Greenwood Cultural Center

The Greenwood Cultural Center is located at 322 N Greenwood Avenue, and is comprised of the Center itself, the Mabel B. Little Heritage House, and a memorial for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. It also shares a space with the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Center and Park, and is right across the street from the Black Wall Street Mural.

The Greenwood Cultural Center has historic photos from Greenwood before, during, and after the 1921 race massacre throughout the building. They will often have a movie about the massacre playing and plenty of seating for you and your group to sit and watch. There are books and other items about Greenwood and the Tulsa Race Massacre available for purchase in the administration office. Entry is free, but donations are accepted. Greenwood Cultural Center is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Mabel B. Little Heritage House days and hours are limited. Please call ahead for current open days.

In their own words, the Greenwood Cultural Center 'stands as a monument to the scores of pioneers, trailblazers, entrepreneurs, professionals, politicos, and citizens who created a renowned and respected community despite formidable odds". This center serves to promote, preserve, and celebrate African American culture and heritage, and provide educational resources for those wishing to learn more about the history and story of Black Wall Street and the historic Greenwood District. The center holds pictorial exhibits with an array of historic images detailing the background of the Greenwood District itself, as well as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and often hosts events, art shows, and other projects that are open to the public.

The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation (and the Reconciliation Park) share a space with the lively Greenwood Cultural Center, and offer even more historic background and thought-provoking imagery for those wishing to explore the history of this historic district even deeper. Designated a Literary Landmark by the Literary landmarks Association in 2018, the park opened to the public in 2009, showcasing a 16-foot granite structure created by artist Ed Dwight, containing three large bronze sculptures representing actual pictures from the 1921 riot: Hostility, symbolized by a white man fully armed for assault​; Humiliation, showing a Black man with his hands raised in surrender; and Hope, an image of the white director of the Red Cross holding a Black baby. There is also a 25 ft. tall memorial tower depicting the history of the African American Struggle from Africa to America, portraying the migration of slaves with Native Americans on the Trail of Tears, the slave labor experience in the Territories, the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry that won the Battle of Honey Springs, the immigration of free Blacks into Oklahoma, and the thriving towns and cities like Greenwood that they then grew to encompass.

The Mabel B. Little Heritage House Museum is the only surviving home from the 1920's in the Greenwood area. It was built in 1925 by Sam and Lucy Mackey, survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Their original home was completely destroyed by fire during the massacre. It is a beautiful home that shows how many Black residents in the Greenwood area of Tulsa lived.

This complex of the Greenwood Cultural Center and the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Center and Park serves to provide a multitude of information and cultural and historic education to those wishing to know more about the Greenwood District and the events that took place here in 1921.

Greenwood Cultural Center. Accessed July 1st 2021. https://www.greenwoodculturalcenter.org/.

John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation. Accessed July 1st 2021. https://www.jhfcenter.org/reconciliation-park.

Accessed November 7th, 2022. https://www.greenwoodculturalcenter.org/.

Accessed November 7th, 2022. https://www.greenwoodculturalcenter.org/mabel-b-little-heriage-house.