M4F in Tulsa - Study Trip Blog
M4F visited Tulsa, Oklahoma for a study trip exploring reparative community remembrance in another wounded place, looking to inform and inspire our public humanities work in St. Louis. This blog gathers impressions and photos of M4F participants from our visits to various interpretive centers, initiatives, exhibitions and other examples of multidirectional and reparative community remembrance in and around Tulsa.
Thanks to the Center for Humanities, the Rubin and Gloria Feldman Family Education Institute, and the WashU & Slavery Project for support of this immersive experience. We also thank all of the people behind the organizations and initiatives we were able to engage, including: The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, Greenwood Cultural Center, Cherokee National History Museum, Greenwood Rising, Historical Trauma & Transformation at University of Tulsa, the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, the Center for Public Secrets, and the Helmerich Center for American Research at Gilcrease Museum.
Black Wall Street Souvenirs
Walking along Tulsa’s Greenwood District, you will encounter public murals, souvenir shops, and historical plaques lining the streets. To most tourists, this might seem like a successful display of community commemoration to Greenwood and Black Wall Street. After a century of silence, these overt tributes might reject Tulsa’s hushed past and bring Greenwood’s story to the forefront of public space.
To the possible surprise of public officials - mass murders, decimated homes and businesses, and the displacement of hundreds of families cannot be reconciled with illegible plaques on the floor of the sidewalk. Diminished from over 200 businesses to under 15, multiple of which being unoccupied, it is clear Tulsa’s officials have no regards for the legacy of Greenwood, and the murals and plaques are simply performative attempts to undermine a shameful past.
This performative reconciliation allows officials to brand the district as ‘historical’ and, therefore, subject to merchandise. Greenwood’s establishment as a trademark is demonstrated with one of the few businesses on the remaining block (of over 35 blocks burned) - ‘Black Wall Street T-Shirts and Souvenirs.’ On the shop’s window, a cynical promotion - depicting Greenwood ignited in flames and a victim holding a wounded individual - advertises the business. Words are at a loss. While it is imperative to demonstrate the realities of the massacre to the public through primary source images, murdered souls should not be displayed and monetized as “souvenirs.”
Through plaques, murals, and souvenir shops, Greenwood has been branded as a Tulsan historical district. Here, Tulsan officials are able to capitalize off Greenwood’s historical existence without its modern presence. While I appreciate civilian awareness of public space, steps must be taken.
Making Sense of Special Collections
This week when we visited the University of Tulsa special collections, we got to see several documents pertaining to the Tulsa Massacre, two that stood out to me were placed together. They were three headlines from White newspapers reporting on the massacre and a collection of pictures of the massacre and its aftermath taken by White perpetrators. Why they stood out to me is the way the two showed the different faces of the perpetrators. The photos were gruesome, violent, and most horrifyingly, they were celebrating the massacre. Several were even created into postcards. The newspapers, on the other hand, were decrying thevofoline, but at the same time firmly placing the blame upon the victims, the Black residents of Greenwood. Seeing the public condemnation combined with blaming of the victims contrasted with the personal admittance and celebration of what occurred provides an insight into the different ways public memory is created through different mediums and through different institutions.
