[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 234 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 234

   Recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 2021

   Mr. Lankford (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Whereas in the early 1900s many Black individuals and families settled 
        throughout Oklahoma, setting up vibrant communities and dozens of all-
        Black towns. These individuals came looking for new opportunities, 
        freedom, and a chance for a better life;
Whereas the most famous and prosperous of these Black communities was in Tulsa's 
        Greenwood District;
Whereas O.W. Gurley, a wealthy Black business owner, moved to Tulsa in 1906 and 
        purchased tracts of land sold primarily to Black individuals and 
        families. The land stretched from Pine Street to the north to Archer 
        Street on the south and Detroit Avenue on the west and the Midland 
        Valley rail line on the east;
Whereas segregation and the inaccessibility of resources led O.W. Gurley and 
        others to open a variety of commercial establishments, including rooming 
        houses, grocery stores, barber shops, beauty salons, restaurants, 
        clothiers, pharmacies, movie theaters, dance halls, pool halls, 
        confectioneries, jitney services, and professional offices (such as for 
        doctors, lawyers, dentists, and accountants);
Whereas the Greenwood District became a thriving community where Black business 
        owners, schools, and churches flourished and, by the late 1910s, it was 
        the wealthiest Black community in the United States;
Whereas churches such as Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church, Mt. Zion 
        Baptist Church, First Baptist Church North Tulsa, Paradise Baptist 
        Church, Metropolitan Baptist Church, and others became central to the 
        family life and culture of the Greenwood District;
Whereas the Greenwood District became home to prominent professionals such as 
        Dr. A.C. Jackson, who was known as the most skilled Black surgeon in the 
        United States, and prominent attorney B.C. Franklin;
Whereas Ellis Walker Woods, who walked more than 500 miles from Memphis to 
        Oklahoma, answered the call for African-American teachers and became the 
        first principal of Booker T. Washington High School;
Whereas, by 1921, the community was home to thousands of Black residents who 
        lived and worked in the most prosperous Black community in the United 
        States;
Whereas the community earned the name the ``Negro Wall Street of America'' 
        (later, simply known as the ``Black Wall Street'') from the famed 
        African-American author and educator, Booker T. Washington;
Whereas, as the opportunities for Black families grew, the community began to 
        attract more Black families, business owners, well-educated 
        professionals, and individuals fleeing racial oppression and 
        discrimination in other States;
Whereas the town of Tullahassee, Oklahoma, founded in 1883, is regarded as one 
        of the oldest surviving historically Black towns of Indian Territory;
Whereas the area where Tullahassee was founded was originally part of the Creek 
        Nation and the town had an established school by 1850;
Whereas the town of Langston, Oklahoma, was founded in 1890 and named after John 
        Mercer Langston, an African-American educator and Member of the House of 
        Representatives from Virginia;
Whereas, 7 years later, the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature established the 
        Colored Agricultural and Normal University (referred to in this preamble 
        as ``CANU''), which would later be renamed Langston University. The 
        university has grown from 41 students in 1897 to more than 3,000 in 
        2021;
Whereas prominent Oklahomans such as Melvin Tolson, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, 
        Clara Luper, E. Melvin Porter, Frederick Moon, Marques Haynes, Zelia 
        Breaux, Isaac W. Young, Inman Page, and Zella Black Patterson resided in 
        Langston or called CANU home;
Whereas the town of Tatums, Oklahoma, founded in 1895, was named after brothers 
        Lee B. Tatum and Eldridge ``Doc'' Tatum and found prosperity in 1929 
        when oil wells were drilled;
Whereas Norman Studios filmed Black Gold, a silent film, in Tatums and enlisted 
        the citizens of the town and Marshal L. B. Tatums to be featured in the 
        movie;
Whereas the town of Taft, Oklahoma, founded in 1902 on land allotted to Creek 
        Freedman, changed its name from Twine to Taft to honor the then 
        Secretary of War, later President, William Howard Taft. The town had a 
        thriving business sector with 3 general stores, a drugstore, a 
        brickyard, a soda pop factory, 2 hotels, and a bank;
Whereas the town of Grayson, Oklahoma, brimmed with 5 general stores, 2 
        blacksmiths, 2 drug stores, a cotton gin, and a physician soon after it 
        was founded in 1902. Originally known as Wildcat, the town changed its 
        name in 1909 to honor the Creek Chief George W. Grayson;
Whereas the town of Boley, Oklahoma, established in 1903 and named after J.B. 
