Transformative Travel in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Story by Renée S. Gordon

 

Archaeological evidence exists attesting to the fact that Native Americans inhabited the Oklahoma region as early as 500 AD. The state’s documented history begins with the Spanish explorations of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in 1541, followed in 1682 by Robert de la Salle who claimed the land for France.

In 1803 Oklahoma was sold to the US in the Louisiana Purchase and became part of the Arkansas Territory in 1819. On November 16, 1907 Oklahoma achieved statehood. The state’s story is a microcosm of several pivotal aspects of untold American history and proof that the truth is timeless.



Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830 and from 1830-42 125,000 people, from five tribes, walked the Trail of Tears from the South and Southeast United States to Indian Territory. The Cherokee fought the act up to the Supreme Court, where they won, but Jackson defied the ruling. The 1,200-mile forced government migration allowed them to take only what they could carry and it is estimated that as many as 15,000 people died on the walk. The "Five Civilized Tribes" consisted of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole, many holding slaves in bondage even after they reached Indian Territory. Many fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War.

 



Arriving in Tulsa they named it 'Tallasi', Creek for 'old town'. The Creek Locapoga clan founded the first settlement in Tulsa. Creek Nation Council Park indicates the site of their new home. They placed ashes and coal from the fires of their old home at the roots of a large tree, the Council Oak in 1836. The park is designated on the National Register of Historic Places.







Originally Tulsa was a cattle town with stockyards and shipping facilities. Oil was discovered in 1901 and the city boomed. Route 66, the first all-weather road, made the country accessible from Chicago to Los Angeles in the 1930s. Known as “The Mother Road,” it runs from east to west through Tulsa. The 76-ft. Golden Driller, the city’s iconic symbol is on view at Expo Square. Weighing 43,500-lbs, it is stands near Route 66. Arches at both ends mark the entrance and exit and there are a number of markers and photo ops along the way.







Tally’s Good Food Café is an absolute must with a menu consisting of more than 100 offerings and a décor that is quintessential Route 66 chic. It has been the place to dine since November 1987.





Several thousand African Americans, enslaved by the tribes, traveled the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma and in 1866 government treaties freed them and enumerated their rights. Many of them, along with black settlers, established 50 African American towns between 1865 and 1920. Only six of these towns remain. Those who lived in larger cities created self-sustaining black neighborhoods as a response to Jim Crow. Arguably the most successful of these black districts was Greenwood, “The Black Wall Street”, in Tulsa.



Greenwood was destroyed in what was originally known as the Tulsa Race Riot because insurance companies did not have to honor claims resulting from riots. In 2018 it was designated the Tulsa Race Massacre. The event effectively caused the residents to lose everything they owned and the ability to create generational wealth, with no recourse for recovery. It is believed 300 people died, 800 were wounded and $27-million worth of property, approximately 35 blocks, was destroyed.



Much of the story has been shrouded in mystery but we do know that on May 30, 1921 an African American worker, Dick Rowland, needed to use the bathroom in the Drexel Building on Main Street. An incident between 19-year old Rowland and Sarah Page, a 17-year old, white elevator operator took place. She screamed and he ran. The Tulsa Tribune headline, “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in Elevator”, fanned the flame. By that evening there were calls for lynching the rapist and the sheriff found it necessary to barricade Rowland, the deputies, and himself inside the County Courthouse jail. A crowd gathered and white men began looting resulting in the selection of 500 civilian deputies after the Police Chief requested additional arms from the National Guard Armory and was denied. Early the next morning a request was made of the governor for the deployment of the National Guard and martial law was declared. Black WWI and other black male residents offered to protect Rowland but were denied by the Police Chief. In the ensuing confusion a white man attempted to disarm a black man and the gun went off. That incident, along with numerous rumors of hundreds of blacks on their way to invade Tulsa, was enough reason for whites to march on Greenwood to loot and destroy. Six JN-4 biplanes took to the skies and bombed the community.









