Michelle Barnes, Bachelor’s Student, Education

The subject of my research is the Tulsa Race Riot/War of 1921. Consulting with primary sources such as the Tulsa Star, Tulsa Tribune, The Crusader and other materials available from the McFarlin Library Special Collection, I argue that African American World War I veterans could no longer remain fearful and in compliance with overtly racist actions on the home front. In Tulsa, a branch of the African Blood Brotherhood, “a great Negro protective organization” formed. On the eve of what became known as the Tulsa Race Riot, it was the African Blood Brotherhood (ABB) that took up arms to prevent the lynching of Dick Rowland. In my research I find that if not for their actions Mr. Rowland would likely have been singled out and murdered by a white mob like so many other black men in the U.S. at the time. Instead, the African Blood Brotherhood led resistance to the white mob and challenged the idea that blacks could be easily intimidated. Unfortunately, the response by angry whites to the ABB’s defense of the African American community resulted in an all-out attack on the Greenwood district.

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