Tulsa Race Massacre – Eyewitness Account – Buck Franklin
By
John C Abercrombie
Today is day 13 of 28 and represents the 3 installment of the now known Tulsa Race Massacre. This is a repost becasue it represents the principal that even the most horific events in all of America are dependant on who is involved. Not a sound basis of what is important not only to the pass but essential for discussion and study to prevent it from happening in the future.
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This is the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. It is one of the most horrific events in history, yet it is not well known. In this post, we will examine the work of Buk Franklin, and his eyewitness statement of the events of that fateful event.
Buck Colbert Franklin is known for his role in defending Black survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The area affected was known as the Greenwood District. Tulsa was a highly segregated city and Blacks were relegated to this section of town. However, unlike many other segregated communities, this area was prosperous and many of the White citizens resented it.
The events that precipitated the Massacre were centered abound a young shoe shiner by the name of Dick Rowland (also cited as Roland) who worked in downtown Tulsa. There were no restrooms for Blacks, and he had permission to use one of the few segregated facilities available. It was on one of the upper floors of a nearby building. In those days, elevators required an operator. The operator was a 17 year old White girl named Sarah Page. According to reports Page was alleged to have screamed and it was reported as an “assault or a rape. Page declined to prosecute which is strange in itself.
To look deeper into Rowland, he had dropped out of high school and took the job of shining shoes in a White owned stand that catered to White customers. The stand was located on Main Street in downtown Tulsa. Many promising students were forced out of school because their parents were relegated to the lowest paying jobs.
Tulsa was like most towns and cities was segregated by Jim Crow practices and Blacks were not allowed to use toilet facilities used by White people. It was the same with water fountains. We see many examples of the Black and White fountains. Many offered cooled water to Whites and room temperature to Blacks.
Although horrific the details of the incident remain largely undocumented. That changed when a 10 paged typewritten document, eye-witness account written by Buck Franklin was discovered in October of 2015. The document had been written by Buck Colbert Franklin an eyewitness to the events.
Buck Franklin is best known for defending Black survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Whites attacked Blacks and Black owned buildings, homes, churches; everything associated with Blacks. Whites destroyed a 36 block area that made up the Greenwood district where Blacks were relegated. The area was so prosperous that it was widely known as “The Black Wall Street” and was recognized as the wealthiest Black community in the United States. It represented what was possible when Blacks were allowed to prosper.
Much of the prosperity came as a result of Buck Franklin representing the citizens of Greenwood after oil was discovered on their property. The resulting money give many the opportunity to establish businesses, own homes and property. Residents spent money in their own community and prospered for it.
The 10 page typewritten document has been obtained by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Many of the lawyers became experts on oil law representing Blacks and Native Americans against the White lawyers representing the oil barons.
Accompanying this articles are videos by a descendant of Buck Franklin. It should be noted that the Franklin family includes the noted historians John Hope Franklin and John Franklin. Well known and well respected. Please continue to scroll and discover these powerful videos.
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This is part of a mini-series devoted to the Tulsa Massacre.
To see Tulsa Massacre Part 1, click here.
You are reading part 2
To see additional eyewitness accounts, part 3, click here.
Use our links to Amazon anytime you shop Amazon. We receive a small royalty without cost to you. Continue to scroll for fascinating Videos and Books to enhance your learning experience.
Continue scrolling down for more amazing information, videos, books and value items. “My challenge,” Franklin said, “was to weave into the fabric of American history enough of the presence of blacks so that the story of the United States could be told adequately and fairly.” In his autobiography, Franklin has described a series of formative incidents in which he confronted racism while seeking to volunteer his services at the beginning of the Second World War. He responded to the navy’s search for qualified clerical workers, but after he presented his extensive qualifications, the navy recruiter told him that he was the wrong color for the position. He was similarly unsuccessful in finding a position with a War Department historical project. When he went to have a blood test, as required for the draft, the doctor initially refused to allow him into his office. Afterward, Franklin took steps to avoid the draft, on the basis that the country did not respect him or have an interest in his well-being, because of his color.[7] In the early 1950s, Franklin served on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team led by Thurgood Marshall and helped develop the sociological case for Brown v. Board of Education. This case, challenging de jure segregated education in the South, was taken to the United States Supreme Court. It ruled in 1954 that the legal segregation of black and white children in public schools was unconstitutional, leading to integration of schools.
In the Words of Mr. Franklin, Part 1″,
OUAT’s Oral History Series OUAT Founder and Owner Ryan Heathcock sits down with Mr. John Whittington Franklin, Senior Manager in the Office of the Deputy Director at the National Museum of African American History and Culture to talk about the impact and impetus of the nation’s newest National Museum in Washington, DC that is opening to the public this Fall
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Law
We see in the example of Buck Franklin the power of understanding the law. While you will not become a lawyer just by reading books, it is essential to understand it and the place to start your journey is with our Amazon affiliate link below
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My Life and An Era:
The Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin Buck Colbert Franklin (1879–1960) led an extraordinary life; from his youth in what was then the Indian Territory to his practice of law in twentieth-century Tulsa, he was an observant witness to the changes in politics, law, daily existence, and race relations that transformed the wide-open Southwest. Fascinating in its depiction of an intelligent young man’s coming of age in the days of the Land Rush and the closing of the frontier, My Life and an Era is equally important for its reporting of the triracial culture of early Oklahoma.
