Black Wall Street Memorial - Names That Remain
A stop on Greenwood: Tulsa's Black Wall Street, a free self-guided tour.
This memorial in front of the Cultural Center lists hundreds of the Black-owned businesses that once operated in Greenwood: theaters, cafes, groceries, pastry shops. Read some of the names aloud.
On May 31, 1921, after a young Black man named Dick Rowland was accused of assaulting a white woman in a downtown elevator, armed white crowds gathered at the courthouse. Black veterans and residents came to protect him, and by the next morning a white mob had crossed into Greenwood. Over less than a day, more than 35 blocks burned and about 10,000 people were left homeless. Thousands of Black Tulsans were held under guard in detention camps.
No one knows exactly how many died. The official count was 36, while the state commission that studied the massacre in 2001 and later historians estimated far more, as many as about 300.
Insurance companies refused most claims. Survivors rebuilt with their own hands.
Getting here: The memorial stands on the Cultural Center grounds, a few steps from the entrance.
Did you know?: No one was ever convicted for the destruction of Greenwood or the killings of 1921.
Photo op: Frame a section of the names closely so a few business names fill the picture.
More on Wikipedia: Tulsa race massacre · Greenwood District, Tulsa
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