.

“As cities absorbed returning veterans into the labor market following World War I, social tension and anti-black sentiment increased. At the same time, black veterans pushed to have their civil rights enforced, believing they had earned full citizenship by military service. In what became known as the “Red Summer” of 1919, industrial cities across the Midwest and North experienced severe race riots, often led by ethnic whites among recent immigrant groups, who competed mostly with blacks for jobs. In Chicago and some other cities, blacks defended themselves for the first time with force but were outnumbered.

“Northeastern Oklahoma was in an economic slump that increased unemployment. Since 1915, the Ku Klux Klan had been growing in urban chapters across the country, particularly since veterans had been returning from the war. Its first significant appearance in Oklahoma occurred on August 12, 1921, less than three months after the Tulsa riot. By the end of 1921, Tulsa had 3,200 residents in the Klan by one estimate. The city’s population was 72,000 in 1920.

“The traditionally black district of Greenwood in Tulsa had a commercial district so prosperous that it was known as “the Negro Wall Street” (now commonly referred to as “the Black Wall Street”), a label given by none other than noted African-American educator and author Booker T. Washington. Blacks had created their own businesses and services in this enclave, including several groceries, two independent newspapers, two movie theaters, nightclubs, and numerous churches. Black professionals—doctors, dentists, lawyers, and clergy—served the community. Because of residential segregation in the city, most classes of blacks lived together in Greenwood. They selected their own leaders and raised capital there to support economic growth. In the surrounding areas of northeastern Oklahoma, blacks also enjoyed relative prosperity and participated in the oil boom….” (Jones, Fred. “96 Years Later. The Greenwood Cultural Center, 1921 Race Riot Massacre Facts with Video.” The Oklahoma Eagle, Tulsa. 6-1-2017.)

Nov 29, 2018: “TULSA — Sen. Kevin Matthews held a news conference Thursday morning, in which he announced the official name change of the 1921 Race Riot Commission to the 1921 Race Massacre Commission….‘We had already planned to formally change the name of the 1921 Race Riot Commission to the 1921 Race Massacre Commission this week’, said Sen. Matthews, Chair of the Commission. ‘It was ironic that just last week, we lost and acknowledged the life and legacy of the last known survivor of this tragedy, Dr. Olivia Hooker who was the first African American woman to join the U.S. Coast Guard and lived to be 103.’ Hooker had survived the tragedy as a six-year-old and fought for the incident to be called a massacre rather than a riot.

“‘The fact that it was called a riot was one of the reasons given for turning down insurance claims, and has been offensive to many in the affected area for 97 years. After being made aware of the significance of the term, the Commission has decided to officially change its name to the 1921 Race Massacre Commission,’ said Matthews. ‘Although the dialogue about the reasons and effects of the terms riot vs. massacre are very important and encouraged, the feelings and interpretation of those who experienced this devastation as well as current area residents and historical scholars have led us to more appropriately change the name to the 1921 Race Massacre Commission.’” (KJRH 2, Tulsa. “Tulsa 1921 Race Riot Commission renamed Race Massacre Commission.” 11-29-2018.)

May 31, 2019: “There are many lessons from Tulsa’s 1921 race massacre. One of them, often overlooked, is that words matter.

“Walter White, the intrepid NAACP investigator of that era, wrote that the injudicious use of one word, “assault,” in the May 31, 1921, Tulsa Tribune was in large part responsible for the conflagration that consumed the hopes and dreams and the very lives of black Tulsans that same evening and night and the morning of June 1, 1921.

“Roscoe Dunjee, then-editor of the influential Oklahoma City newspaper The Black Dispatch, agreed and published the entire article containing the offending word under the headline, ‘The Story That Set Tulsa Ablaze.’

“Adj. Gen. Charles Barrett, who arrived in Tulsa on the morning of June 1, expressed similar sentiments, both at the time and in his memoir, published 18 years later.

“The story in question carried the headline “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in an Elevator.” Just five paragraphs long, it appeared at the bottom of the right hand column on Page 1 of the May 31 editions of the Tulsa Tribune, the city’s afternoon newspaper. The same paper but dated June 1, 1921, was sent to mail subscribers.

“Briefly stated, the story said a young African-American identified as ‘Diamond Dick’ Rowland had been arrested that morning for ‘attempting to assault the 17-year-old white elevator girl’ in a downtown building the previous day. In the terminology of the day, the story essentially accused Dick Rowland of attempted rape.

