THE BLACK (NEGRO) WALL STREET
From the book
BLACK PEOPLE AND THEIR PLACE IN WORLD HISTORY BY DR. LEROY VAUGHN, MD, MBA, HISTORIAN
The “Black (Negro) Wall Street”
was the name given to Greenwood Avenue of North Tulsa, Oklahoma during the early
1900’s. Because of strict segregation, Blacks were only allowed to shop, spend,
and live in a 35 square block area called the Greenwood District. The “circulation
of Black dollars” only in the Black community produced a tremendously prosperous
Black business district that was admired and envied by the whole country.
Oklahoma’s first African
American settlers were Indian slaves of the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes”: Chickasaws,
Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles. These tribes were forced to leave the
southeastern United States and resettle in Oklahoma in mid-winter over the infamous
“Trail of Tears.” After the Civil War, U.S.-Indian treaties provided for slave liberation
and land allotments ranging from 40-100 acres, which helps explain why over 6,000
African-Americans lived in the Oklahoma territory by 1870. Oklahoma boasted of more
all-Black towns and communities than any other state in the land, and these communities
opened their arms to freed slaves from all across the country. Remarkably, at one
time, there were over 30 African American newspapers in Oklahoma.
Tulsa began as an outpost
of the Creek Indians and as late as 1910, Walter White of the NAACP, described Tulsa
as “the dead and hopeless home of 18,182 souls.” Suddenly, oil was discovered and
Tulsa rapidly grew into a thriving, bustling, enormously wealthy town of 73,000
by 1920 with bank deposits totaling over $65 million. However, Tulsa was a “tale
of two cities isolated and insular,” one Black and one White. Tulsa was so racist
and segregated that it was the only city in America that boasted of segregated telephone
booths.
Since African Americans could
neither live among Whites as equals nor patronize White businesses in Tulsa, Blacks
had to develop a completely separate business district and community, which soon
became prosperous and legendary. Black dollars invested in the Black community also
produced self-pride, self-sufficiency, and self-determination. The business district,
beginning at the intersection of Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street, became so successful
and vibrant that Booker T. Washington during his visit bestowed the moniker: “Negro
Wall Street.” By 1921, Tulsa’s African American population of 11,000 had its own
bus line, two high schools, one hospital, two newspapers, two theaters, three drug
stores, four hotels, a public library, and thirteen churches. In addition, there
were over 150 two and three story brick commercial buildings that housed clothing
and grocery stores, cafes, rooming houses, nightclubs, and a large number of professional
offices including doctors, lawyers, and dentists. Tulsa’s progressive African American
community boasted some of the city’s most elegant brick homes, well furnished with
china, fine linens, beautiful furniture, and grand pianos. Mary Elizabeth Parrish
from Rochester, New York wrote: “In the residential section there were homes of
beauty and splendor which would please the most critical eye.” Well known African
American personalities often visited the Greenwood district including: educators
Mary McCloud Bethune and W. E. B. DuBois, scientist George Washington Carver, opera
singer Marian Anderson, blues singer Dinah Washington, and noted Chicago chemist
Percy Julian.
T. P. Scott wrote in “Negro
City Directory”: “Early African American business leaders in Tulsa patterned the
development of Tulsa’s thriving Greenwood district after the successful African
American entrepreneurial activity in Durham, North Carolina.” After the Civil War,
former slaves moved to Durham from the neighboring farmlands and found employment
in tobacco processing plants. By 1900, a large Black middle class had developed
which began businesses that soon grew into phenomenally successful corporations,
especially North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. Charles Clinton Spaulding
was so successful with the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company that he
was able to create a real estate company, a textile and hosiery mill, and the “Durham
Negro Observer” newspaper. Durham Blacks also created a hospital, Mechanics and
Farmers Bank (1908), North Carolina Training College (1910), Banker’s Fire Insurance
Company (1920), and the National Negro Finance Company (1922). However, living conditions
in Durham were so substandard and working conditions so poor that the 1920 mortality
rate among Blacks in Durham was three times higher than the White rate. As of 1926,
64% of all African Americans in Durham died before the age of 40. These perilous
working and living conditions were not present in Tulsa.
