Convention Hall (now the Tulsa Theater)

Following the widespread violence against Black residents and the devastation of the Greenwood business district in Tulsa on May 31 to June 1, 1921, the Oklahoma National Guard was deployed and martial law was declared until June 3. Over 6,000 Black residents were arrested and detained in places of internment including the Convention Hall.

Beginning on June 1, 1921, the Oklahoma National Guard and white vigilante citizens arrested and detained over 6,000 Black residents in the Convention Hall, the Tulsa County Fairgrounds, and the baseball stadium McNulty Park. Although the violence during the Tulsa Race Massacre was primarily directed against Black Tulsans, the same population was targeted for arrest. When Oklahoma governor James B.A. Robertson later called for an inquiry into the massacre, it was primarily Black men who were indicted.

White men with guns forced Black men into the Convention Hall, their hands raised in surrender. The National Guard led Black citizens to McNulty Park, allegedly for protection, but in reality to control their movements. During the period of martial law from June 1 to June 3, Black residents who were detained were only released if a white citizen vouched for them. Some were held for up to eight days.

In an oral history preserved by the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum, William Danforth Williams recalls being separated from his mother and father and detained at the Convention Hall as a teenager in the days following the massacre:

“But I do know that they caught me about a block away, about four blocks away from home, lined me up, took me down to the Convention Hall, down to the municipal theater. They never did catch my dad. He got out as far as Pine Street and one of his business associates, white, picked him up, took him home to his house. That afternoon, the operator of the theater came down to the Convention Hall where they had me and bailed me out but I didn't know where my mama was till the next morning, I ran into her downtown.” 

Newspapers such as the Tulsa World reported that Black residents were grateful for the shelter and protection. But it was clear that fear of another uprising also motivated the arrests. One June 2 article noted “frequent reports and rumors that negroes are preparing for revenge.” The National Guard did not want Black residents to be able to organize in retaliation.

Meanwhile, the looting of Greenwood businesses and homes continued, ensuring the destruction of Black Wall Street. Nearly 1,000 Black residents lost their homes, and had to live in tents provided by the Red Cross for over a year.

Guide to 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Oral History Collection. (2004-2007). National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/sova_nmaahc.a2014.240

Interview with W.D. Williams [Oral history]. (n.d.). Tulsa Historical Society and Museum. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnJsT9mmAzM 

The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.), (1921, June 2). Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042345/1921-06-02/ed-1/seq-1/ 

National Guards - Taking Negros to Ball Park for Protection [Photograph]. (1921). Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2011.175.8 

Photograph of African Americans being detained during the Tulsa Race Massacre [Photograph]. (1921). Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Cassandra P. Johnson Smith. https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2019.95.4 

Whitney, W. (2021, May 26). How to research the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Library of Congress Blog. https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2021/05/how-to-research-the-1921-tulsa-race-massacre/