“Within hours of the arrest, and probably after the Tribune story hit the streets, Tulsa police received a threat on Rowland’s life. He was moved six blocks from the ramshackle city lockup to the county jail on the top floor of the courthouse at Sixth Street and Boulder Avenue, where the Bank of America Building now stands. There the riot that became a massacre began.

“Opinions vary on how much that one word in a newspaper contributed to the death and destruction, but it and the story in its entirety are illustrative of the language the white-owned press, in an era when newspapers were the only mass media, used to describe whites and blacks.

Rowland was ‘a negro delivery boy who gave his name to the public as ‘Diamond Dick.’’ He had been skulking about the building for no apparent reason, the story implied.

“The girl, Sarah Page, was ‘an orphan who works as an elevator operator to pay her way through business college.’

“It emerged that neither of these descriptions was entirely warranted. Page was not exactly an innocent damsel in distress; Rowland most likely was just trying to do his job — although what, exactly, that job was is unclear.

“ ‘Without pausing to find whether or not the story was true, without bothering with the slight detail of investigating the character of the woman who made the outcry (as a matter of fact, she was of exceedingly doubtful reputation), a mob of 100-per-cent Americans set forth on a wild rampage,’ White wrote, referring to a motto popular at the time and adopted by, among others, the new Ku Klux Klan.

“The morning Tulsa World was perhaps the first to blame its archrival for inciting the riot. It quoted Chief of Detectives J.W. Patton as saying police had concluded that Rowland was innocent of wrongdoing and that the Tribune’s ‘colored and untrue account … incited such a racial spirit upon the part of the whites and under the impression there would be a lynching the armed blacks invaded the business district. If the facts as told the police had only been printed I do not think there would have been (any) riot whatever.’

“This version of events was self-serving for both the police and the World. News stories and archival documents reveal that, by action and inaction, many members of the police force, including Patton, were complicit in what happened to Greenwood. The World, though largely supportive of black Tulsans and their resistance to a pig-in-a-poke scheme to exchange their property for lots farther away from downtown, reflected the prevailing racism of the times….

“Ninety-eight years later, in a time when harsh and careless words fly around the world in seconds and are instantly etched on eternity, it is perhaps worth remembering when a single word was blamed for countless deaths and a brief newspaper account became known as the story that set Tulsa ablaze.” (Krehbiel, Randy (Tulsa World staff writer). “Tulsa Race Massacre: 1921 Tulsa newspapers fueled racism, and one story is cited for sparking Greenwood’s burning.” 5-31-2019.)

Oct 8, 2019: “A few blocks away from Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood sits the city’s oldest existing cemetery, Oaklawn. On Monday, scientists and forensic anthropologists scoured the cemetery with ground-penetrating radar, looking for signs of a mass grave that could hold the remains of hundreds of black residents killed during the 1921 Tulsa massacre.

“As the 100-year anniversary of the massacre approaches, the city is facing increased pressure to address its turbulent racial history in a way it never has before. A major part of that will be resolving what happened to the hundreds of people slaughtered at the hands of the violent white mob that destroyed what was known as Black Wall Street.

“Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum announced last year that he would open an investigation into the city’s mass graves, comparing that inquiry to a murder investigation, the Washington Post notes… But it’s more accurate to think of the massacre on Black Wall Street as an act of domestic terrorism….

“The question of where those mass graves are located has never been resolved. Mayor Bynum said last year that the city is obligated to find out.

“Tulsa city officials have known for at least 20 years about specific sites, including Oaklawn, that may contain mass graves. State investigators and archaeologists began exploring claims of mass graves in 1998—working off of eyewitness recollections and using electromagnetic induction and ground-penetrating radar to confirm anomalies in the environment that would suggest a mass burial. Excavation was even recommended by a 2001 state-ordered commission to investigate the Tulsa race riot.

“But mayor after mayor passed on the recommendation—citing concerns over costs or disturbing the bodies buried.

“Between now and January, the city hopes to complete its ground-penetration radar investigation of Oaklawn, as well as Newblock Park, and Rolling Oaks Memorial Gardens, which was previously known as Booker T. Washington Cemetery.

“But it’s only the first step. If evidence of mass graves are found, city officials and an oversight committee will then determine whether to excavate, reports the Post. The Oklahoma medical examiner’s office will also get involved to determine the cause of death, a necessary step to determine whether the remains found were likely victims of the massacre, or from a Spanish influenza outbreak that hit the city two years before.

