A placeholder image is displayed as no photograph of this woman has been found to accompany her biography.

GROCERY STORE CO-OWNER & HAIR PRODUCTS EXTRAORDINAIRE

Elnora Bonner Ashford was born in 1883 in Arkansas to a father who was originally from Mississippi and a mother who had been born in Tennessee Little is known about Elnora’s life before she moved to Tulsa around 1910. From the 1930 census, we know that though she told the census taker that she did not attend school, she was able to read and write.

On June 24, 1911, at the age of 26, Elnora married John Wesley Ashford, a man seven years older, a native of South Carolina, and popularly known as JW. Early on, the couple lived at 119 N Greenwood and made their living as a cook/domestic and a mover, respectively.

The Ashfords obviously worked hard to save money since by 1915, they owned land⎯Lot 3 of Bock 18, which included the addresses 319 and 321 N Greenwood. There, they operated a store carrying eggs, flour, butter, meal, and fresh, cured, and barbecued meats. The couple advertised their new venture in the Tulsa Star for the first year. By year two, they no longer did so, which may suggest that the grocers were doing well.

Soon enough, the Ashfords expanded and began to sell hair products, in keeping with Elnora’s notoriety as “an Artist and an authority in the Science of Hair Culture and Hair Grower.” The Ashfords’ success continued—-a testament to their hard work and entrepreneurial spirit.

In 1920, they moved to 1045 N. Lansing Ave and converted their old home into a boarding house. They also closed their store and began leasing the space to the Newman and Howard restaurant proprietors. When Enora’s husband organized a new Baptist congregation in 1918, Ashford became a busy minister’s wife and a popular wedding planner. Her husband appears to have been a popular preacher since local records reveal he simultaneously ministered at a church in Cowetta, 25 miles southeast of Tulsa.

The Ashfords’ whereabouts during the Tulsa Race Massacre are unknown. Because their home in the Skidmore Addition fell outside the area of violence and destruction, this property was not razed in the explosive events. Even so, their commercial and residential leasing properties on Greenwood Avenue did not escape destruction.

Hoping to recoup their losses in the aftermath, the Ashfords made a claim for $7,690.00 (equivalent to nearly $113,000 today).Their suit was by no means the largest made as other Greenwood business owners claimed losses of $125,000 more than two million today, yet their petition, like most, was denied, reflecting the systemic challenges faced by the Greenwood community in the wake of the Massacre.

In 1922, Elnora and her husband sold their lot on North Greenwood to JD Mann for $1,500 ($23,000 today).The 1930 census listed Elnora as unemployed. The 1933 Tulsa directory recorded her occupation as maid. JW’s 1942 registration for World War II revealed that he was a paper hanger and decorator in addition to being a minister. He passed away on March 9, 1948.

Some ten years after her husband’s death, Elnora’s name appeared in the Tulsa Daily Legal News’list of dormant cases in the case of “Ashford v Equitable Life Insurance,”showing that she experienced great difficulty receiving the payout from his life insurance plan. On Tuesday, November 19, 1957, Elenora was appointed a guardian (the record does not say who exactly this guardian was) due to her failing health.

She passed away the following year, on April 2, 1958, at the age of 75. Her death was noted by name only in the Oklahoma Eagle. The Ashfords’ diminished legacy after the Tulsa Race Massacre represents the reality of some of the district’s business owners, who were never able to recover from this tragedy fully. Yet, Elnora’s resilience in the face of continued calamities is a testament to her strength and determination.

Elizabeth Thomas

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Bibliography:

US Federal Census, 1920 [Tulsa, Oklahoma], accessed via Ancestry.com.

US Federal Census, 1930 [Tulsa, Oklahoma], accessed viaAncestry.com.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1912 City Directory, accessed via Ancestry.com.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1930 City Directory, accessed via Ancestry.com.

Oklahoma, US, County Marriage Records, 1890-1995, accessed via Ancestry.com.

“Chattel Mortgages,”Tulsa DailyLegal News30 September 1916.

“Mrs. Ashford’s Method of Hair Growing,”Tulsa Star, 27 June1916.

“What’s Doing in Town?,”Tulsa Star, 18 May 1918.

“New Baptist Church Organized,”Tulsa Star16 March 1918.

“Young McGregor Finds a Wife,”Tulsa Star, 28 February 1920.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1933 City Directory, accessed via Ancestry.com.

US, World War II Draft Registration Cards, accessed via Ancestry.com.

Mary E. Jones Parrish,Events of the Tulsa Disaster. [Tulsa, Oklahoma?]: [publisher notidentified],98-106. For a digitized version, see:https://lib.utulsa.edu/speccoll/collections/F704T92P37%201922_Events/Events1.pdf

“Pre-Trial Docket: Dormant Cases,”Tulsa Daily Legal News, 3 September 1957.

“County Court Filings,”Tulsa Daily Legal News, 14 November 1957.

“Requiescat in Pace,”Oklahoma Eagle,April 10, 1958.

Citation:

To cite the essay, use the following: Elizabeth Thomas, “Elnora Ashford” in Brandy Thomas Wells, Ed. Women of Black Wall Street, 2021, https://blackwallstreetwomen.com/elnora-ashford/ (Access date).

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