Trying to recover
Many of the detainees were allowed to remain at the fairgrounds’ location even after they had been released, having nowhere else to go. They were housed in tents provided by the Red Cross and after their release was required to pay for their food, also provided by the Red Cross. They could do so with money or through work and were paid standard wages for laborers of the day, from funds donated to the Red Cross and other sources. This led to complaints from within some of the white community that they were being coddled at taxpayers’ expense.
One of the jobs at which they could work was the removal of the ruins of Greenwood. Although Greenwood attempted to rebuild it faced legal challenges from the changed fire ordinances, the loss of several community leaders, and shortages of money. Most insurance companies refused to pay since the cause of the losses was a riot. The Mount Zion Baptist Church was rebuilt slowly. Many black residents of the former community left and never returned.
Officially 37 death certificates were issued for deaths which occurred because of the riot, although the death toll was possibly much higher. Efforts to locate evidence of mass graves such as those reported by the Red Cross being dug the day following the riot have been unsuccessful. The many different numbers of dead and injured reported are ascribed to a number of possibilities, including simply exaggeration. The truth is nobody really knows.
John Stradford, who owned the Stradford Hotel in Greenwood and was likely the area’s wealthiest resident and businessman, was one of the persons indicted for inciting the riot by the Grand Jury, having allegedly threatened to bring in support for the blacks of Greenwood from Muskogee by train. He left Tulsa and never returned, the hotel was destroyed in the riot. From Chicago, he successfully fought extradition back to Tulsa. In 1996 he was cleared of the charges.
Greenwood struggled on for a time, but during the Great Depression, it became a high crime area, with vice rampant. The bulk of the area was replaced with a highway in the 1970s. The Greenwood Historic District today comprises a small portion of what was once known as both Little Africa and the Black Wall Street.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Race Riot Timeline”, The Tulsa World
“Final Report”, Oklahoma Commission to Study the Race Riots of 1921
“The Eruption of Tulsa”, by Walter White. The Nation (June 15, 1921)
“As survivors dwindle, Tulsa confronts past”, by A.G. Sulzberger. The New York Times (June 19, 2011)
“Race Riot Survivors Bill Fails to Advance”, by Jim Myers. Tulsa World (April 2, 2009)
“How the Tulsa Race Massacre Was Covered Up”. ALEXIS CLARK. History. JAN 27, 2021
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