Sponsor
Portland State University. Department of History
First Advisor
Katrine Barber
Term of Graduation
2021
Date of Publication
Summer 9-18-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.) in History
Department
History
Language
English
Subjects
Tulsa Race Massacre Tulsa Okla (1921), African Americans -- Oklahoma -- Tulsa -- History -- 20th century, African American neighborhoods -- Oklahoma -- Tulsa -- History -- 20th century, Race riots -- Oklahoma -- Tulsa -- 20th century, Urban renewal -- Oklahoma -- Tulsa, African Americans -- Oklahoma -- Tulsa -- Social conditions -- 20th century, Tulsa (Okla.) -- Race relations
DOI
10.15760/etd.6444
Physical Description
1 online resource (ix, 131 pages)
Abstract
Tulsa, Oklahoma's historically African American neighborhood of Greenwood in North Tulsa has long been contested terrain. Built by black settlers beginning in the late nineteenth-century, the neighborhood evolved into a vibrant community challenged by waves of violence--segregation at statehood in 1907, the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, ongoing disinvestment, and processes of urban renewal beginning in the late 1950s--that contributed to the erosion of the neighborhood and the eventual displacement of many area residents into remote housing projects further into North Tulsa. These waves of violence were propelled by Oklahoma lawmakers, local Tulsa government officials, members of the Ku Klux Klan, and private white citizens who worked to expand the city's color line by controlling the placement and visibility of black people in Tulsa and gain ownership of Greenwood--as the neighborhood was, and is, located on desirable land.
The people of Greenwood met these waves of violence with acts of resistance. They organized and lobbied against segregation at statehood, fought to save their community during the Tulsa Race Riot, and galvanized to rebuild almost immediately after. They maintained a culture of interdependence that contributed to strength in community and economy. Beginning in the late 1950s, they protested their displacement. However, by the late 1980s, the ravages of slum clearance and expressway building had rendered much of Greenwood unlivable and many residents had no choice but to relocate. The loss of historic place and increased distance between community members made it difficult to maintain their shared identity and culture of interdependence.
Taken altogether, these four waves of violence functioned as tools to carry out the city of Tulsa's longstanding agenda of reclaiming the prime urban real estate of Greenwood while broadening the area of land that segregated black & white Tulsa. At the root existed white supremacy: the belief in the inherent superiority of the white race and its fundamental right to dominate society.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/26529
Recommended Citation
Smith, Greta Katherine, ""The Battling Ground": Memory, Violence, and Resistance in Greenwood, North Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1907-1980" (2018). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 4559.
https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.6444