During the 1830s, when White farmers craved cotton lands, they pressured the U.S. government to remove Native American nations from the American South. The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole had lived upon this land for many years with their own traditions. As they journeyed on the Trail of Tears, thousands of Afro-Native and enslaved Black persons did also.
After the Civil War, the federal government mandated that these nations grant freedmen land allotments. All-Black towns grew in Indian Territory as Black and mixed-race people settled together for economic security and mutual protection.
In the Land Run of 1889, White and Black Americans alike descended upon “Unassigned Lands” to stake out homesteads. The area became Oklahoma Territory.
Many of the White settlers were impoverished farmers, but others were professional men and politicians looking to strike it rich or make a name for themselves.
Among African Americans who participated in the Land Run were Ottawa W. (O.W.) Gurley and Emma Gurley, a newly-wed, wealthy couple from Arkansas.
Most Black Americans, weren’t wealthy though and they were largely in search of peace, freedom, and safety.
Instead of experiencing equality and rights of citizenship throughout the South, freedmen faced mounting restrictions, discrimination, and despair. White southerners looked to create a system as close to slavery as they could get. Incidents of racial violence including lynchings increased tremendously. While some Black Americans set out for Kansas, others made their way to Oklahoma Territory.
The Black population grew as boosters described the area as a land of opportunity and freedom
Along with this growth came the call for an All-Black state, Oklalusa. Edward P. McCabe, the founder of Langston, Oklahoma and Black men in other states raised funds, generated public interests, and appealed to the federal government for a separate land to guarantee Black Americans’ economic and social security and safety.
In 1905, Native Americans approached the federal government about creating Sequoyah, a state that would be governed by Native peoples.
None of these groups stood a chance. In 1906, the federal government responded favorably to the calls of White Americans, who were already encroaching upon Native Land. In 1907, Oklahoma was born.
While unsuccessful in this venture, the work of McCabe and other boosters did, lead to more All-Black towns. Between 1865 and 1920, Black Americans created more than 50 all-Black towns and settlements throughout the Indian Territory.
In these spaces, Black women asserted their abilities to weld a network of relationships which commanded respect, improved their circumstances, and increased their opportunities.
Today 13 of these towns, are still in existence.
Piper Reese and Elizabeth Thomas
Bibliography:
Tara Aveilhe, “Oklahoma: Home to More Historically All-Black Towns than Any Other U.S. State.” Oklahoma Center for the Humanities. The University of Tulsa, March 16, 2018. https://humanities.utulsa.edu/oklahoma-home-historically-black-towns-u-s-state/Jimmie
Larry Hill, Antoine Gara, Janice Gerda, and Karen Sapp. “Ottowa W. Gurley: The Visionary” in Black Wallstreet, n.d. http://blackwallstreet.org/owgurley
Franklin Lewis, “African Americans,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=AF003.
Stan Hoig, “Land Run of 1889,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=LA014
Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa 1921: Reporting a Massacre (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019).
“The Tulsa Race Massacre,” The Tulsa Race Massacre Oklahoma Historical Society. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TU013
Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. 2001. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TU013
Citation:
To cite this essay, use the following citation: Piper Reese and Elizabeth Thomas, “Black in Oklahoma,” in Women of Black Wall Street, 2021, Brandy Thomas Wells, Ed. https://blackwallstreetwomen.com/?page_id=1173.
Images on the website must be attributed to the original site.
To cite this essay, use the following citation: Piper Reese and Elizabeth Thomas, “Black in Oklahoma,” in Women of Black Wall Street, 2021, Brandy Thomas Wells, Ed. https://blackwallstreetwomen.com/?page_id=1173.
Images on the website must be attributed to the original site.