Government Information: Library of Congress

The Tulsa Race Massacre: 100th Years After

Mary 31 and June 1 marked the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, in which a white mob invaded and burned to ashes the thriving African American district within Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as Greenwood, so prosperous at the time to have been called "the Black Wall Street."

It was, then and now, among the bloodiest outbreaks of racist violence in U.S. history. The official tally of the dead has varied from 36 to nearly 300. White fatalities are documented at 13. Some 35 square blocks of Black-owned homes, businesses, and churches were torched; thousands of Black Tulsans were left homeless – and yet no local, state or federal agency ever pursued prosecutions. The event was so quickly dismissed by local officials that today, a century later, several local organizations are still investigating reports of mass graves.

The Library has assembled these resources to help you conduct your own research about the Tulsa Race Massacre with Library collections:

• Racial Massacres and the Red Summer of 1919
• Tulsa Race Massacre: Topics in Chronicling America

Also, several Library of Congress blogs guide you through different aspects of this staggering tragedy:

• How to Research the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
• Tulsa Race Massacre: Newspaper Complicity and Coverage
• For Teachers: Exploring the Impact of the Tulsa Race Massacre
• The Tulsa Race Massacre: Relief and the Role of the American Red Cross

Caribbean-American Heritage Month Posts from Across the Library's Blogs

• A Sampler of Caribbean-American Recordings
• Caribbean-American Heritage Month and Caribbean Law
• Puertorriqueños de Estados Unidos: Identity, Arts, and Culture