The Mount Zion Baptist Church was rebuilt after the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Mount Zion Baptist Church is one of the most historic symbols of African- American history in the area. When the church was damaged during the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 it took a collaborative effort from the local community to rebuild and revitalize the church.
The Greenwood Cultural Center is open to the public. Entry is free, but donations are accepted. There are historic photos, newspaper clippings, and other artifacts from Greenwood before, during, and after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre throughout the building. They will often have a film playing and seating for a 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. The Greenwood Cultural Center is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.The Mabel B. Little Heritage House in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is part of the larger Greenwood Cultural Center complex. The home is a testament to the rich history of Tulsa’s African- American community and its powers of resilience. Originally built by the Sam and Lucy Mackey family of Tulsa, Greenwood designated the historic home as a museum to honor the legacy of African-American community leader and activist Mabel B. Little and the victims claimed by the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. The Mabel B. Little Heritage House Museum is next to the cultural center and shares the same address. It 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. The Mabel B. Little Heritage House days and hours are limited. Please call ahead for current open days.The Black Wall Street mural is across the parking lot from The Greenwood Cultural Center. On the property of the cultural center is the "1921 Black Wall Street Memorial" carved in beautiful Black stone memorial. It was erected 75 years after the massacre. There is also a slab that details the unpaid insurance claims and the people that requested them. There was only one claim that was paid - to a white store owner for stolen guns and ammunition.
O.W. Gurley was one of the participants in the "land rush" that allowed predominantly white Americans to acquire land in Oklahoma. Gurley decided to sell his land to other African Americans which led to the creation of an area of commercial development known as "Black Wall Street." The Greenwood community included the Black-owned businesses and Vernon AME Church, an institution that remains central to the Black community of Tulsa.
This historic Tulsa district housed many thriving African-American businesses during the early 20th century. Numerous Black doctors, lawyers, realtors, and business owners lived and worked in Greenwood. The area also produced two newspapers, the Oklahoma Sun and the Tulsa Star. Community residents shopped primarily within this neighborhood rather than spending their money elsewhere, in part to support their friends and neighbors, and in part due to restrictive segregation laws. The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot devastated Greenwood, but residents rebuilt in the aftermath and even established a number of new commercial enterprises. You can learn more from nearby Clio entries about the Tulsa Race Riot and about O.W. Gurley, the African-American entrepreneur who acquired the land that would become "Black Wall Street." Take time also to explore the wealth of primary sources linked below, including interviews with people who witnessed and survived the riot, legal suits filed on behalf of those who lost property, and hundreds of images.
On the morning of May 30th, 1921, a young Black man was accused of grabbing the arm of a white woman on the elevator of Tulsa's Drexel building. Local newspapers sensationalized the story, leading white residents to conclude that the man had attempted to assault the woman while she was trapped in the elevator. In response, local police detained the young man for questioning but later decided to keep him in jail in response to death threats from an increasingly agitated city during a summer characterized by racial violence against African Americans. Contrary to many Southern cities where mobs of angry whites stormed jails and lynched Black men, Tulsa's Black community contained many recent veterans who owned rifles. As threats against the young man escalated, Black veterans armed themselves to defend the man and their community. In response, white vigilantes gathered at the courthouse and demanded that the "suspect" be released to them. As armed Black men confronted the would-be lynch mob, shots fired from an unknown location led to a tense confrontation outside the courthouse. White residents returned to their communities and spread rumors about a supposed Black insurrection. In response, white vigilantes decided to "attack first." During the early morning hours of June 1st, 1921, Black residents awoke to the sound of gunfire as white vigilantes fired shots into their communities and set many of their homes aflame. Within hours, dozens of homes and churches had been destroyed. In the following hours and days, nearly the entire Black community had been destroyed. A total of thirty-five city blocks had been destroyed by gunfire and arson, and thousands of Black people were homeless. The police aided the rioters for the first day, and indiscriminately arrested hundreds of unarmed Black men. Meanwhile, armed Black veterans did their best to keep the vigilantes and rioters at bay, but during the fog of destruction, may have killed a few white protesters who were unarmed. At least 800 people were injured in the Tulsa Race Riot, while several whites and at least 36 and possibly as many as 300 African Americans were killed. An additional ten to twenty white residents also lost their lives in the riots. Historian Bill Tuttle at the University of Kansas studied the event and concluded that the Tulsa Race Riot should be understood not as an isolated event, but rather as part of a systematic effort on the part of whites to terrorize and force Black residents to leave the city. His report characterized the Tulsa Race Riot as ethic cleansing but was ignored by city officials. An article summarizing his views, the report of a special commission investigating the incident, and several scholarly papers and other sources are linked to this entry.
Dedicated on October 27, 2010, Reconciliation Park is the first landmark in Tulsa History to memorialize the victims of the 1921 Race Riot. The park is the result of the 2001 Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, which has been called one of the worst civic disturbances in American history. Beyond memorializing this tragedy, Reconciliation Park is dedicated to commemorating the role that African Americans have played in building Oklahoma throughout the state’s history.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This walking tour makes a small loop through Tulsa's historic Greenwood neighborhood with stops at several landmarks and historic sites. You'll learn about the emergence of this thriving community (home to over 100 black businesses), its devastation during the racially-motivated violence of 1921, and the struggle of its residents to rebuild.
