Printable Timeline

Black Wall Street: 1906 to Today

The rise, destruction and resilience of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Date	Event
1906	O.W. Gurley purchases forty acres Wealthy Black landowner O.W. Gurley buys forty acres in Tulsa and resolves to sell lots only to Black buyers, laying the foundation of the Greenwood district. Source: Oklahoma Historical Society
1907	Oklahoma statehood and segregation Oklahoma becomes a state; its first legislature passes strict segregation laws, pushing Black Tulsans to build their own institutions in Greenwood. Source: Oklahoma Historical Society
1908	Greenwood Avenue takes shape Gurley opens a rooming house and grocery on what becomes Greenwood Avenue; Black families and businesses settle the district in growing numbers. Source: Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
1914	Dreamland Theatre opens John and Loula Williams open the 750-seat Dreamland Theatre on Greenwood Avenue, showing films and hosting live performances. Source: Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
1918	Stradford Hotel opens J.B. Stradford opens his fifty-four-room hotel, considered one of the largest Black-owned hotels in the United States. Source: Oklahoma Historical Society
1919	Red Summer Racial violence erupts in dozens of American cities. Black veterans returning from World War I, including many in Tulsa, resolve to defend their communities. Source: Smithsonian NMAAHC
April 1921	Mount Zion Baptist Church dedicated Greenwood dedicates its magnificent new church, a symbol of the district's pride and prosperity — weeks before its destruction. Source: Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
May 30, 1921	The elevator incident Dick Rowland, a Black shoeshiner, is accused of assaulting Sarah Page, a white elevator operator. He is arrested the following day. Source: Oklahoma Historical Society
May 31, 1921	Confrontation at the courthouse After an inflammatory newspaper report, a white crowd gathers at the courthouse. Armed Black men arrive to protect Rowland; a shot is fired and violence spreads. Source: Oklahoma Historical Society
May 31 – June 1, 1921	The destruction of Greenwood White rioters, some deputized by city officials, invade Greenwood. Thirty-five blocks are looted and burned; 1,256 homes are destroyed, thousands are detained, and as many as 300 people may have been killed. Source: Report of the Oklahoma Commission, 2001
June 1921	Detention and denial About 6,000 Black residents are held in detention centers. Insurance claims are denied, and the city attempts to rezone the district to prevent rebuilding. Source: Report of the Oklahoma Commission, 2001
1922	Greenwood rebuilds After B.C. Franklin and other attorneys defeat the rezoning ordinance in court, residents rebuild; within a year hundreds of businesses reopen. Source: Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
1925	Mount Zion rises again Mount Zion Baptist Church, burned in the massacre, is rebuilt and rededicated — a symbol of the district's determination. Source: Tulsa Historical Society and Museum
1997	Oklahoma opens an official investigation The state creates the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, the first official reckoning with the massacre. Source: State of Oklahoma
2001	Commission report recommends reparations The commission's report documents the destruction and recommends reparations. A survivors' lawsuit is dismissed by federal courts in 2003. Source: Report of the Oklahoma Commission, 2001
2020	Search for the dead begins Archaeologists begin searching Oaklawn Cemetery for unmarked graves of massacre victims; exhumations and DNA identification follow. Source: City of Tulsa
2021	The centennial One hundred years on, Greenwood Rising history center opens, President Biden visits the district, and the massacre enters the national consciousness. Source: Greenwood Rising