Greenwood - Tulsa Daily Star Building 501 N. Greenwood

Perhaps nowhere else in America is there a single thoroughfare which registers such significance to the African-American diaspora as Greenwood Ave, “Black Wall Street” known for its prominence and progress during the early 20th century. By 1921, Tulsa’s African American population had grown to almost 11,000 residence and encompassed a bustling 35 square block of businesses and residential structures. Greenwood was bordered by the Frisco railroad yards to the south, by Lansing Street and the Midland Valley tracks to the east and by Standpipe and Sunset hills to the west. The section line, now known as Pine Street had for many years been the northernmost boundary of the African-American community.

Ruins of the Tulsa Star newspaper building, 501 North Greenwood Street, after the Race Massacre, 1921. The Tulsa Star was Tulsa's primary Black-owned paper at the time. Publisher Andrew J. Smitherman's press, business, and residence were destroyed. (Photo courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society).

"In the city’s African American neighborhoods, meanwhile, tensions continued to mount over the deteriorating situation at the courthouse. Outside of the offices of the Tulsa Star, the city’s leading black newspaper, a large group of men and women had gathered, debating what to do, and waiting on word of the latest developments downtown. Smaller groups of armed black men also began making brief forays downtown by car, both to try and determine what was happening at the courthouse, as well as to demonstrate their determination to whites that Dick Rowland would not be lynched." HIll, K 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre (pg 262)