Episode 22: Black Wall Street was Obliterated During 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Historium Unearthia: Unearthing History's Lost and Untold Stories

In 1921, a white mob entered an affluent district known as Black Wall Street. They opened fire into crowds of innocent people, burned homes and businesses to the ground, and forced countless others to flee. For decades, the attack was hidden from textbooks and even oral histories. Have you ever heard of the Tulsa Race Massacre? DOWNLOAD NOW Credit: For this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Hannibal Johnson, an author, attorney, consultant, and college professor who writes and lectures about the history of the Greenwood District. His books include: Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District and Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District. I also spoke with Michelle Place, the Executive Director of the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum. She served on the Race Riot Commission, which was organized to review the details of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Sources: Images of America: Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District; Johnson, Hannibal B.; Arcadia Publishing; January 27, 2014. Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District; Johnson, Hannibal B.; Eakin Press; September 1, 1998. Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921; Ellsworth, Dr. Scott and Franklin, John Hope; Louisiana State University Press; January 1, 1992. Reconstructing the Dreamland: The Tulsa Riot of 1921; Brophy, Alfred; Oxford University Press; February 14, 2003. Riot and Remembrance: The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy; Hirsch, James S.; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; May 13, 2013. Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921; February 28, 2001. My Life and An Era: The Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin; Franklin, Buck Colbert; LSU Press; October 1, 1997. 1921 Tulsa Race Riot; Tulsa Historical Society and Museum; Retrieved August 2018. Tulsa Race Riot; Greenwood Cultural Center; Retrieved September 2018. The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921; Carlson, I. Marc; Retrieved September 2018. Tulsa Race Riot Overview; Oklahoma State University Library; Accessed September 2018. Tulsa Race Riot; Oklahoma Historical Society; Retrieved September 2018. Meet The Last Surviving Witness To The Tulsa Race Riot Of 1921; Gilles, Nellie; NPR; May 31, 2018. Hal Singer Short Doc; Sutherland Media; Vimeo; Accessed September 2018.