On May 31, 1921, the successful
Black Greenwood district was completely destroyed by one of the worse race riots
in U.S. history. A 19 year old Black male accidentally stumbled on a jerky elevator
and bumped the 17-year-old White elevator operator who screamed. The frightened
young fellow was seen running from the elevator by a group of Whites and by late
afternoon the “Tulsa Tribune” reported that the girl had been raped. Despite the
girl’s denial of any wrongdoing, the boy was arrested and a large mob of 2,000 White
men came to the jail to lynch the prisoner. About seventy five armed African Americans
came to the jail to offer assistance to the sheriff to protect the prisoner. The sheriff not only refused the assistance but
also deputized the White mob to disarm the Blacks. With a defenseless Black community
before them, the White mob advanced to the Greenwood district where they first looted
and then burned all Black businesses, homes, and churches.
Any Black resisters were
shot and thrown into the fires. When the National Guard arrived, they assisted the
others by arresting all Black men, women, and children, and herding them into detention
centers at the Baseball Park and Convention Hall. As many as 4,000 Blacks were held
under armed guard in detention. Dr. Arthur C. Jackson, a nationally renowned surgeon
and called by the Mayo brothers (of Mayo Clinic fame) “the most able Negro surgeon
in America,” was shot at the Convention Hall and allowed to bleed to death. The
“Chicago Tribute” Newspaper reported that Whites also used private airplanes to
drop kerosene and dynamite on Black homes. By the next morning the entire Greenwood
district was reduced to ashes and not one White was even accused of any wrongdoing,
much less arrested.
The race riot of Tulsa, Oklahoma
was not an isolated event in American history. On May 28, 1917, a White mob of over
3,000 in East St. Louis, Illinois ravaged African American stores, homes, and churches. Eyewitnesses reported that over one hundred Blacks
were gunned down as they left their burning homes including a small Black child
who was shot and thrown back into the burning building to die. Seven White police
officers charged with murder by the Illinois Attorney General were collectively
fined $150. During the “Red Summer” of 1919, over twenty-five race riots, where
White mobs attacked Black neighborhoods. were recorded. In the 1919 race riot at
Elaine, Arkansas, White mobs killed over 200 African Americans and burned their
homes and businesses. Federal troops arrested hundreds of Blacks trying to protect
their possessions and forcibly held them in basements of the city’s public schools.
Twelve Blacks were indicted (no Whites) and convicted of inciting violence and sentenced
to die. The NAACP persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time in history
to reverse a racially biased Southern court.
Director John Singleton exposed
the horror of the Rosewood, Florida massacre of 1922 in his film entitled “Rosewood.”
A White mob burned down the entire town and tried to kill all of its Black inhabitants.
In April 1994, the Florida legislature passed the “Rosewood Bill,” which awarded
$150,000 to each of the riot’s nine eligible Black survivors.
After the Tulsa riot, the
White inhabitants tried to buy the Black property and force Black people out of
town. No Tulsa bank or lending institution would make loans in the riot-marred Greenwood
district, and the city refused all outside assistance. However, racial pride and
self-determination would not permit the Greenwood owners to sell, and they doggedly
spend the entire winter in tents donated by the American Red Cross.
Rebuilding was a testament
to the courage and stamina of Tulsa’s pioneers in their struggle for freedom. Most
of the buildings along the first block of Greenwood Avenue were rebuilt within one
year. Henry Whitlow wrote: “A little over a decade after the riot, everything was
more prosperous than before.” In 1926, W. E. B. DuBois visited Tulsa and wrote:
“Black Tulsa is a happy city. It has new clothes. It is young and gay and strong.
Five little years ago, fire and blood and robbery leveled it to the ground. Scars
are there, but the city is impudent and noisy. It believes in itself. Thank God
for the grit of Black Tulsa.” Like Black Tulsa, African Americans can continue to
survive by self-pride, self-help, and self-determination.
BLACK (NEGRO) WALL STREET BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amazon Associate Links
Amazon Associate Links
Butler,
W. (1974) Tulsa 75: A History of Tulsa. Tulsa: Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce.
Debo,
A. (1982) Tulsa: From Creek Town to Oil Capital. Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press.
Teall,
K. (1971) Black History in Oklahoma: A Resource Book. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma City
Public Schools.
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