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ICYMI:
May 30: Dick Rowland gets onto an elevator & somehow comes into contact w/Sarah Page, the elevator operator. He likely tripped getting on. She cries out, catching the attention of a clerk, who calls the police. Dick flees. (Dick is black, Sarah & the clerk are white.)
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May 30: Dick Rowland gets onto an elevator & somehow comes into contact w/Sarah Page, the elevator operator. He likely tripped getting on. She cries out, catching the attention of a clerk, who calls the police. Dick flees. (Dick is black, Sarah & the clerk are white.)
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May 30 (cont'd): Varying accounts of the incident circulate through the town (Tulsa, OK), becoming increasingly sensationalized with each telling.
May 31 (morning): Rowland is arrested by the police.
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May 31 (morning): Rowland is arrested by the police.
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May 31 (afternoon): the Tulsa Tribune prints a front-page story, "Nab Negro for Attacking Girl In an Elevator," reporting that Rowland scratched Page and tore her clothes and will be charged with attempted assault (i.e., attempted rape).
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May 31 (4 p.m.): An anonymous caller tells the Police Commissioner, “We're going to lynch that negro, that black devil who assaulted that girl.” Rowland is moved from the city jail to the more secure county lockup at the courthouse and into the county sheriff's custody.
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May 31 (cont'd): A crowd of about 2,000 white people forms outside the courthouse. The sheriff receives multiple phone calls from concerned black citizens who report threats on Rowland's life. He assures them that everything is under control.
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May 31 (evening): Concerned that Rowland will be lynched by the mob, 25 black men, many of them WW I veterans, assemble at the offices of the black-owned newspaper, the Tulsa Star, arm themselves, and head to the courthouse. They keep vigil when they arrive.
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May 31 (10 p.m.): In front of the courthouse, a former county investigator confronts one of the armed black men. It results in a scuffle over his gun, which discharges. All hell breaks loose. The sheriff takes cover at a nearby hotel.
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May 31 (cont'd): A white mob, wh/includes police officers, breaks into a sporting goods store & loots it, taking guns, ammo, & everything in sight. Looting & random shooting continue throughout downtown Tulsa for 2 hours. The black men retreat to Greenwood, the black district.
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June 1 (dawn): A force of white citizens, police, & members of the national guard (some 1,500 strong) enter Greenwood from 2 directions under orders to quell "the Negro uprising" by taking unarmed black people into custody & subduing any who resist.
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June 1 (cont'd): The National Guard confronts an armed resistance at Mount Zion Baptist Church. When the men refuse to come out, the white men set the church on fire. Six aircraft are employed by the police. They drop bombs on Greenwood and its fleeing residents.
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June 1 (cont'd): As the entire black population of Greenwood is rounded up and taken to detention centers around Tulsa, white looters & vandals descend upon the district. Among them are police and citizens who were deputized by the National Guard the night before.
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June 1 (cont'd): White women w/shopping bags enter vacated homes, take clothing, silverware, & jewelry. Men carry out the furniture. Then they proceed to burn down 1,256 homes & the main business district (affectionately nicknamed "Black Wall Street" by its residents).
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June 1 (midday): Black residents are forced to march through white neighborhoods with their hands up while their homes & businesses burn in the distance. As they walk, they are harassed and robbed even of the small possessions they managed to stick in their pockets.
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June 1: An estimated 100-300 people are killed and 8,000 people are rendered homeless. Sarah Page flees Tulsa. Thousands of black detainees are transported to a single camp. Detainees are released only after a white person vouches for them, then they're given a card to wear.
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Aftermath: Page writes to the county attorney, asking that the charges against Rowland be dropped. The case is dismissed at the end of September.
These events took place in 1921.
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These events took place in 1921.
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Read more at https://www.tulsaworld.com/app/race-riot/timeline.html
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Lots of pictures in this one: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tulsa-race-riots_n_574fc3aae4b0ed593f134a92
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