A Historical Collection
The Rise, Destruction & Resilience of Greenwood
In the early 1900s, Black families in Tulsa, Oklahoma built one of the wealthiest Black communities in America. In 1921 it was destroyed in one of the worst acts of racial violence in the nation's history. This is the story of what they built, what was taken, and how Greenwood rose again.
Cover image: historical illustration, not an archival photograph.
Each chapter is drawn from documented history, with sources listed at the end of every page.
How a forty-acre purchase became one of the wealthiest Black communities in America
Read the chapter →2The men and women who built Greenwood
Read the chapter →3A self-sustaining economy on Greenwood Avenue
Read the chapter →4Eighteen hours that destroyed a community
Read the chapter →5A community that refused to stay destroyed
Read the chapter →6Memory, justice, and a story reclaimed
Read the chapter →From the 1906 land purchase to the search for the dead still underway today. Tap any event to read its story.
Documented Greenwood businesses from the Black Wall Street era, with owners and sources where verified.
This is a historical directory of businesses from 1906–1921. Looking for today's Black-owned businesses? Visit our modern Business Directory.
Transportation
Simon Berry
Greenwood district
Simon Berry ran a jitney taxi service for Greenwood residents and later operated a charter airplane service — one of the district's most entrepreneurial ventures.
Sources: Smithsonian NMAAHC
Theater
John Williams and Loula Williams
129 North Greenwood Avenue
A 750-seat theater opened in 1914 showing films and hosting live music and performances; a cultural anchor of the district. Destroyed in 1921 and later rebuilt.
Sources: Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
Grocery and lodging
O.W. Gurley and Emma Gurley
Greenwood Avenue
Among the first businesses in the district, established after Gurley's 1906 land purchase; the Gurleys eventually owned more than one hundred Greenwood properties.
Sources: Oklahoma Historical Society
Legal services
B.C. Franklin
Greenwood Avenue
Franklin's practice, destroyed in the massacre, reopened within weeks in a tent; he led the successful legal fight against the ordinance designed to block rebuilding.
Sources: Oklahoma Historical Society
Beauty salon
Mabel Little
Greenwood Avenue
Mabel Little's salon served the women of Greenwood; she and her husband lost their home and businesses in the massacre and later published her memoir, Fire on Mount Zion.
Sources: Oklahoma Historical Society
Church
North Elgin Avenue
Dedicated in April 1921 and burned to the ground weeks later in the massacre; rebuilt and rededicated in the 1920s as a symbol of the district's resilience.
Sources: Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
Hotel
J.B. Stradford
Greenwood Avenue at Archer Street
Opened in 1918 with fifty-four rooms, a dining room, and a barber shop; considered one of the largest Black-owned hotels in the United States. Destroyed in the 1921 massacre.
Sources: Oklahoma Historical Society; Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
Newspaper
A.J. Smitherman
Greenwood Avenue
A fiercely independent Black newspaper that championed self-reliance and civil rights; its offices were destroyed in the massacre and Smitherman was indicted for his role in defending the community.
Sources: Oklahoma Historical Society
Church
311 North Greenwood Avenue
Its basement was among the only structures to survive the massacre; the rebuilt church is the only standing Black-owned structure from the massacre era on Greenwood Avenue.
Sources: Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
Confectionery
Loula Williams
Greenwood Avenue
The Williams family's candy and ice cream shop, managed by Loula Williams, helped fund the family's later ventures including the Dreamland Theatre.
Sources: Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
Founders, business leaders, and survivors — each with a full profile in our historical figures directory.
1868–1935
Founder of Greenwood, the Tulsa district known as Black Wall Street.
1870s–20th century
Businesswoman who helped build and manage the Gurley family's Greenwood enterprises.
1861–1935
Born into slavery, he built one of the largest Black-owned hotels in America.
1870s–1940s
Built the Dreamland Theatre, Greenwood's 750-seat cultural landmark.
1880s–1927
Businesswoman who managed Greenwood's Dreamland Theatre and confectionery.
1879–1957
Greenwood lawyer who defeated the ordinance meant to stop rebuilding — from a tent.
1883–1961
Publisher of the Tulsa Star, Greenwood's fearless Black newspaper.
1901–2001
Greenwood salon owner and massacre survivor who told the story to the end of her life.
An AI guide that answers only from this collection's sourced chapters, timeline and businesses. AI can make mistakes — check the linked chapters. 5 free questions a day.
This collection draws on the Oklahoma Historical Society, the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum, the 2001 Report of the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Greenwood Rising. Images marked as illustrations are artistic renderings, not archival photographs. Where the historical record is uncertain — such as the massacre's true death toll — we say so.