“If the mass graves are linked to the rampage, the city will need to determine how to identify and store the remains, as well as how to commemorate the site….” (Branigin. “Nearly 100 Years Later, Tulsa Begins Search for Mass Graves…1921 Black Wall Street Massacre. The Root, 10-8-2019.)

Feb 2, 2020: “Growing up in Tulsa, Okla., I distinctly remember learning all about the Sooner State’s transition from a Native American territory to becoming the 46th state in 1907, Oklahoma City supplanting Guthrie as the state’s capital in 1910 and about the land runs that began in 1889, transforming acres of public land into bustling farms and cities.

“What I don’t recall ever being taught in school was anything to do with the infamous Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921, in which Tulsa’s affluent Greenwood District—more commonly known as Black Wall Street—was burned to the ground by a horde of racist white folks, killing hundreds of innocent black people in the process and injuring arguably even more….

“But perhaps pushed into action by the renewed interest in that time period courtesy of HBO’s hit series Watchmen, school districts in the state are finally ready to address what Sen. Kevin Matthews calls, ‘Tulsa’s dirty secret.’

“CNN reports that Oklahoma’s education department will provide the framework of a curriculum in April that’s designed to provide ‘extra support and resources’ when teaching students about the massacre. It will be officially incorporated into lesson plans beginning in the fall.

“‘What we want to ensure is that…we are teaching [at] a grade-appropriate level those facts that have not been taught in a way they should have been taught in Oklahoma,’ State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said at a news conference on Wednesday. ‘This is…our history and we should know it.’

“Deborah A. Gist, the superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools, admitted that despite being a student of the same school system she now oversees, she never learned about the massacre herself until she became an educator. ‘What I’m deeply committed to in Tulsa Public Schools is making sure that never happens again,’ she said.

“Do I have complete faith in the school system to properly educate students on Tulsa’s sordid past? Nope. But it’s a step in the right direction that at the very least provides both students and parents with a gateway to educate themselves further on a gruesome chapter of black history.” (Connor, Jay. “The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Will Officially Become a part of Oklahoma School Curriculum Beginning in the Fall.” The Root, 2-20-2020.)

March 2, 2020: “The ongoing investigation to find unmarked graves from Tulsa’s 1921 Race Massacre will continue with a meeting of the public oversight committee Monday night. The 1921 Graves Public Oversight Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the Rudisill Regional Library at 1520 N. Hartford Ave., the first meeting since the committee announced it would do a test excavation at Oaklawn Cemetery.

“In December, the committee announced October surveys revealed locations in Oaklawn and another along the Arkansas River that needed further examination as possible burial sites.

“Those surveys reportedly indicated a 25-by-30 foot area in Oaklawn that appears to have been a pit, and another area historians consider the likely grave of ‘the original 18’ — 18 black male massacre victims buried in the cemetery as identified in newspaper reports and funeral home records.

“The test excavation was considered an ‘intermediate step’ to examine whether a more comprehensive recovery effort is necessary, state archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck said at the Feb. 3 meeting.

“The Oklahoma Archeological Survey also previously announced it would discontinue search efforts at Newblock Park after not finding evidence of graves.

“The city was also reportedly in ongoing talks with the owner of Rolling Oaks Cemetery in south Tulsa to allow a survey after it had been linked to the massacre.” (Tulsa World, OK. “Tulsa Race Massacre graves committee meets again tonight.” 3-2-2020.)

June 5, 2020: “The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 is a story that most Oklahomans have only been learning about and talking about in recent decades. That story — the Greenwood District destroyed and at a minimum dozens killed, hundreds injured and thousands left homeless — will be going worldwide in the next year like never before.

“Popular culture will be shining a light on the tragic events of May 31-June 1, 1921, as happened with the HBO drama series ‘Watchmen’ last year, which featured a fiery re-enactment of the massacre’s killings and destruction in Tulsa’s black community that stunned viewers nationwide….

“The makers of two high-profile documentaries based on the Greenwood tragedy — one from a maker of 2019’s “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries and the other from LeBron James’ production company — chose this week, on the 99th anniversary of the massacre, to announce their separate projects. Those announcements also come at a time of nationwide protests following the death of a black man, George Floyd, while in police custody in Minnesota….” (Smith, Michael. “From ‘Watchmen’ to new film projects and more, the Tulsa Race Massacre will become a growing part of worldwide popular culture ahead of the 2021 centennial.” Tulsa World, 6-5-2020.)

