Tag Archives: Greenwood Cultural Center

100 years after the Tulsa Race Massacre, lessons from my grandfather

Smoke rises from damaged properties after the Tulsa race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma in June 1921. Oklahoma Historical Society via Getty Images

Gregory B. Fairchild, University of Virginia

When Viola Fletcher, 107, appeared before Congress in May 2021, she called for the nation to officially acknowledge the Tulsa race riot of 1921.

I know that place and year well. As is the case with Fletcher – who is one of the last living survivors of the massacre, which took place when she was 7 – the terror of the Tulsa race riot is something that has been with me for almost as long as I can remember. My grandfather, Robert Fairchild, told the story nearly a quarter-century ago to several newspapers. Continue reading

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