Greenwood Cultural Center - Keeping the Memory
Photo: Marc Carlson from Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
A stop on Greenwood: Tulsa's Black Wall Street, a free self-guided tour.
Across the street from Vernon AME, the Greenwood Cultural Center has kept Greenwood's history in public view since it was dedicated in 1995, long before the massacre was widely taught. For decades the story was rarely discussed in Tulsa's schools or newspapers, and places like this, along with survivors willing to speak, kept it alive.
On the grounds stands the Mabel B. Little Heritage House. Sam and Lucy Mackey built it in 1925 after their first home burned in the massacre, and it is the only surviving 1920s home in the area. It honors Mabel B. Little, a survivor who spent her later life telling Greenwood's story.
Look for the large mural on the center's wall, conceived by local artist Chris "Sker" Rogers and painted by Donald "Scribe" Ross in 2018.
If the center is open, step inside to see its photographs of Greenwood before and after 1921; check ahead for hours.
Getting here: Cross Greenwood Avenue from Vernon AME to the Greenwood Cultural Center at 322 North Greenwood.
Did you know?: The Mackeys' 1925 house is the only 1920s home still standing in the Greenwood area.
Photo op: Step back far enough to frame the full mural on the Cultural Center wall.
More on Wikipedia: Greenwood District, Tulsa · Tulsa race massacre
Stops on this tour
- Greenwood Rising - Where Black Wall Street Began
- Deep Greenwood - Plaques Underfoot
- I-244 Overpass - The Second Destruction
- Vernon AME Church - The Basement That Survived
- Greenwood Cultural Center - Keeping the Memory
- Black Wall Street Memorial - Names That Remain
- Mount Zion Baptist Church - A Debt Paid in Full
- Reconciliation Park - Hostility, Humiliation, Hope
- Pathway to Hope - Stitching Greenwood Back Together
- Oaklawn Cemetery - The Search for the Missing