You are standing just south of the I-244 overpass at what was once 127 Greenwood Ave. Facing east before you is a grassy area, cut short by the expressway. Several businesses once thrived here, including the Hotel Alexander and the Little Pullman Café, but the feature attraction was The Williams Dreamland Theatre.

Escaping from racial oppression of the Deep South, John and Loula were drawn to the “Promised Land” of Oklahoma. At the turn of the century, Tulsa was a desegregated western boomtown. The reputation of Greenwood and the opportunities it presented were obvious, especially to an ambitious couple like John and Loula.

John was an expert in the new gas-powered engines that were rapidly transforming society. Loula was a gifted entrepreneur, and her expanding empire of businesses flourished.

In 1912, they first built the three-story Williams Building at the corner of Archer and Greenwood. The three floors included Loula’s popular confectionary, their home, and office space for rent.

Owning and operating a movie theatre wasn’t part of the plan. After John and Loula became the first Black Tulsans to own an automobile, John turned his mechanical skills into a full-time auto repair business. To support its growth, a new building was planned. It would have a first-floor garage and a boarding house on the second.

A city ordinance, however, forced those plans to change. It prohibited housing from being built above a garage. Inspiration struck when John and Loula read about a theatre that was closing in Oklahoma City. They purchased its equipment and, in 1914, The Williams Dreamland Theatre was born. The 750-seat venue was the first Black theatre in Tulsa. It entertained audiences with mainstream silent films, all-Black productions, and live entertainment.

On the evening of May 31, Loula and her then sixteen-year-old son Bill were at the Dreamland. During the show, a patron went up on stage and told the audience, “We’re not going to let this happen. We’re going to go downtown and stop this lynching. Close this place down.” No one knew then that a plan to save a teenage boy from being lynched would turn their dreamland into a nightmare. By the following day, the Dreamland and the boarding rooms above it would be a smoking ruin.

As early pioneers of the area, taking risks and being “first” was a way of life for John and Loula. Their response to heartbreaking loss was no different. The Williams family was among the first to begin rebuilding. Though denied their insurance claim for both burned buildings, Loula was undeterred.

Not content simply to rebuild the Dreamland, the new version would be better than ever. On September 22, 1922, the Oklahoma Dispatch celebrated its return, describing it as “splendid” and equipped with the “latest electrical theatre fixtures.” The paper proudly declared that the total cost of the new theatre was two and a half times that of the original Dreamland.

This time, the Williams family made their home on the second floor. John and Loula Williams were not only pioneers who knew how to be first — they knew how to endure. Unwavering in their pursuit of opportunity, they remained committed to the promise and the dream of a better land.

Once you have completed your engagement here, move west across the street to the next tour marker.