But in the end, the city’s African-American population was simply outnumbered by the white invaders. Although city and county government bore much of the cost for Red Cross relief, neither contributed substantially to Greenwood’s rebuilding, in fact, municipal authorities acted initially to impede rebuilding.ĭespite being numerically at a disadvantage, black Tulsans fought valiantly to protect their homes, their businesses, and their community. As private citizens, many whites in Tulsa and neighboring communities did extend invaluable assistance to the massacre’s victims, and the relief efforts of the American Red Cross in particular provided a model of human behavior at its best.
Even after the restoration of order it was official policy to release a black detainee only upon the application of a white person, and then only if that white person agreed to accept responsibility for that detainee’s subsequent behavior. Not one of these criminal acts was then or ever has been prosecuted or punished by government at any level: municipal, county, state, or federal. Although the exact total can never be determined, credible evidence makes it probable that many people, likely numbering between 100-300, were killed during the massacre. Despite duties to preserve order and to protect property, no government at any level offered adequate resistance, if any at all, to what amounted to the destruction of the Greenwood neighborhood. People, some of them agents of government, also deliberately burned or otherwise destroyed homes credibly estimated to have numbered 1,256, along with virtually every other structure - including churches, schools, businesses, even a hospital and library - in the Greenwood district. Entering the Greenwood district, people stole, damaged, or destroyed personal property left behind in homes and businesses. They removed them to other parts of the city, and detained them in holding centers. Units of the Oklahoma National Guard participated in the mass arrests of all or nearly all of Greenwood’s residents. Public officials provided fire arms and ammunition to individuals, again all of them white. In that capacity, deputies did not stem the violence but added to it, often through overt acts that were themselves illegal. As hostile groups gathered and their confrontation worsened, municipal and county authorities failed to take actions to calm or contain the situation.Īt the eruption of violence, civil officials selected many men, all of them white and some of them participants in that violence, and made those men their agents as deputies. They had cause to believe that his personal safety, like the defense of themselves and their community, depended on them alone. His charges were later dismissed and highly suspect from the start. The following information comes from the 2001 Race Riot Commission Report:īlack Tulsans had every reason to believe that Dick Rowland would be lynched after his arrest. Jim Crow, jealousy, white supremacy, and land lust, all played roles in leading up to the destruction and loss of life on May 31 and June 1, 1921. Dick Rowland, Sarah Page and an unknown gunman were the sparks that ignited a long smoldering fire. In order to understand the Tulsa Race Massacre it is important to understand the complexities of the times. Historians now believe as many as 300 people may have died. In the wake of the violence, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruins, more than 800 people were treated for injuries and contemporary reports of deaths began at 36. Twenty-four hours after the violence erupted, it ceased. Over 6,000 people were held at the Convention Hall and the Fairgrounds, some for as long as eight days. Guardsmen assisted firemen in putting out fires, took African Americans out of the hands of vigilantes and imprisoned all black Tulsans not already interned.
Governor Robertson declared martial law, and National Guard troops arrived in Tulsa. In the early morning hours of June 1, 1921, Greenwood was looted and burned by white rioters. Shots were fired and the outnumbered African Americans began retreating to the Greenwood District. An inflammatory report in the May 31 edition of the Tulsa Tribune spurred a confrontation between black and white armed mobs around the courthouse where the sheriff and his men had barricaded the top floor to protect Rowland. Tulsa police arrested Rowland the following day and began an investigation. Accounts of an incident circulated among the city’s white community during the day and became more exaggerated with each telling.
The details of what followed vary from person to person. On the morning of May 30, 1921, a young black man named Dick Rowland was riding in the elevator in the Drexel Building at Third and Main with a white woman named Sarah Page.
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