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Giving Voice to the Tulsa Race Massacre |
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In remembrance of one of the most devastating events in the state's history, the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) invites you to hear from the people who were there.
As an educational organization and a dedicated community partner, the OHS has long believed that one important step toward ending racism and injustice is a better understanding of our shared history. Through our oral history collection, and our partnership with the Voices of Oklahoma project, we hope to spark civil discourse and open dialogue about the role of race in the history of our state. While these conversations about our past may not be comfortable, they are necessary to understand where we have been and how we can best move forward together.
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Educator, author, and community activist Eddie Faye Gates (1934–2021) was appointed to the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 and became the chair of the Survivors Committee. Beginning in the 1990s, she led a series of interviews with survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
The faces you see above are just a few of Gates's interviewees, who recounted their childhood recollections of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Many of them watched as the Greenwood neighborhood was attacked, Black residents were gunned down, homes were set ablaze, and businesses they knew were burned to the ground.
You can listen to this revealing collection from the Oklahoma Historical Society Audio Archives on YouTube by clicking the button below.
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1921 Tulsa Race Massacre interviews
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Otis Clark
On May 31, 1921, Otis Clark was 19 years old. Otis was 106 years old at the time of this interview November 23, 2009. While not an eyewitness to the lynch mob, he and his friend were the targets of rifle shots. He chose to leave Tulsa to escape the encampments for Black Oklahomans. Otis moved to California where he became an evangelist. In 1998 he returned to Tulsa where he lived for a few years before retiring to Seattle, Washington. Listen to Clark's Voices of Oklahoma interview by clicking here.
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Wess and Cathryn Young
Wessley Hubert “Wess” Young Sr. was a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, a World War II veteran, and a longtime Tulsa activist.
Young was four years old in 1921 when he, his mother, and his older sister were told to run for cover during the devastation. His family lost everything in the Tulsa Race Massacre and lived in a fairground camp for months. His young memory of May and June 1921 is filled with narratives from his parents and relatives. Young traveled around the country during his life, speaking about the event.
Along with fellow survivors, Young gave his account of the Tulsa Race Massacre at a briefing before members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other leaders on Capitol Hill on May 10, 2005, in Washington, DC.
He was the founder and first president of the Brady Heights Neighborhood Association and served on numerous municipal boards involving city planning and criminal justice.
Wess Young was 93 years old on August 21, 2009, when he recorded this oral history interview. He was 97 years old when he died on September 30, 2014. His wife, Cathryn J. Young, also participated in this interview. She was 88 when she died on December 1, 2013. Listen to the Youngs' Voices of Oklahoma interview by clicking here.
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Additional interviews from the OHS Oral History Collection |
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OHS COVID-19 safety measures
We recommend that visitors who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 wear face masks in indoor public areas. We ask that you avoid visiting OHS museums, sites, and affiliates if you have COVID-19, are experiencing symptoms, have a fever, or are otherwise feeling sick or unwell.
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Click event listings below for more information.
1 - Vintage Snack Sets exhibit opens, Fred and Addie Drummond Home, Hominy
4 - All Aboard: Examining the Orphan Trains exhibit closes, Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center, Enid
4 - History Alive! on the Cherokee Strip, Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center, Enid
10 - Museum After Dark: Village Sounds featuring Stacey Sanders, Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center, Enid
11 - Quilting workshop with Martha Ray, Sod House Museum, Aline
11 - Barn Quilt workshop **CLASS IS FULL**, Chisholm Trail Museum and Horizon Hill, Kingfisher
11 - Pawnee Bill's Wild West Days, Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum, Pawnee
11 - The Battle of Honey Springs deadCenter Film Festival screening, Harkins Theatres Bricktown 16, Oklahoma City
11 - Fort Towson Homecoming, Fort Towson Historic Site, Fort Towson
14–18 - 2022 Enid Summer Chautauqua: Surviving the Sixties, Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center, Enid
16 - Juneteenth Celebration: Music Through the Ages, Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City
17 - OU and OAS Summer Archaeological Research concludes, Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center, Spiro
18 - Will’s Cowboy Trader Days at the Ranch, Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch, Oologah
18 - Pioneer Family Fun Day, Pioneer Woman Museum, Ponca City
18 - History Alive! on the Cherokee Strip, Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center, Enid
18 - Family Day at the Birthplace Ranch: 19th-Century Baseball Game, Will Rogers Birthplace Ranch, Oologah
20–22 - Will’s Wild West Kids Camp, Will Rogers Memorial Museum, Claremore
21 - Summer Solstice Walks, Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center, Spiro
22 - Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Committee meeting, Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City
23 - Thursday Night Lecture Series featuring Lynn Riggs film A Day in Santa Fe (1931), Will Rogers Memorial Museum, Claremore
24 - Movie Night featuring Route 66: An American Odyssey (1995), Will Rogers Memorial Museum, Claremore
25 - Guided tours, Honey Springs Battlefield, Checotah
28 - “Shut the Door! Barns in Oklahoma: Use of Stone and Bank Barns in Oklahoma” webinar (VIRTUAL), State Historic Preservation Office, Oklahoma City
30 - Vintage Snack Sets exhibit closes, Fred and Addie Drummond Home, Hominy
1 - Early Influencers: How Anna Overholser & Henry Ione Overholser Perry Set the Style for Oklahoma City Women, 1903–1929 exhibit opens, Henry and Anna Overholser Mansion, Oklahoma City
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