(L-R) Survivors Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher, and Hughes Van Ellis sing together at the conclusion of a rally during commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre in 2021. Brandon Bell/Getty Images hide caption
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Stories About
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
A mural marking Black Wall Street, also called the Greenwood District, in Tulsa, Okla. The Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921 devastated Black Wall Street and claimed some 300 African American lives. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption
A dozen Black men were convicted of murder by all-white juries in connection with the 1919 massacre in Elaine, Ark. Above, defendants S.A. Jones, Ed Hicks, Frank Hicks, Frank Moore, J.C. Knox, Ed Coleman and Paul Hall with their attorney at the state penitentiary in Little Rock in 1925 after the Supreme Court overturned their convictions. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Library System hide caption
Scientists at the site in Tulsa, Okla., will begin excavating by hand, using finer grain tools to clean up the coffins. That will help researchers analyze the construction style and hardware of the caskets in order to determine when they were interred. City of Tulsa hide caption
Members of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina carry soil collected in honor of Joshua Halsey to his gravesite at the Pine Forest Cemetery in Wilmington, N.C., on Nov. 6. Great-granddaughters of Halsey attended the service, where the Rev. William Barber II eulogized Halsey. Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images hide caption
Tom Hanks recently wrote an essay in The New York Times urging more widespread teaching of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The Oscar winner has built a career on movies about American white men "doing the right thing." Steve Granitz/WireImage hide caption
The owner of Black Wall Street Gallery in New York City said the building's facade has been vandalized. Black Wall Street Gallery hide caption
Artist Paul Rucker is creating a new multimedia work to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. That's when a thriving African American community was destroyed in a horrific act of violence that wiped out hundreds of Black-owned businesses and homes. Above, an aerial view of Tulsa, Okla., Fowler & Kelly, 1918. GHI/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption
Artist's Black Wall Street Project Is About Tulsa 100 Years Ago — And Today
Buildings were destroyed in a massive fire during the Tulsa Race Massacre when a white mob attacked the Greenwood neighborhood, a prosperous Black community in Tulsa, Okla., in 1921. Eyewitnesses recalled the specter of men carrying torches through the streets to set fire to homes and businesses. Library of Congress hide caption
A Century After The Race Massacre, Tulsa Confronts Its Bloody Past
In 1921, smoke billows over Tulsa, Okla., the scene of one of the nation's most brutal race massacres. Alvin C. Krupnick Co./Library of Congress Via AP hide caption
A second excavation is planned in Tulsa, Okla., this week to unearth potential unmarked mass graves from a race massacre in 1921. In July, researchers began excavation at Oaklawn Cemetery, shown here. They found no evidence of human remains at that particular excavation site. Sue Ogrocki/AP hide caption
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, here during a news conference in June, said he won't comment on the pending litigation, according to his office. Christopher Creese/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
The city of Tulsa, Okla., has begun a test excavation to determine if land on city-owned property is the site of a mass grave from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. 1921 Graves/City of Tulsa hide caption
Black smoke billows from fires in the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Okla., during the 1921 Race Massacre. Corbis via Getty Images hide caption