The losses of the Tulsa Race Massacre were devastating. Historically, they were unprecedented. But the cost came not just in theft of property or the destruction of a community. Its most gruesome toll came in Black lives.

Late in the evening of May 31 at Tulsa’s courthouse, after a request from Greenwood residents to have Dick Rowland released from jail was denied, a white gang confronted the group of Black men. A gun was fired. At that moment, as Tulsa’s sheriff would later say, all hell broke loose.

A ground war erupted. Outnumbered, the Black men fled for Greenwood, but it was seven blocks away. Rather quickly, several were beaten and murdered. Some deaths were particularly brutal, with victims being shot and stabbed multiple times, drowning in their own blood.

Quickly mobilizing, the white agitators tried to acquire weapons from the local armory, but they were turned away. Undeterred, they looted nearby stores for guns and ammunition. They also began to recruit more white citizens, spreading the lie that a “Black insurrection” was underway. This lie remained the common narrative for years.

In a fevered pitch, armed whites descended upon Greenwood by the thousands, shooting Black Tulsans at will. They broke into homes, seeking more victims. As it escalated, Tulsa police not only failed to help Black residents; they actually deputized many of the white vigilantes, telling them to shoot any Negro and the law would be behind them. And that’s exactly what they did—even shooting Black residents who surrendered with their arms raised high, killing them in cold blood. Others were burned alive.

Death total estimates at the time varied widely, ranging from the mid-20s to over 300. With funerals banned in the wake of the massacre and many missing residents forever unaccounted for, a final death toll could never be confirmed. To this day, efforts to locate mass graves continue.

Suspicions about those graves were raised by eyewitness accounts. For example, Ruth Avery, a white grade-school girl, recalled seeing two full truckloads of dead Black bodies passing down her street.

Once you have completed your reflection here, move just a few steps north toward the overpass. Nearby, you will see the next tour marker.