Dreams of Black Wall Street

Latest Episodes:

S1 E6: Black Wall Street Burning Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

Between May 31st and June 1st of 1921, what the Oklahoma Historical Society calls quote, "the single worst incident of racial violence in American history," claimed the lives of potentially hundreds of people and left an entire community in Tulsa, Oklahoma completely decimated. That community, known as Greenwood - an African American district in North Tulsa, suffered a brutal attack by a white mob, which resulted in a horrific scene of chaos, destruction and bloodshed. The area, with a population of about 10,000 at the time, according to the historical society, had been considered one of the most affluent African American communities in the United States for the early part of the 20th century. For that reason it earned the name Black Wall Street.

Although the attack was decades in the making, allegations of assault coupled with boiling racial tensions and inflammatory newspaper articles are widely believed to be the cataclysmic events that sparked the attack. In this episode, listeners will hear audio recordings of interviews with two survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, including William Danforth Williams as well as Eunice Jackson.

Featured guests in this episode include:

Dr. Scott Ellsworth, writer, historian and professor in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan.

-Hannibal B. Johnson, attorney, consultant and author of Black Wall Street.

-Dr. Alicia Odewale, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tulsa. A special thanks to the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum for allowing the use of their archival audio recordings in this episode.

Musical Attribution:

Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Glueworm_Blues_ID_994

2. Title: Driving to the Delta (ID 923) by Lobo Loco License, disclaimer and copywite information: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Driving_to_the_Delta_ID_923_1563

Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Driving_to_the_Delta_ID_923_1563

Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Tree_of_Meditation/Spirit_Inside_ID_819

4. African Moon by John Bartmann Link to license, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon

S1 E5: Rumors of Lynching "Diamond Dick" Mar 19, 2020

Show notes

On Monday, May 30, 1921 an African American shoe shine boy named Dick Rowland boarded an elevator in the Drexel building in downtown Tulsa, OK and headed for the upper floor restroom as he had done in the past. On the elevator was a young Caucasian elevator operator named Sarah Page. According to Rowland, who was known around town as "Diamond Dick," the elevator lurched, causing him to fall against Page, who then screamed. A nearby white store clerk store ran to her aid. Fearing for his safety, Rowland Fled. The store clerk reported the incident as an attempted assault. After word of the alleged assault made its way around town, a mob formed outside of the jail Rowland was being kept in that in all likely hood would have lynched him if they could. Ultimately Page refused to testify against Rowland and declined to prosecute the case. The damage, however, had already been done.

In this episode, listeners will hear excerpts of the documentary, "The Origins of Lynching Culture in the United States." The documentary is produced by the organization, “Facing History and Ourselves.” Their mission is to use the lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. To learn more visit, www.facinghistory.org.

Featured guests in this episode include:

-Hannibal B. Johnson, attorney, consultant and author of Black Wall Street.

-Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World Reporter and Author of Tulsa 1921: Reporting a Massacre.

Musical Attributions

1. Glueworm Evening Blues (ID 994) by Lobo Loco License, disclaimer and copyrite information. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Linked to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Welcome/Glueworm_Blues_ID_994

3. Spirit Inside (ID 819) by Lobo Loco License, disclaimer and copyright information: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/0) Link to music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Tree_of_Meditation/Spirit_Inside_ID_819

4. African Moon by John Bartmann Link to license, disclaimer and copyright information: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Link to Music: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/african-moon

S1 E4: The Red Summer of 1919 (Part 2) Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

The Red Summer of 1919 refers to the period between the spring and fall of that year (specifically, between April and November), during which time about 25 or so race riots, massacres and instances of mob-inspired violence exploded throughout the country. The most brutal and vicious occurred in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Elaine Arkansas. Additionally,nearly 100 lynchings of African Americans were recorded in that year. With heightened racial tension across the nation, it was against this backdrop that the Tulsa Race Massacre occurred two years later. Part 2 of this two-part episode will feature parts of the documentary, "Knoxville's Red Summer," to do a deep dive into the Knoxville Race Riots of 1919 as an example of some of factors that precipitated riots and mob violence around the country. The documentary was produced by Black in Appalachia, which works to highlight the history of African Americans in the Appalachian Mountains as well as the visibility and contributions of black communities in the Mountain South.

Listeners will hear from Cameron McWhirter, Wall Street Journal Reporter and author of Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America.

