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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
On May 31, 1921, Dick Rowland, a black man, is imprisoned for allegedly assaulting a white woman. By dawn the next day, Greenwood, known as “Black Wall Street” by some and “Little Africa” by others, lay in smoldering ruins. The Tulsa Race Massacre results in as many as 300 deaths and millions of dollars in property damage in one of the worst episodes of racial violence in American history. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| May 31, 1921 | Dick Rowland is arrested and charged with assaulting a white female elevator operator. Groups of Tulsans arm themselves, some wanting to protect Rowland, others bent on lynching him. A mob assembles at the courthouse where Rowland is being held. Hardware stores and pawn shops are looted of guns and ammunition as the situation spirals out of control. |
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| June 1, 1921 | Between midnight and 6AM, white mobs invade Greenwood, shooting African American residents and burning homes and businesses. By dawn, the black district of Tulsa is in ruins. Governor Robertson declares martial law at 11:30AM. |
| June 3, 1921 | Martial law is lifted in Tulsa at 5PM. |
| June 3, 1921 | United States Attorney General Daugherty orders an investigation into the riots. |
| June 3, 1921 | Oklahoma Governor Robertson orders Oklahoma Attorney General Freeling to investigate the situation, and preserve evidence for a grand jury. |
