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In the 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Greenwood community and Tulsa as a whole have been through many changes. This exhibit examines the history of Greenwood both before and after 1921 and provides information and images of the Massacre.
Home to one of Lonely Planet’s “15 places in the US to mark Black History Month” and the first monument on National Geographic’s list of “monuments travelers should visit,” the Historic Greenwood District in Tulsa is one of the nation’s most prominent destinations for Black history and culture.
- A Culture of Silence
- Digging in
- Breaking Ground
- The Original 18
- DNA Insights and Limits
- Greenwood Rising
As the smoke cleared on June 1, 1921, Greenwood’s surviving Black residents were arrested and taken to internment sites. When they were released days later, many found themselves homeless and their neighborhood unrecognizable. No one was prosecuted for crimes committed during the massacre. Months later, Sarah Page told her lawyer she didn’t wish to...
By the spring of 2019, historians began sifting through tips and interviews with more than 300 people. Investigators winnowed down the information from witnesses to the most promising prospects for finding mass graves: Oaklawn Cemetery just east of downtown, Newblock Park and the Canes area just west of downtown along the Arkansas River, and Rollin...
In July 2020, after a slight delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team began test excavations at Oaklawn. A backhoe removed soil layer by layer, inches at a time, as archaeologists watched carefully for subtle changes in soil color and texture, and for any hint of a burial. Gravedigging involves removing soil to the depth of several feet, then r...
The team then tried to locate the burials that Clyde Eddy saw, with no luck. Finally, the investigators turned their attention to the area of the Black potter’s field and the two marked graves, a site they dubbed the Original 18, for those 18 Black men mentioned in the funeral home records. Based on newspaper accounts and funeral home records, the ...
Putting names to the deceased will be hard, and could take years. Because the death certificates of the Original 18 had scant details and listed most individuals as having died from gunshot wounds, no document has enough unique information to aid identification efforts. DNA would give the team its best chance at an ID, but after a century, any DNA ...
Reckoning with what happened in 1921 means looking at the victims as people, not just death statistics, Odewale says. “We need to talk about how they lived, not just how they died.” Odewale leads an effort to understand the aftermath of the massacre. The goal of this work, which is happening at the same time as the mass graves project, is to search...
May 27, 2021 · On the night of May 31, 1921, the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a thriving neighborhood of African American residences and businesses, was attacked and burned by an armed mob of white men. By the next morning, Greenwood lay in ruins and untold hundreds of African American Tulsans were dead. The people of Greenwood began rebuilding ...
This multimillion-dollar community landmark, constructed in the 1980s, serves as a direct link to the district's storied past and as a living memorial to the legacy of Tulsa's historic Greenwood District and its Black Wall Street.
Greenwood is a historic freedom colony in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As one of the most prominent concentrations of African-American businesses in the United States during the early 20th century, it was popularly known as America's "Black Wall Street".
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Discover the heart of Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District, where a rich tapestry of history, culture, and community comes alive. From the echoes of 'Black Wall Street' to today's vibrant streets, join us in celebrating a legacy of strength, unity, and a vision for a brighter future.