        Boley, a railroad official of the Fort Smith and Western Railway, grew 
        to be one of the wealthiest and largest Black towns in Oklahoma;
Whereas, only 5 years after being founded, Booker T. Washington visited Boley 
        and wrote about the prosperity he had witnessed;
Whereas, in 2021, Boley still carries on their standing tradition of a Black 
        community-based rodeo, now the oldest of its kind in the Nation;
Whereas the town of Rentiesville, Oklahoma, founded in 1903, was developed on 40 
        acres owned by William Rentie and Phoebe McIntosh;
Whereas John Hope Franklin, a prominent scholar of African-American history, was 
        born in Rentiesville in 1915;
Whereas Franklin and his family later moved to Tulsa where Franklin graduated 
        from Booker T. Washington High School, survived the 1921 Tulsa Race 
        Massacre, and went on to become one of Oklahoma's most decorated 
        historians;
Whereas the town of Clearview, Oklahoma, founded in 1903 along the tracks of the 
        Fort Smith and Western Railroad, was widely known for their baseball 
        team;
Whereas, in the summer, people from surrounding counties would come to watch the 
        baseball team play, turning the railroad tracks into substitute 
        bleachers;
Whereas the town of Brooksville, Oklahoma, founded in 1903, was originally named 
        Sewell. The town was renamed in 1912 to honor the first Black man in the 
        area, A. R. Brooks;
Whereas, soon after the town of Brooksville was established, Rev. Jedson White 
        founded the St. John's Baptist Church;
Whereas George W. McLaurin, who was the first Black graduate at the University 
        of Oklahoma, taught at the local school in Brooksville;
Whereas the town of Red Bird, Oklahoma, founded in 1907 along the Missouri-
        Kansas-Texas Railway, was built on land allotted to the Creek Nation;
Whereas E. L. Barber was one of the original developers of the town of Red Bird, 
        the first justice of peace of the town, and an early mayor;
Whereas, before Red Bird officially became a town, Barber had organized the 
        First Baptist Church in 1889, which grew to be the largest church in Red 
        Bird;
Whereas the town of Summit, Oklahoma, founded in 1910 along the Missouri-Kansas-
        Texas Railway, grew because of the town's railway depot;
Whereas Rev. L. W. Thomas organized the St. Thomas Baptist Church in the town of 
        Summit and the congregation met without a building for 6 years until the 
        congregation came together to build the church, which still stands in 
        2021;
Whereas the town of Vernon, Oklahoma, founded in 1911 on Tankard Ranch in the 
        Creek Nation, was home to many trailblazers such as Ella Woods, who was 
        the first postmaster, and Louise Wesley, who established the first 
        school and church in the town;
Whereas, before the community of Vernon built the New Hope Baptist Church in 
        1917, the congregation conducted services underneath a tree. New Hope 
        Baptist Church still stands in 2021 after more than 100 years;
Whereas the town of Lima, Oklahoma, founded in 1913 along the Chicago, Rock 
        Island and Pacific Railroad, came together as a community to improve 
        their town. Together, they built the Mount Zion Methodist Church in 
        1915, which still stands in 2021;
Whereas, the history of these historically Black towns is interwoven into the 
        history of the State of Oklahoma and the residents of these towns have 
        achieved great successes and faced tremendous challenges;
Whereas the stories of the Black towns and communities in Oklahoma are 
        inextricably linked to the events of May 30 to June 1, 1921, in the 
        Greenwood District of North Tulsa, Oklahoma;
Whereas, on May 30, 1921, a young Black man named Dick Rowland was in downtown 
        Tulsa, Oklahoma, and entered the Drexel Building to use the only 
        bathroom in the area available to Black people;
Whereas an incident occurred on the elevator between Dick Rowland and Sarah 
        Paige, the elevator operator, and Sarah Paige screamed;
Whereas, after a police investigation, the next day Dick Rowland was detained at 
        the Tulsa Police Department for questioning before being moved to the 
        Tulsa Courthouse for additional security;
Whereas, on May 31, 1921, the Tulsa Tribune released a sensationalist story 
        claiming that a young Black male had attacked a White girl;
Whereas that story and long-simmering tensions in the city led to a large group 
        of White individuals surrounding the courthouse to demand that Dick 
        Rowland be released so that he could be lynched;
Whereas a group of Black men traveled to the courthouse to help defend Dick 
