The Tulsa Lynching of 1921

78 minutes

Source: out of print

One day in 1921, a young black man, Dick
Rowland, stumbled while entering the elevator of a
Tulsa, Oklahoma building, accidentally bumping a
white female elevator operator. Her startled cries–
and the assumption that she had been assaulted–
led to the young man’s arrest. Later, a white lynch
mob gathered at the jail where Rowland was
held–as did a small group of African Americans
determined to protect him. A shot rang out, and
pandemonium ensued. By the time the dust had
settled two days later, more than 300 people were
dead and an entire community had been burned to
the ground.