"Greenwood Tulsa Oklahoma"

Was a district in Tulsa Oklahoma.As one of the most successful and wealthiest

African American communities in the United States during the early 20th Century,it was popularly known as America's "Black Wall Street"until the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.The riot was one of the most devastating race riots in history it destroyed the once thriving Greenwood community.Many African Americans moved to Oklahoma in the years before and after 1907,which the year Oklahoma became a state.Oklahoma represented change and provided a chance for African Americans to get away from slavery and the harsh racism of their previous homes.Most of them traveled from the states in the south where racism was very prevalent,and Oklahoma offered hope and provided all people with a chance to start over.They traveled to Oklahoma by wagons,horses,trains, and even, on foot.Many of the African Americans who traveled to Oklahoma had ancestors who could be traced back to Oklahoma. A lot of the settlers were relatives of African Americans slaves who had traveled on foot with the Five Civilized Tribes along the Trail of Tears.Others were the descendants of runaway slaves who had fled Native American Territory (present day Oklahoma) in an effort to escape live oppression.When Tulsa became a booming and rather well noted town in the United States,the residents and governments attempted to leave out important aspects of the city.Many people considered Tulsa to be two separate cities rather than one city of united communities.The white residents of Tulsa referred to the area as north as "Little Africa"and other derogatory names.They felt threatened  by the success of the African American community,and worried that it might continue to grow. This community later acquired the name Greenwood and by 1921 it was home to about 10,000 African American men,women,and children.Greenwood was centered on a street known as Greenwood Avenue.This street was important because it ran north for over a mile from the Frisco Railroad yards,and it was one of the few streets that did not cross through both black and white neighborhoods.The citizens of Greenwood took pride in this fact because it was something they had all to themselves and did not share with the white community of Tulsa.Greenwood Avenue was home to the African American commerical district with many red brick buildings.These buildings belonged to African Americans and they were thriving businesses, including grocery stores,clothing stores, barbershops,and much more.Greenwood was one of the most affluent communities and it became known as "Black Wallstreet."During the oil boom of the 1910s,the area of northeast Oklahoma around Tulsa flourished including Greenwood neighborhood,which came to be known as "the Negro Wall Street"(now commonly referred to as the Black Wall Street") The area was home to several prominent black businessmen, many of them multimillionaires.Greenwood boasted a variety of thriving businesses that were very successful up until the Tulsa Race Riot.Not only did African American want to contribute to the success of their own shops,but also the racial segregation laws prevented them from shopping anywhere other than Greenwood.Following the riots,the area was rebuilt and thrived until the 1960s when desegregation allowed blacks to shop in areas that were restricted before.The buildings on Greenwood Avenue housed the offices of almost almost all of Tulsa's black lawyers,Realtors,doctors, and other professionals in Tulsa at the time of the riot,there were fifteen well-known African American physicians,one of whom was considered the "most able Negro surgeon in America" by one of the mayo brothers. Greenwood published two newspapers,the Tulsa Star and the Oklahoma Sun, which covered not only Tulsa,but also state and national news and elections.Greenwood was a very religious active community.At the time of the riot there were more than a dozen African American churches and many Christian youth organizations and religious societies.In Northeastern Oklahoma.as elsewhere in America,the prosperity of minorities emerged amidst racial and political tension.The Ku Klux Klan made its first major appearance in Oklahoma shortly before the worst race riot in history.It is estimated that there were about 3,200 members of the Klan in Tulsa in 1921.Prior to the turn of the century O.W. Gurley,a wealthy African American land-owner from

Arkansas,traversed the United States to participate in the Oklahoma Land run of 1889.The young entrepreneur had just resigned from a presidential appointment under president Grover Cleveland in order to strike out on his own.In 1906,O.W.Black Wall Street had:600/Businesses  21 Churches / 21 Restaurants / 30 Grocery Stores / 2 Movie Theaters /6 Private Airplanes/1 Bank Its Own School System.After the riot,African Americans Tulsans,who were livings in tents and forced to wear green identification badges.in order to work downtown,still managed to turn the tragedy into triumph.Without state help,they rebuilt Greenwood,the community had more than 240-black-owned businesses.