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Wells-Barnett, Mrs. Ida B. (Chicago). “New Year Outlook for the Negro.” Phoenix Tribune, AZ, 2-11-1922, p. 4. Accessed 6-24-2020: https://newspaperarchive.com/phoenix-tribune-feb-11-1922-p-4/

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Additional References

1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission. Accessed 6-16-2020 at: https://www.tulsa2021.org/

Associated Press. “Commission reviews Tulsa race riot.” The Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO. 8-9-1999, A5. Accessed 6-24-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/colorado-springs-gazette-aug-09-1999-p-5/

Barrett, Charles F. Oklahoma after Fifty Years. 4 vols. Oklahoma City: Historical Record Assn., 1941.

Bell, MAJ James A. Report on the Activity of the National Guard on the night of May 31st and June 1st, 1921, to Lt. Col. L. J. F. Rooney, 2 July 1921. Governor James B. A. Robertson Papers, Oklahoma State Archives, Oklahoma City.

Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, OK. “Dick Rowland in South Omaha, No Trace of Girl.” 6-21-1921. Accessed 6-18-2020 at: https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc152337/m1/1/zoom/?resolution=2&lat=5249.563319860851&lon=3327.885671747048

Brown, DeNeen L. “In Tulsa, an investigation finds possible evidence of mass graves from 1921 race massacre.” Washington Post. 12-17-2019. Accessed 6-20-2020 at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Gates, Eddie Faye. They Came Searching: How Blacks Sought the Promised Land in Tulsa. Eakin Press, 1997.

Gill, Loren L. The Tulsa Race Riot. University of Tulsa unpublished Master’s Thesis, 1946.

Johnson, Hannibal B. Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District. Eakin Press, an imprint of Wild Horse Media Group, August 2007.

Kirkpatrick, Major Byron (A.G. Dept., OK National Guard). “Activities on night of May 31, 1921, at Tulsa, Okla.” Memorandum to: Lt. Col. L. J. F. Rooney, 3d. Inf. Okla. Nat’l. Gd., dated 7-1-1921, 3 pages. Accessed 6-24-2020 at: https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/race-riot/id/251

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Krehbiel, Randy (Tulsa World staff writer). “1921 Race Riot: Tribune mystery unsolved.” Tulsa World, OK. 5-31-2002. Accessed 6-18-2020 at: https://www.tulsaworld.com/archive/race-riot-tribune-mystery-unsolved/article_81f8ac0b-01bd-56a8-97ba-851961c400be.html

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Kurt, Kelly (Associated Press). “Tulsa Race Riot details chronicled for board.” Amarillo Daily News, TX. 8-10-1999, p. 1. Accessed 6-24-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/amarillo-daily-news-aug-10-1999-p-37/

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Oxford, Robert. Come Prepared or Not at all: The Racial Definitions and Boundaries of Oklahoma. Oklahoma City University History Thesis, Spring 2011. Accessed 6-20-2020 at: https://web.archive.org/web/20120325210103/http://nyu.academia.edu/RobertOxford/Papers/586151/Come_Prepared_Or_Not_At_All_The_Racial_Definitions_and_Boundaries_of_Oklahoma

Parrish, Mary E. Jones. Events of the Tulsa Disaster. Tulsa: Privately printed, 1922.

Satterlee, Allen. Sweeping Through the Land: A History of the Salvation Army in the Southern United States. Atlanta: Salvation Army, 1-1-1989 and 2-21-2018.

Slanchik, Amy. “Archaeologists Begin Searching Newblock Park for Possible Mass Graves.” Newson6.com, 10-15-2019. Accessed 6-22-2020 at: https://www.newson6.com/story/5e35ba7afcd8ef694720c7b9/archaeologists-begin-searching-newblock-park-for-possible-mass-graves

Smokes, Saundra (Syndicated Columnist). “American family often edits history.” Syracuse Herald American, NY. 10-3-1999, p. D2. Accessed 6-24-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/syracuse-herald-journal-oct-03-1999-p-48/

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Wallace, Ron, and Jay Jay Wilson. Black Wall Street: A Lost Dream. Tulsa: Black Wallstreet Publishing Co., 1992.

Wheeler, Ed. “The Disaster of the 1921 Race Riot.” Impact, June-July 1971, 13-30.