DORA PRITCHETT WELLS
Owner of Wells Garment Factory and Wells Hair Manufacturing School; and Dedicated Community Activist, including leadership in the Tulsa chapter of the National Negro Business League
Dora Pritchett Wells was born in 1884 in Texas, likely in Houston. Though her parents’ names and birth locations remain shrouded in mystery, records reveal that her mother made a living as a hairdresser. Dora had at least one sister, Geneva, who stayed in Houston when she relocated to Oklahoma. The move likely occurred around 1910, as she accompanied her husband, John H. Wells, to pursue better opportunities. John was also from Texas—a town called Fulshear, which is only a few miles west of Houston.
Unsurprisingly, the couple looked forward to leaving Texas to start anew in Oklahoma. Like other Confederate states, Texas Democrats recognized the end of slavery by implementing discriminatory practices and laws that produced a life that many historians likened to neo-slavery.By comparison, Oklahoma continued to offer enticing opportunities for African Americans, especially as it pertained to land.
By 1912, the Wells family had settled in Tulsa and ran a successful tailoring business. This same year, Dora and her husband took out a chattel mortgage, a $48 loan ($1,280.72 in today’s money) for movable property to purchase two sewing machines.
The couple worked at 613 E Archer Street, where Dora owned Wells Garment Factory and managed the Wells Hair Manufacturing School, which taught skills in hairdressing, hair making, and using the latest in hair technologies. Clearly, she was following in the footsteps of her mother. While John H. was listed as the business owner during his lifetime, upon his passing, ownership was Dora assumed official ownership.
Her school continued to be well known in the community for being a reliable place to learn important skills, and the Garment Factory, which employed several women, maintained a strong reputation for tasteful work.
Though her businesses kept her very busy, Dora was extremely involved in the community. During her husband’s life, he was a deacon at the First Baptist Church North Tulsa thus continuing his family’s tendency to serve since his father had served as a minister in Texas. After John’s death, Dora continued to serve the community.
Her service led a contemporary to describe her as “loved by all, feared by none” and “all-around serviceable and resourceful. In 1916, she was the secretary and treasurer of the Burial Department in Tulsa of the Order of the Eastern Star, an organization for female relatives of Masons in the state of Oklahoma.
She was also a member of the Tulsa branch of the Daughters of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World, a sister organization to the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World (IBPOEW).
The IBPOEW is an African American fraternal organization that is modeled after the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. This originally all-white organization denied the founding members of the IBPOEW membership. The organization promoted unity among its community and the welfare of each of its members. Wells was an officer of the Court of Calanthe, a sister organization of the non-sectarian fraternal order Knights of Pythian. The Knights of Pythian is a fraternal organization and secret society that promotes the unity and welfare of its members.
In January 1921, Dora was elected to serve as the second vice president of the local Business League. The Tulsa chapter of the National Negro Business League was formed in 1920. The organization’s primary focus was to promote black business interests within their communities. Booker T. Washington, the founder, believed economic prosperity would bring about social and economic equality for African Americans. The organization was open to both men and women, which speaks to the respect Wells commanded within her community that she would be elected to such a high position within a co-ed organization.
According to details that Dora shared with Mary E. Jones Parish, who chronicled the Tulsa Race Massacre in the book Events of the Tulsa Disaster, was not a witness to the Massacre. Just before the dreadful and deadly event occurred, she left town on a trip. Unfortunately, when Dora returned to Greenwood on June 2nd, she found her livelihood in ruins as the Garment Factory and her home were destroyed in the fires
Dora lost 2,500 dollars, which is roughly equivalent to $32,697 today. Her neighbor, Mr. Williams, owner of the East End Garage, lost 8,500 dollars, while the Greenwood public library lost 750. While Wells’s losses weren’t the highest nor the lowest in the community, they were certainly devastating.
Like many Greenwood residents, Dora worked to put her life back together and to tend to the needs of her neighbors. She built up three small rooms and sheltered several people. In August 1922, Dora traveled to Boston to present the plight of the Greenwood community to the Elks Grand Lodge and Temple of IBPOEW in Boston. Her efforts generated funds and clothing, and she brought them back to Tulsa to provide for nearly 300 people. Parrish recognized this relief work, and said the following of Wells:Wells also continued to serve her community.
“Too much cannot be said of this noble woman and her great work during the great disaster of June 1st, 1921… no one receives more hospitality than those who visit Mrs. Wells. Her table is always ready to feed the hungry, her roof to shelter the homeless. Tulsa can well be proud of such a woman.”
Unfortunately, little information is available about Dora Wells after this date. Oklahoma death records place her passing sometime between 1962 and 1966.
Autumn Bean and Elizabeth Thomas
Take a short quiz on Wells’ life!
Bibliography:
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Joseph Bernardo, (2008), “National Negro Business League (1900 -), Black Past, https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/national-negro-business-league/ (accessed January 2021)
Mary E. Jones Parrish, Events of the Tulsa Disaster. [Tulsa, Oklahoma?]: [publisher not identified], 103, 114 and 119. For a digitized version, see:
Minneapolis Federal Inflation Rate Calculator, 1913-Present. https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator
Citation:
To cite this essay, using the following: Autumn Bean and Elizabeth Thomas, “Dora Wells” in Brandy Thomas Wells, Ed. Women of Black Wall Street, 2021, https://blackwallstreetwomen.com/dora-wells/. (Access date).
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