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History
Many people are not familiar with the story of the Tulsa Massacre and that is because it is not widely covered in our history books that we use in our schools. This by no means indicates that it did not happen, just that we have not been exposed to it. Widen your view, knowledge and educate yourself with our Amazon affiliate link below
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“In the Words of Mr. Franklin, Part 2”,
OUAT’s Oral History Series OUAT Founder and Owner Ryan Heathcock sits down with Mr. John Whittington Franklin, Senior Manager in the Office of the Deputy Director at the National Museum of African American History and Culture to talk about the reason this museum is an International Museum and the very first artifact that was donated.
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The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921
On the morning of June 1, 1921, a white mob numbering in the thousands marched across the railroad tracks dividing black from white in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and obliterated a black community then celebrated as one of America’s most prosperous. 34 square blocks of Tulsa’s Greenwood community, known then as the Negro Wall Street of America, were reduced to smoldering rubble.
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“In the Words of Mr. Franklin, Part 3”
OUAT’s Oral History Series OUAT Founder and Owner Ryan Heathcock continues his conversation with Mr. John Franklin about his family “origin story “and their connection to Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the early 20th century.
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Grills and Outdoor Cooking
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Unspeakable:
The Tulsa Race Massacre Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa’s Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community.
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“In the Words of Mr. Franklin, Part 4”,
OUAT’s Oral History Series Ryan Int’l OUAT Founder and Owner Ryan Heathcock continues his conversation with Mr. John Franklin about the details surrounding the race riots of Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 31st and June 1st, 1921. His perspective is from the eyewitness accounts of his grandfather, Buck “Charles” Colbert Franklin, Esq. Oral History tradition at its essence.
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Tulsa, 1921:
Reporting a Massacre In 1921 Tulsa’s Greenwood District, known then as the nation’s “Black Wall Street,” was one of the most prosperous African American communities in the United States. But on May 31 of that year, a white mob, inflamed by rumors that a young Black man had attempted to rape a White teenage girl, invaded Greenwood. By the end of the following day, thousands of homes and businesses lay in ashes, and perhaps as many as three hundred people were dead.
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“In the Words of Mr. Franklin, Part 5”,
OUAT’s Oral History Series Ryan Int’l OUAT Founder and Owner Ryan Heathcock continues his conversation with Mr. John Franklin about the transition of his father, Dr. John Hope Franklin, after the race riots in 1921. What was the atmosphere for a young African American (Negro at the time) trying to matriculate into the hallowed halls of Harvard University? This compelling conversation continues in Part 5 leading us to the conclusion of this series next week in Part 6.
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The Tulsa Massacre of 1921:
The Controversial History and Legacy of America’s Worst Race Riot *Includes pictures
*Includes excerpts of contemporary accounts
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
“Lurid flames roared and belched and licked their forked tongues into the air. Smoke ascended the sky in thick, black volumes and amid it all, the planes – now a dozen or more in number – still hummed and darted here and there with the agility of natural birds of the air.” – Eyewitness account It all began on Memorial Day, May 31, 1921. Around or after 4:00 p.m. that day, a clerk at Renberg’s clothing store on the first floor of the Drexel Building in Tulsa heard a woman scream. Turning in the direction of the scream, he saw a young black man running from the building. Going to the elevator, the clerk found the white elevator operator, 17-year-old Sarah Page, crying and distraught. The clerk concluded that she had been assaulted by the black man he saw running a few moments earlier and called the police.
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Meat and Seafood
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“In the Words of Mr. Franklin, Part 6”
OUAT’s Oral History Series The final installment of Ryan Heathcock’s conversation with Mr. John Whittington Franklin of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Our conversation has covered the significance of the opening of the NMAAHC in September 2016 and his own personal life story, in part, speaking on the life experience of his father and grandfather. We conclude this Oral History Series with Mr. Franklin with this video and thank him for sharing, educating and encouraging our viewers to engage in the education process to research, preserve and record our family history for future generations. Thank you!
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To see part 1 of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 click here.
You are reading part 2
To see part 3 of the Tulsa Massacre series, click here
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The race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma 1921 was a brutal slaying of people due to an unfounded charge against 1 person that was never followed up because the “victim” never pursued it. This in itself is amazing because in the time it took courage to fail to pursue any Black person. In the land where we proudly proclaim “Innocent until proven guilty” we have not been fair with Blacks. 1,000’s have been Lynched merely because of rumor, no trial, no finding of guilty. Courts have disallowed Blacks to testify even on their own behalf. This is a shameful history, yet we don’t know about it because we exclude discussion in our classrooms. We can’t heal what we don’t know about. It is time to reveal and heal.