Musical Attributions

S1 E4: The Red Summer of 1919 (Part 1) Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

The Red Summer of 1919 refers to the summer and fall of that year between April and November, during which time about 25 or so race riots, massacres and instances of mob-inspired violence exploded throughout the country. The most brutal and vicious occurred in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Elaine Arkansas. Additionally,nearly 100 lynchings of African Americans were recorded in that year. With heightened racial tension across the nation, it was against this backdrop that the Tulsa Race Massacre occurred two years later.

The featured guest for this episode is Cameron McWhirter, Wall Street Journal Reporter and author of Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. Listeners will also hear an interview with Juanita Mitchell who is survived the Chicago Race Riots of 1919. She was 107 years old when the interview was conducted by Chicago's Newberry Library.

Musical Attributions

S1 E3: Black Wall Street is Born Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

Oil and the prospect of opportunity attracted people of various ethnicities, backgrounds, cultures and traditions to Oklahoma from across the country and beyond, One of the most culturally influential elements taking shape in the early 20th century in places across Oklahoma, particularly in dozens of all-black communities and towns, was Jazz. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society’s Encyclopedia on Jazz, “To understand the history of jazz in Oklahoma, one must first consider the settlement patterns of the state, because they reflect its cultural diversity." At the same time, the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma was a thriving, prosperous, predominantly African American business district. The amount of wealth contained within the community earned it the nickname Black Wall Street.

The racial politics of the day meant that African Americans could neither live among whites, and if they did attempt to shop alongside of them, they were often discriminated against. While many African Americans at the time worked as servants or in service positions in Tulsa, they developed their own insular society and economy out of necessity. They desired to live in a place where they could enjoy their constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness while living in a community that allowed them to enjoy the fruits of their labor without facing the constant ugliness of racism or having to fear for their safety and lives. Black Tulsans in Greenwood decided to spend their wages in their own community, spawning an insular economy that included mostly black-owned businesses such as grocery stores, barbershops, hair salons, doctors offices, attorneys offices, hotels, transportation companies, newspapers and schools.

Guests of Episode 3 include, John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation Executive Director, Reuben Gant. Historical artifacts include an audio recording of an interview between Tulsa historian and author, Eddie Faye Gates, and Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, Wilhelmina Guess Howell.

Musical Attributions

S1 E2: Oklahoma: A Promised Land Feb 19, 2020

Show notes

To understand the rise and eventual fall of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street, it’s important to understand the racial and economic conditions that contributed to it. These dynamics really started to take shape during Oklahoma's oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which attracted people of various ethnicities and income levels to the region. The discovery of oil in Indian Territory and later in what became the state of Oklahoma also spurred business and development in many parts of Oklahoma, including Tulsa. However, the opportunities a person had available to them in what we call the state of Oklahoma today, and how well they did under the changing economic circumstances, depended on a number of circumstances: namely ones race.

Guests of Episode 2 include Michelle Place, the Executive Director the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum, as well as Eugene Harrod, Adjunct Professor at The College of the Muscogee Nation. Historical artifacts include an audio recording of an interview between Tulsa historian and author, Eddie Faye Gates, and a man named Alfred Barnett, who lived and worked in Tulsa at the time of the oil boom.

Musical Attributions

S1 E1: The "Five Civilized Tribes" & The Complicated History of Blacks & Native Americans Feb 19, 2020

Show notes

The racial tensions that led to the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 did not begin in 1921. They began decades before the city of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma were formed. Episode 1 will look back at the various ethnic groups that inhabited Indian Territory and later the state of Oklahoma in the 19th century, how they contributed to the foundation of the state, including Tulsa, and how the racial as well as socio-economic dynamics of the region at the time were related to the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Guests include Dr. Bob Blackburn, who is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, as well as Eugene Harrod, who currently works as Adjunct Professor at The College of the Muscogee Nation. Historical artifacts include an audio recording of an interview between Tulsa author and historian, Eddie Faye Gates, and a woman named Thelma DeEtta Perryman Gray, who is a descendant of some of Tulsa's founders. Her great grandfather was Lewis Perryman, who is considered one of the founding fathers of what became known as "Tulsey Town."

Musical Attributions

S1 Introduction: Black Wall Street 1921 Feb 18, 2020

Show notes

An introduction to the premise of this podcast, which chronicles the history and related events of what has been called "the single worst incident of racial violence in American history." Historical artifacts include an audio recording of an interview with Tulsa Race Massacre Survivor, William Danforth Williams.

Musical Attributions

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