Viola Fletcher: One of the Last Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors Dies at 111

Viola Fletcher, born Viola Ford on May 10, 1914, in Comanche, Oklahoma, was the second of eight children.

Her family initially worked as sharecroppers before eventually moving and settling in Greenwood, Tulsa.

Greenwood was a prosperous Black neighborhood, widely known as "Black Wall Street" due to its thriving businesses, homes, schools, churches, and other amenities.

This community became an oasis for Black residents during the era of segregation.

Her younger brother, Hughes Van Ellis, also a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, died in October 2023 at the age of 102.

The loss of these two siblings left a deep sorrow for the community and civil rights activists.

At the time of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Viola was only seven years old.

She was sleeping soundly when her mother woke the entire family, forcing them to flee the house, which was then destroyed.

Her family lost everything, leaving only the clothes on their backs.

The trauma of that horrific event left a lasting impression on Viola, who even testified before Congress in 2021.

She recounted how she still sees Black men shot, bodies lying in the street, smells smoke, sees fire, and hears screams.

Viola stated that she "lives through the massacre every day," a testimony that illustrates the depth of the wounds of the Tulsa Race Massacre survivors.

The family's circumstances after the massacre forced Viola to drop out of school after the fourth grade.

Her family lived a nomadic life, living in tents and working as sharecroppers to make ends meet.

At 18, she married Robert Fletcher and moved to California, where she worked as a welder's assistant in a shipyard during World War II.

After the war, she returned to Oklahoma, raised three children, and worked as a domestic worker until the age of 85.

Viola Fletcher, along with other Tulsa race massacre survivors, has become a leading advocate for justice and reparations for the victims.

In 2021, she testified before the US Congress on the need for reparations, and in 2023, she published her memoir, "Don't Let Them Bury My Story," co-written with her grandson, Ike Howard.

The Tulsa Race Massacre was a two-day white supremacist terrorist attack in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, between May 31 and June 1, 1921.

It remains one of the darkest chapters in American history.

The incident was sparked by an alleged assault on a white elevator operator by a Black shoeshine boy.

Incendiary newspaper reports prompted a white mob to gather outside the courthouse, leading to an armed confrontation.

The white mob, some armed by city officials, attacked Black residents and destroyed over 35 square blocks of the Greenwood neighborhood.

The attack was so systematic and coordinated that it went beyond ordinary mob violence, with some reports suggesting a military-style attack.

Death tolls vary, with estimates ranging from 36 to approximately 300, most of whom were Black.

More than 800 people were hospitalized for injuries.

More than 1,256 homes and 191 businesses, including schools, churches, and hospitals, were destroyed or burned, leaving nearly 10,000 Black people homeless.

Property losses were estimated to be in the millions of dollars at the time, equivalent to approximately $40 million in 2024.