Tulsa Massacre

People

Dick Rowland; Sarah Page

Outcome

unknown

The Tulsa Race Massacre of May 31 - June 1, 1921, was one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history, a coordinated military-style attack in which approximately 10,000 white Tulsans invaded and destroyed the Greenwood District—one of the wealthiest Black communities in the United States, known as "Black Wall Street." Over eighteen hours, white mobs systematically looted and burned more than 35 square blocks, destroying over 1,200 homes and businesses, killing between 100 and 300 Black residents, injuring approximately 700, and leaving about 10,000 homeless. The destruction included churches, hotels, hospitals, schools, a library, newspapers, and countless businesses. In what may have been the first aerial bombing of an American city, airplanes dropped incendiary devices—described by eyewitnesses as "turpentine balls"—onto Greenwood's rooftops. The Tulsa police deputized more than 500 white men in under 30 minutes, and both police and National Guard participated in the attack, disarming Black residents and detaining over 6,000 in internment camps. The violence was triggered by a false accusation: on May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old Black shoe shiner, was accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a 17-year-old white elevator operator, after he apparently stepped on her foot in an elevator. The *Tulsa Tribune* published an inflammatory article and allegedly an editorial titled "To Lynch Negro Tonight." All charges against Rowland were later dropped, and he left Tulsa never to return. The massacre was deliberately covered up for decades—records destroyed, the event omitted from history books—until a 1997 state commission investigated and recommended reparations that were never paid. The Greenwood District was established around 1906 by O.W. Gurley, a wealthy Black entrepreneur who purchased 40 acres of land to be sold "only to colored" people. By 1921, Greenwood was home to approximately 10,000 Black residents and was very likely the most prosperous Black community in the country. The oil boomtown of Tulsa was one of America's fastest-growing cities, and Greenwood's Black residents had created their own thriving economy: several grocery stores, two newspapers, two movie theaters, nightclubs, churches, doctors' offices, law firms, a hospital, hotels, real estate offices, and numerous other businesses. O.W. Gurley owned more than 100 properties with an estimated net worth between $500,000 and $1 million (approximately $7-14 million in 2018 dollars). J.B. Stradford, another key developer, owned the 65-room Stradford Hotel—the largest Black-owned, Black-operated, Black-guest-only hotel in America—along with two dozen rental properties worth nearly $2 million. On May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland entered an elevator at the Drexel Building in downtown Tulsa, operated by 17-year-old Sarah Page. The most common explanation is that Rowland accidentally stepped on Page's foot, causing her to scream. Rowland fled and was arrested the next morning. The *Tulsa Tribune* published a front-page story claiming Rowland had "attempted to rape" Page, and according to eyewitnesses, also published a now-lost editorial titled "To Lynch Negro Tonight." By 7:30 p.m. on May 31, hundreds of armed white men gathered at the Tulsa County Courthouse demanding Sheriff Willard McCullough surrender Rowland for lynching. The sheriff refused and barricaded the top floor. Around 9 p.m., approximately 25 armed Black men—including World War I veterans—arrived at the courthouse and offered to help protect Rowland. The sheriff declined their offer. A second group of roughly 75 armed Black men returned shortly after 10 p.m., facing approximately 1,500 white men. During the confrontation, a white man attempted to disarm a Black veteran, a shot was fired, and the violence began. The outnumbered Black men retreated toward Greenwood. Throughout the night, white mobs gathered along the fringes of Greenwood, and Tulsa police deputized former members of the lynch mob—more than 500 men in under 30 minutes. At dawn on June 1, 1921, a steam whistle sounded three times, signaling the coordinated assault. Thousands of white citizens poured into Greenwood in what the Justice Department later described as a "coordinated, military-style attack" that "transcended mere mob violence." The invaders systematically looted homes and businesses, then set them ablaze. When residents tried to flee burning buildings, they were shot. Firefighters who attempted to respond were threatened at gunpoint by white rioters, who also cut fire hoses. Multiple eyewitnesses reported airplanes flying low over Greenwood and dropping incendiary devices. Teacher Mary E. Jones Parrish documented "more than a dozen aeroplanes" dropping "turpentine balls upon the Negro residences." Attorney Buck Colbert Franklin recalled "something like hail falling upon the top of my office building" and noted "the sidewalks were literally covered with burning turpentine balls." The *Chicago Defender* reported that planes from a local aviation field "directed the movement of the oncoming army" and "dropped fire bombs of turpentine or other inflammable material." Court records indicate the St. Clair Oil Company furnished airplanes at the city's request. While some historians debate the extent of aerial involvement, multiple accounts confirm planes were used in the attack—potentially the first aerial bombing of an American city. The National Guard arrived around 9:15 a.m., by which time Greenwood was largely destroyed. Rather than stopping the violence, guardsmen assisted in detaining Black residents. Over 6,000 Black Tulsans were held in internment camps at Convention Hall and the Fairgrounds—some for as long as eight days. Black residents were disarmed while white attackers kept their weapons. At least one machine gun was used during the attack. The official death toll was 36 (26 Black, 10 white), but historians and the 2001 Oklahoma Commission estimated between 100 and 300 Black people were killed. The Justice Department concluded "there's really no way of knowing exactly how many people died" and that some may have been buried in unmarked mass graves. Over 800 people were treated for injuries. The property damage exceeded $1.5 million in real estate and $750,000 in personal property (approximately $40 million in 2024). The destruction included: 1,256 homes burned, 215 looted, four hotels, eight churches, two Black hospitals, two newspapers, a school, a library, seven grocery stores, two Masonic lodges, doctors' offices, drugstores, real estate offices, and countless other businesses. An all-white grand jury blamed Black Tulsans for the violence despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. O.W. Gurley was arrested for inciting the conflict but implicated other Black leaders—J.B. Stradford and newspaper editor A.J. Smitherman—to secure his release. Stradford and Smitherman were among 20 African Americans charged with "inciting the riot"; both fled Tulsa and never returned. Their charges were finally dismissed in 1996. No white person was ever sent to prison for the murders and arson. City officials obstructed reconstruction by imposing harsh new fire codes, and survivors spent the winter of 1921-22 living in tents. Gurley, who lost nearly $200,000, eventually moved to Los Angeles. Stradford died in Chicago in 1935, a disappointed man. He was the great-grandfather of John W. Rogers Jr., founder and CEO of Ariel Investments. The massacre was deliberately covered up for decades. The *Tulsa Tribune* removed its inciting front-page story from bound volumes. Police and state militia archives disappeared. The event was omitted from local, state, and national histories, and was not taught in Oklahoma schools until 2020. In 1997, the Oklahoma legislature authorized the Tulsa Race Riot Commission, which issued its report in 2001 recommending reparations for survivors and descendants. The commission was renamed the "1921 Race Massacre Commission" in 2018 to reflect that "massacre" better described what occurred. Searches for mass graves have been ongoing. Viola Fletcher, the oldest known survivor, died at 111 in November 2025 after testifying before Congress about watching her prosperous neighborhood destroyed "within a few hours." As of 2025, Lessie Randle remains the last known living survivor. No reparations have ever been paid.