The June 2, 1921 edition of the New York Times featured a front page story above the fold with the headline “85 WHITES AND NEGROES DIE IN TULSA RIOTS AS 3,000 ARMED MEN BATTLE IN STREETS.” But reading the story in its entirety would, as the Times now acknowledges, provide a distorted picture of what happened that night.
The Greenwood district of Tulsa was, prior to the 1921 massacre, known as the Black Wall Street. And the neighborhood certainly did not disappear after the riot or massacre. The story of Greenwood; before, during and after the event is detailed in Victor Luckerson’s new book,”Built from Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, America’s Black Wall Street.”
