Tulsa race riot

Events

Tulsa was the last of the terrible World War I–era riots that began in East Saint Louis, Illinois, continued in Chicago and many other cities in 1919.

1917

A series of events nearly destroyed the entire Greenwood area.

1921

A mob of people appeared at the Tulsa County Courthouse in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

May 31, 1921

The Tulsa Tribune publishes a front-page story about the incident with the headline “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl In an Elevator.

May 31, 1921

A force of citizens, police and National Guard members moves into Greenwood under orders to take into protective custody unarmed black residents and to subdue any who resist.

June 1, 1921

Grand jury places blame mainly on armed blacks at the courthouse, along with agitation for social equality and lax enforcement of segregation laws

June 1921

In the early morning hours of June 1, 1921, Black Tulsa was looted and burned by white rioters

June 1, 1921

The commission found two headstones with no names on them dated June 1, 1921 these graves belonged to the missing people of the tusla race riot

June 1, 1921

the Tulsa Race Riot Commission released a report indicating that historians now believe close to 300 people died in the riot.

2001

Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry’s Reparations Gift Fund disburses $28,000 — roughly $200 each — to 131 riot survivors.

2002