“…Tulsa was turned into a hotbed of destruction.”

Mary E. Jones Parish, Events of the Tulsa Disaster, p. 8.¹Mary E. Jones Parrish, Events of the Tulsa Disaster (Privately Published, 1923) , p. 8.

Historians don’t know exactly what happened in the elevator in the downtown Drexel building on May 31^st, 1921. They may never know. 

The historical narrative tells only that Sarah Page, the young White woman who was operating the elevator, let out a scream. There, in the car with her was Dick Rowland, a young Black man, who was a shoe shiner, who may have been there to deliver or pick up shoes.

It is likely that the Drexel elevator, known for begin notoriously difficult to operate, had violently and abruptly stalled. 

Perhaps this was the reason for Page’s scream. Or, as some sources reveal, she screamed when the sudden jolt caused Rowland to lose his balance and to step on Page’s foot. 

In Reconstructing the Dreamland, Alfred L. Brophy discusses the story as it was told in 1921. At this time, the story was much more violent as it alluded to the rape of Sarah Page.

History.com tells a much simpler story in which Sarah Page screamed, Dick Rowland fled, and “the riot” began.   

Whatever the case, the actions of Page led to a much bigger event than either of the young adults probably expected. 

Rowland ran off, fully aware of prevailing racial attitudes that White girls and women needed to be protected from supposedly brutish Black boys and men. 

Soon enough, White Tulsans assumed or were convinced of the worst, influenced by a sensational front-page story carried in the Tulsa Tribune  on June 1.

While it was not the lead story, it was soon the event that would set Tulsa ablaze. 

By now, Page’s story was fully-fledged one (though still quite shaky); she insisted that Rowland attempted to “assault” her. 

 Rowland was arrested and a White lynch mob that demanded immediate retribution and rather than await trial soon formed. (Newspaper clipping below)

While Rowland was held in the county courthouse, a crowd of White Tulsans gathered outside, demanding that Rowland be released to their custody so they could “administer justice.” 

When news of the growing mob reached Greenwood, a group of Black men– some lawfully-armed World War I veterans– dispatched to the courthouse to “protect him, win or die.”

This open challenge to White dominance enraged the mob and they demanded that the African Americans return to their homes. Upon their refusal, a scuffle broke out and a shot was fired. 

Chaos ensued. 

While many Black men returned to Greenwood, the chief of police deputized 500 White men, supposedly to restore peace. 

These men soon armed themselves by breaking into pawn shops, hardware stores, and sporting goods stores to steal guns and ammunition. 

They then invaded Greenwood. 

Rather than seek out the group of Black men who had been at the courthouse, the supposed reason for their deputization, this mob interrogated and attacked the residents of Greenwood.

Many historians believe that economic jealousy may have been a primary reason for the attack. While most Greenwood residents were not wealthy, the affluence of some was well known throughout the city. Many White Tulsans, including young men who worked as oilfield workers, abhorred rather than admired the economic successes of these families. 

Soon, members of the mobs broke into homes, ransacked them, and stole the property of their neighbors. The list of stolen property was long and includes “pianos, victrolas, clothing, chairs, musical instruments, [and] clothing of all kinds.” 

Fights between White and Black Tulsans broke out along the Frisco Tracks and moved deeper into Greenwood. 

The mob began to kill indiscriminately. 

Black Tulsans, regardless of age, profession, or gender were targeted solely by the color of their skin.

A “nationally renowned surgeon” by the name of Dr. Arthur C. Jackson was murdered by a White teenage boy as he fled his burning home.

Many Black Tulsans contend that the attack came both on the ground and from the air and included machine guns and planes.

As Parrish told it, the mob reduced “the accumulation of years of toils and sacrifice to piles of brick, ashes, and twisted iron” (p. 6). 

Greenwood residents watched in horror as “the accumulation of years of toils and sacrifice to piles of brick, ashes, and twisted iron”

mary Jones Elizabeth Parrish, Events of the Tulsa DISASTER, Page 6.

The night of the Massacre, women became the heart of their community once again.

As their brothers, fathers, and husbands went off to protect their homes, these women gathered their children and friends and anxiously watched the burning all around them.

As the burning and shooting unfolded and they began to understand they were not safe should they stay, these women gathered their courage and ran, some bringing themselves and their children to safety outside the city, though others were not so lucky.

Eventually, fleeing became their only hope for safety so they left Greenwood “amid showers of bullets.” 

While seeking safety, some families were separated or forced apart in the chaos. 

Some were able to take refuge in downtown churches or on farms where they were offered hospitality by locals. 

Most ended up at camps at the convention hall, fairgrounds, and the minor league ballpark. There, 6,000 Greenwood residents slept on cots—-when they finally arrived.  Immediately, men and women were put to work. They returned to their original employment, worked in the camp, or were paid nominally by the Red Cross to put out smoldering fires that had been set by White Tulsans. 

It wasn’t until the next morning that Greenwoods residents were able to return to to their community, brought back on trucks by the Red Cross. 

Then, they began to assess the damage.

Autumn Bean and Elizabeth Thomas

Bibliography

Mary E. Jones Parrish, Events of the Tulsa Disaster (1922/1923)

Alfred L. Brophy, Reconstructing the Dreamland: the Tulsa Riot of 1921: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation, (Cary: Oxford University Press 2003

Randy Krehbiel. Tulsa, 1921: Reporting a Massacre. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019.

“The Tulsa Race Massacre” Oklahoma Historical Society

Alfred L. Brophy, Reconstructing the DreamlandThe Tulsa Riot of 1921: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).

Hannibal B. Johnson, Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District (Fort Worth: Eakin Press, 2007).

Citation

The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles: Autumn Bean and Elizabeth Thomas, “The Day of the Massacre,” in Women of Black Wall Street, 2021, Brandy Thomas Wells, Ed., https://blackwallstreetwomen.com/background-essays/.

Use of images on the website must be attributed to the original site.