The Tulsa Story

Written by Crystal Norbet

In 1921, fuelled by oil money, Tulsa was a growing, prosperous city with a population of more than 100,000 people. Tulsa was also a highly segregated city: Most of the city’s 10,000 Black residents lived in a neighbourhood called Greenwood, which included a thriving business district sometimes referred to as the Black Wall Street.

On May 30, 1921, a young Black teenager named Dick Rowland entered an elevator at the Drexel Building, an office building on South Main Street. At some point after that, the young white elevator operator, Sarah Page, screamed; Rowland fled the scene. The police were called, and the next morning they arrested Rowland.

By that time, rumours of what supposedly happened on that elevator had circulated through the city’s white community. A front-page story in the Tulsa Tribune that afternoon reported that police had arrested Rowland for a seriously crime against Page.  As a result  a riot led by white citizens broke out, leading to the destruction of the Greenwood district and the death of nearly 300 of its black residents, the Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics official death toll is 36 .  

In the hours after the Tulsa Race Massacre, all charges against Dick Rowland were dropped. The police concluded that Rowland had most likely stumbled into Page, or stepped on her foot. Kept safely under guard in the jail during the riot, he left Tulsa the next morning and reportedly never returned.

Tulsa’s Legacy (2018)

Written by a Tulsa native, this fictional narrative looks at the flourishing town and the surrounding world after the first World War. This notable business district breathes again in this tale of coming-of-age before and after the Tulsa Massacre of 1921.

Black Wall Street, (2007)

A before and after look at the once thriving town of Tulsa, we learn that it was a renowned entrepreneurial center. The devastation that the massacre caused did not erase the legacy or the willingness to re-build. This book discusses the after-math and subsequent attempts at resurgence.

Unspeakable, (2021)   

‘Unspeakable’, provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa's Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community.

Aamila's Adventure: Remembering the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre (2021)

This book is a great way to introduce young readers to the history of Tulsa, readers will follow Aamila on a summer road trip with her grandparents. The book covers the history in an accessible, child friendly way and will give insight into the town that once was called ‘Black Wall Street’.

The Nation Must Awake (2021)

Here, readers are provided with a collection of eyewitness testimonies, the first given by M. Parish.  We are transported back a hundred years ago to that very day via first-hand accounts.