Newly Digitized! 1921 Book Documenting Events of the Tulsa Disaster, with First-Hand Accounts and Photographs From Over 100 Years Ago

May 31 of last year marked the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre; in which racially-motivated mob violence decimated the successful Black business district and residential neighborhood of Greenwood after an elevator interaction between a young Black man and a white woman. Today, as we reflect on that anniversary, we can derive hope from recent news of reparative donation being gifted to the three last known living survivors of that tragedy: 108-year-old Viola Ford Fletcher, 107-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle, and 101-year-old Hughes Van Ellis.

In a continued effort to highlight and preserve the historical significance of Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood, the Schomburg Center is pleased to share digital access to an invaluable resource in our Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division entitled Events of the Tulsa Disaster and written by Mary E. Jones Parrish at the time of the attack in 1921. Parrish was a typewriting instructor and journalist who chronicled the events of the Tulsa disaster in great detail; compiling first-hand accounts from victims, and documenting the community's losses. 

The book opens with a poignant fold-out leaflet featuring a panoramic view of the neighborhood’s desecration. It captures what little structures were left across several city blocks—burned out brick remnants of the once prosperous community.

It goes on to share the stories from local residents who helplessly bore witness to the destruction of their property and distressing street scenes as they made their way to safety. On page 49, a resident identified by the initials A.H. noted that "Tulsa, to which many Negroes had accumulated much wealth and fine homes; Greenwood Street, the Negroes’ ‘Broadway’ of Tulsa, and one of the best Negroe business streets in the whole U.S.A, now lies a heap of ashes."

On page 42, C. L. Netherland shared about the damages to his home and once successful barbershop business, "From a 10-room and basement modern brick home, I am now living in what was my coal barn. From a 5-chair white enamel barbershop, 4 baths, electric clippers…a porter and an income of over $500 or $600 per month, to a razor, strop and folding chair on the sidewalk."

With real-time photographs included throughout, Parrish goes on to document local businesses and institutions that were both greatly affected by the attack, as well as those who were highly regarded for their valiant efforts to assist others in need. Of these, the American Red Cross was praised for providing medical aid and supplies to the wounded, and a local law firm was noted for setting up temporary headquarters to help residents file insurance claims against the city.

The book concludes with advertisements for local businesses still in operation and, perhaps one of the most significant aspects, a lengthy, street-by-street list of property damages that extends for several pages.

Regarding her intent for documenting these tragic events, Mary E. Jones Parrish writes, "it is my sincere hope and desire that it will serve the purpose of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ that is, that it will serve to open the eyes of the thinking people of America to the impending danger of letting such conditions exist and remain within the ‘land of the Free and Home of the Brave,’ and to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Tulsa Disaster and massacre.”

To view this entire book, visit the item page in our Digital Collections.