The 1920 Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a sight to behold with its multiple newspapers, movie theaters, grocery stores, schools, churches, hotels, medical centers, and nightclubs. Historians credit Tulsa for embodying very progressive racial views. See, Greenwood was a black neighborhood, a very successful black neighborhood. A black family could live, shop, and even obtain a bank loan from another black person without leaving the comfort of their own neighborhood, a feat unheard of anywhere else in the US at that time. Booker T Washington deserves much of the credit for Greenwood’s success. His visit in 1905 set all of the wheels in motion. He was instrumental in guiding the community’s black leaders toward developing 4,000 acres within Tulsa two full years before OK was even considered for statehood. I bet you’re asking why Tulsa? Again, we turn to the historians who explain that post-emancipation slaves largely stayed & settled in the Oklahoma area. They would soon rub elbows with prosperity when massive amounts of oil were discovered in 1901 and again in 1905 with the Glenpool area wells. Soon, the whole country wanted a piece of the action, too. In 1900, Tulsa’s population was 1,400. By 1920, they hit 98,874. The money was flowing as fast as the oil, and, since Booker T had persuaded the Greenwood community to stress education over everything else, a very savvy black community was poised to achieve a lifestyle that would be envied by black neighborhoods throughout the country. The Greenwood District was so successful, it picked up a trendy nickname: Black Wall Street. This is how it was meant to be, they thought. Look at us working hard one generation past slavery. Look how we’re going to persevere. Look what we’ve created. Alas, you may already know this won’t end well. If not, consider this a spoiler alert of catastrophic proportions.
