Resources for
Teaching About
Black Wall Street &
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Greenwood Cultural Center Resources
Mabel B. Little Heritage House
Explore Oklahoma
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Family Learning Series
The Family Learning Series is a resource for families, to learn more about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and to use to have difficult conversations about race relations in America. Each lesson features a 'Building Vocabulary' section or a Black Wall Street/1921 Tulsa Race Massacre resource. Before using the resource, parents should introduce their children to the lesson’s vocabulary. After using the resource, families will be able to discuss the vocabulary and the history presented, more in depth. We hope that this series of seven lessons provides families with a resource that both teaches history and leads to meaningful and rich conversations.
The moment that a moment has passed, it is history. To varying degrees we choose to remember or forget those moments. Our brains, cameras, pictures are various memory recorders of those moments. The first lesson of our Family Learning Series is about how we remember history.
Lesson 1
Lesson Title:
Remembering People
Remembering History
Lesson Focus:
Understanding Memorials
Lesson 2
Lesson Title:
Greenwood's Beginning
Some African Americans came to Oklahoma with the Native Americans. Others came for opportunity. The Greenwood community of Tulsa was one of the most well-known of the developing and thriving African American communities in Oklahoma. Let’s learn of its beginnings.
Lesson Focus:
The establishment of Greenwood as a community and Black towns in Oklahoma
Lesson 3
Lesson Title:
Remembering Black Wall Street
The previous lesson provided an overview of the start of Greenwood and other African American towns in Oklahoma. This lesson will focus on the entrepreneurial spirit of Greenwood that led it to be known as the Black Wall Street (named after the famed New York Wall Street).
Lesson Focus:
History of Greenwood as a business community prior to the riot - Black Wall Street (video)
Lesson 4
Lesson Title:
Talking Race with Children
As we prepare to shift to learning about the tragedy that occurred in Greenwood in 1921, this lesson provides a resource for talking to children about race relations in America.
Lesson Focus:
Animated video discussing how to talk to children about race relations
Lesson 5
Lesson Title:
Understanding Race Relations in 1921 Tulsa
This lesson will focus on Tulsa race relations in 1921. It will provide context as to cultural conditions that led to the events of the Massacre.
Lesson Focus:
Discussion about race relations in 1921 Tulsa (video interview with Mechelle Brown of Greenwood Cultural Center)
Lesson 6
Lesson Title:
The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
The HBO cable TV series, Watchmen, featured the events of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre on one of its episodes. In conjunction with that episode, a graphic novel was developed. As a family, read and discuss the graphic novel to get an overview of the tragic events of May 31 to June 1, 1921 known as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Lesson Focus:
The events of the riot (Graphic Novel)
Lesson 7
Lesson Title:
Family Reflections of the 1921 Race Massacre
Greenwood Cultural Center invites families to reflectively share about what they have learned through this series. Families might consider creating a visual art, spoken word or performance piece. We encourage families to be as creative as they like and to share their reflections with us via Facebook!
Lesson Focus:
Completion of family projects reflective of what they have learned
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Survivor Oral Histories & Stories
A series of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre interviews were conducted by Eddie Faye Gates, in collaboration with Mechelle Brown of the Greenwood Cultural Center, and many were filmed at the Mabel B. Little Heritage House Museum. The recordings are a first hand account of the tragic two days – May 31, 1921 and June 1, 1921. These recordings can be used as educational resources for oral histories in the classroom.