The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921

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This epic road trip was not only a chance explore the great and glorious National Parks of the West, but also a chance to travel through small towns and visit small museums in America's "flyover" country, as it's often referred to. So, when I looked at the map to plan the return trip home from southern Colorado, I saw an easy return route through Oklahoma and an opportunity to stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which I had never visited. I knew that the Bob Dylan Center was located in Tulsa, and, although it was not yet open to the public, it was a draw for me nonetheless. I was also aware that May 31, 2021, was the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre (during which the Blacks working and living in the Greenwood District of Tulsa were brutally attacked and murdered, with their homes and businesses burned to the ground, and the Greenwood District was essentially obliterated from the map of Tulsa). I knew I could experience a bit of horrific but necessary history with an extended stop in Tulsa, so I set aside a few hours to visit Tulsa and its sights.

After visiting the Woody Guthrie Center, I took a walking tour of the Tulsa Arts District and wandered over to what was left of the Greenwood District. All that remained was a block-long street of stores on Greenwood Avenue (known in 1921 as "Black Wall Street") with small historic markers embedded in the sidewalk indicating what had been there in 1921. Nearby is the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park and the Greenwood Cultural Center. I had recently read The Burning: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, an excellent book detailing the full story of the race massacre, so I was very familiar with the event and its background.

Alas, the new museum Greenwood Rising History Center, which is dedicated to telling the entire history of the 1921 race massacre, was not yet open to the public (it opens officially on August 4, 2021) so all I could glimpse was the new museum building behind a construction fence. Next year, when I visit the Bob Dylan Center, I will be able to also visit Greenwood Rising.

A mural near Greenwood Avenue
Unfinished Greenwood Rising building behind construction fence




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