The greatest single factor that shaped the contours of African American socioeconomic and political experiences in the twentieth century was the Great Migration.

The Victory of Greenwood​ endeavors to tell the story of Greenwood from the perspective of the heroes and entrepreneurs who built Greenwood and then rebuilt it after its destruction. Historians have published many books and articles about the days surrounding the 1921 Race Massacre, but Tulsa knows very little about the founding of Greenwood. We know even less about Greenwood's reconstruction. Against all odds, the neighborhood was built again, better than before, and became known as “Black Wall Street”.

Tulsa, Oklahoma. 1921. A wave of racial violence destroys an affluent African-American community, seen as a threat to white-dominated American capitalism.

The 1921 Attack on Greenwood was one of the most significant events in Tulsa’s history. Following World War I, Tulsa was recognized nationally for its affluent African American community known as the Greenwood District. This thriving business district and surrounding residential area was referred to as “Black Wall Street.” In June 1921, a series of events nearly destroyed the entire Greenwood area.

WARNING: this article contains graphic violent images.
The U.S. was gripped by a reign of racial terror after World War I, when whites rose up to quash prosperous Black communities.