        Rowland from the angry mob;
Whereas, after a scuffle at the downtown Tulsa courthouse, White rioters pursued 
        Black men to the Greenwood District and the violence escalated;
Whereas houses and businesses were looted and burned throughout the Greenwood 
        District and attacks lasted well into the next day before being quelled 
        by the Oklahoma City National Guard;
Whereas, in less than 24 hours, 35 city blocks were destroyed by fires and 6,000 
        African-American individuals were detained;
Whereas, out of the 23 churches that were located in the Greenwood area prior to 
        the 1921 Massacre, only 13 churches survived and only 3 churches were 
        able to be rebuilt after being destroyed: Paradise Baptist Church, Mount 
        Zion Baptist Church, and Vernon AME Church;
Whereas, outside of the massacre area, 5 churches were able to rebuild after 
        being destroyed;
Whereas, the Black citizens in Tulsa began rebuilding the Greenwood District 
        immediately, with Church services resuming the following Sunday;
Whereas this new Black Wall Street reached an economic peak in the mid-1940s but 
        subsequently declined for many reasons that undermined the economic 
        foundation of the community;
Whereas, almost 100 years later, the residents and businesses in the Greenwood 
        District carry on the legacy of resilience and determination;
Whereas Greenwood is home to thousands of individuals and families who make 
        important contributions to their city and the United States and there 
        are countless minority-owned businesses in Greenwood that drive the 
        local economy;
Whereas there is still much work to do to heal the community and ensure all 
        people in Greenwood have the promise of a brighter tomorrow; and
Whereas Greenwood is a community still scarred by the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, 
        but not defined by it: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) acknowledges that the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre was the 
        worst race massacre in the history of the United States;
            (2) recognizes that because of the worst race massacre in 
        the history of the United States, several hundred Black 
        residents of the Greenwood District were killed and thousands 
        were made homeless overnight, and the most prosperous Black 
        community in the United States was decimated;
            (3) urges that the history of what happened in Tulsa during 
        the course of those 2 days in 1921 be taught in the schools of 
        the United States in a factual and accurate manner;
            (4) recognizes the important work of groups such as the 
        1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, the John Hope 
        Franklin Center for Reconciliation, and others who work 
        tirelessly to ensure the story of the Greenwood District is 
        accurately told and remembered;
            (5) believes that while significant progress has been made 
        in the 100 years since the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, there is 
        still work to be done towards racial reconciliation, which can 
        only be accomplished through open, respectful, and frank 
        dialogue;
            (6) encourages families of all races to invite families of 
        different races to their homes to have discussions on race, 
        with parents setting examples for their children on how to 
        engage in a conversation that will build better understanding 
        of, and respect for, people of different races;
            (7) believes that the significance of the 1921 Tulsa Race 
        Massacre and the complete history of the Greenwood District 
        warrant the placement of the area on the National Registry of 
        Historical Places and urges the Department of Interior to work 
        with the community to accomplish this as soon as possible;
            (8) hopes that the 100th anniversary weekend is a moment 
        for the country to look to Tulsa to see how racial relations 
        have changed during the last 100 years, to celebrate 
        improvements, and to reflect upon the areas where more work is 
        needed;
            (9) urges all people of the United States to continue 
        seeking greater understanding, dialogue, and closer connections 
        to people of different races; and
            (10) recognizes the need to help the remaining 13 Black 
        towns in Oklahoma to preserve their historic legacy of 
        political freedom and ensure their stories are known to future 
        generations of Oklahomans and people of the United States.
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