On June 1, 1921 approximately 600 black residents were taken, arms raised, to three internment camps. Blacks whites vouched for were released; others were put to work, for wages, clearing the rubble of Greenwood. Martial law ended on June 3rd, blame for the “riot” was placed squarely on the armed black citizens and the Police Chief was fired for failure to perform his duty. The Red Cross set up a service tent to aid in their first non-natural disaster.



Brochures are available for a self-guided tour of the Historic Greenwood District and related sites. The tour includes 16 stops that present a complete picture of the massacre through locations, art, photographs and interpretive markers. The 100 N. block of Greenwood Avenue is the only remaining intact block. Showcased on the street is a building with a façade made of burnt bricks collected from the massacre and the nearby art deco Oneok Stadium provides a view of the entire area from the upper tier. The block is on the National Register of Historic Places.











Greenwood Cultural Center, two blocks away, exhibits memorabilia and photographs from the community, a large mural in the parking lot and the 1996 monument dedicated to Black Wall Street. The complex also includes the Mable B. Little Heritage Museum House, the sole original home standing from the 1920s massacre. A poignant mural and the Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church are across the street. The original church was constructed in 1905 and burned down to the basement during the massacre.



Mount Zion Baptist Church was founded in 1909 and was completed in May of 1921. Two months later it was destroyed after armed black men inside refused to submit to the National Guard, police, and the citizenry. During the massacre white people went to the top of Standpipe and Sunset Hill and fired on the Greenwood residents below. The resulting killings are memorialized with a marker at the base of Standpipe Hill.



Attorney Buck Colbert Franklin was interned for a few days after the massacre. Upon his release he operated from a tent as the lawyer for the victims. When a newly passed fire law prevented the Greenwood citizens from rebuilding he filed a claim against the city and the mayor. He took the case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, eventually winning, opening a path for Greenwood’s reconstruction. He was unsuccessful in getting insurance companies to pay Greenwood’s claims. In 2010 his son, noted historian and Civil Right’s leader, John Hope Franklin, was honored with the opening of Dr. John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park.













The 3-acre park consists of a Healing Walkway, Hope Plaza and Tower of Reconciliation. A 16-foot monument is situated at the entrance. It features three bronze sculptures, Humiliation, Hostility and Hope. Humility is depicted as a black man with raised hands. Hostility is an armed white man. The Red Cross Executive Director carrying a baby depicts Hope. The sculptures are replications of 1921 photographs. The plaza’s central feature is the 27-foot Tower of Reconciliation. The tower showcases the history of African Americans from Africa to current reconciliation. Interpretive plaques around the plaza honor prominent historic individuals. @JohnHopeFranklinCenter







Woody Guthrie was born in 1912 and went on to become one of the most influential musicians of all time. He sang about the natural beauty of America and the need for constant vigilance to maintain our democracy and ensure economic, human and legal rights. He sang of harsh realities, hard work, and the necessity of hope. The center preserves and shares his body of work and his lasting legacy through listening stations, themed galleries and interactive displays. A highlight of the center is a Dust Bowl Experience that allows you to live through the coming of a dust storm.



The Gilcrease Museum is currently closed for renovations but online exhibits of the collections are available. The museum has one of the most comprehensive Western American art collections. There are artifacts, documents and artworks by 400 artists, representing colonial times to the present. Three of the most significant documents are a 1520 Diego Columbus letter asking that African slaves be allowed to replace Indians as workers, Benjamin Franklin’s personal copy of the Declaration of Independence and an authorized copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. There are 23-acre thematic gardens. @gilcreasemuseum









Philbrook Museum of Art is a cultural and historical facility inside an Italian Renaissance villa. The museum’s collection includes African, American, American Indian and European artworks. Educational and social events are regularly scheduled.



Leon Russell, a renowned Oklahoma musician, graces a wall in Tulsa’s downtown. The mural, painted by the artist Jerks, captures Russell’s aura.



Tours of Tulsa begin with the airport artwork. “Signs of Life” is a 13-ft. x 40-ft. collage mural by Liz Ingersoll and dedicated in 2012. It depicts city landmarks that impacted on the landscape and history.



Through the lens of travel our lives are transformed. We are exposed to fresh ideas and new ways of viewing past events. Tulsa is a good place to start. @visitTulsa