Using the Greenwood Knowledge Cards to Understand Significant People of Greenwood
The records, documents, artifacts, and personal accounts of survivors and pioneers from the Historic Greenwood District provide the rich contributions of those who lived in the area. The lives of those connected to Greenwood speak beyond the atrocities of what took place during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The sample Greenwood Knowledge Cards provided here allow us to acknowledge a few of the many contributors to Greenwood.
Download Pre-made Greenwood Knowledge Cards
Having a sense of the life of a survivor or pioneer is one point of reference. Greenwood Knowledge Cards can capture important information about the people, places, and events that define history. The Greenwood Knowledge Cards are a simple but effective way to introduce the most significant aspects of the people and places of Greenwood.
Sample documents show how the Greenwood Knowledge Cards capture the information of those connected to the Historic Greenwood District.
Create Your Own Greenwood Knowledge Cards
Using the Stories of Survivors and Pioneers to Build Student Knowledge
Much of what we know about the 1921 Tulsa Race (Riot) Massacre springs from historical records, documents, artifacts, and personal accounts of survivors. The lives of those connected to 1921 speak beyond the atrocities of what took place during the Tulsa Race Massacre. There are also pioneers who established a presence within Tulsa’s Greenwood District and contributed to the vitality of Black Wall Street of 1921 and beyond.
Download Pre-made Greenwood Knowledge Cards
Having a sense of the life of a survivor or pioneer is one point of identification. Stories can capture the people, places, and events that define history. Identification Cards offer a brief glimpse into these stories.
Sample document shows how the ID card might represent the story of a survivor or pioneer.
Create Your Own Greenwood Knowledge Cards
Suggestions on People and Places for Students to Research
Places
- 1921 YWCA – Ruth Dean Nash references being taken there
- Vadens and Spann’s Pool Hall and Art’s Chili Parlor – Delois Vaden Ramsey references them
- Dunbar Elementary School
- Northside library (south side of Greenwood near the Driller’s Stadium)
- Paradise Baptist Church
People
- J.B. Stradford – attorney and hotel owner
- Barney Cleaver – policeman
- John Williams
- A.J. Smitherman
- Simon Berry
- O.W. Gurley
- William Danforth Williams
- W.R. Holway
- Virgina Waters
- Mozella Franklin Jones
- Chloe Tidwell
- Fannie Misch
- Elsie Gubser
- Rev. Ira Whitaker (Mount Zion)
- Buck Colbert (B.C.) Franklin – lawyer
- Mary E. Parrish Jones
- Ruth Dean Nash (survivor)
- Delois Vaden Ramsey (survivor)
- Juanita Smith Booker (survivor) – approximate location known
- Juanita Scott (survivor) moved to Chicago
- John Melvin Alexander (survivor)
- B. Bates (survivor)
- Leslie (Essie) Lee Johnson Beck (survivor)
- James D. Bell (survivor) – address known
- Kinney I. Booker (survivor) – address known
- Johnnie L Grayson Brown
- Clarence Bruner (survivor)
- Joe Burns (survivor)
- Otis Granville Clark (survivor)
- Wordie “Peaches” Miller Cooper (survivor)
- Carrie Humphrey Cudjoe (survivor) address known
- Ernestine Gibbs (survivor)
- Harold Gibbs (survivor)
- Nell Hamilton Hampton (survivor)
- Leroy Hatcher (survivor) approx. loc known
- Joyce Walker Hill (survivor)
- Wilhemina Guess Howell (survivor)
- Vera Ingram (survivor)
- Genevieve Elizabeth Tillman Jackson (survivor)
- Thelma Thurman Knight (survivor) loc known
- Leanne Johnson Lewis (survivor)
- Katie Mae Johnson Livingston (survivor)
- Roanna Henry McClure (survivor)
- El Doris Mae Ector McCondichie (survivor)
- Ruth Dean Nash (survivor)
- Juanita Maxine Scott Parry (survivor) address known
- Ida Patterson (survivor)
- Ophelia Johnson Richardon (survivor)
- Simon Roy Richardson (survivor)
- Julius Warren Scott (survivor)
- Veneice Dunn Simms (survivor)
- Beulah Loree Keenan Smith (survivor)
- Dr. Key – physician on Virgin St.
- Golden Williams Smith (survivor)
- James L. Steward (survivor)
- Queen Esther Love Walker (survivor)
- Samuel Walker (survivor)
- Mary Leon Brown Watson (John and Eva Brown) – Webb hotel – Grandparents Graysons (survivor)
- Jeanetta Webb (survivor)
- Mildred Evitt Wilburn (survivor)
- Wes Young (survivor)
- Julia Bonton Jones
- Lucile Buchanan Figures
- Simon Berry – jitney (taxicab and bus company)
- Mabel Little – beauty shop
More Contemporary Greenwood figures
- Don Ross
- Floyd Cooper – descendant and illustrator
- Anna (descendant)
- Speaker from JHF
- Mr. Potts (photographer of Greenwood in the 1940s)
- Gene Hawkins (Coca Cola Driver post 1921)
- Any name from the Ellis Walker Woods Memorial Site
Sample Guiding Questions – To Accompany Knowledge Cards
Thinking Activity One:
Begin by reading the story or account of the individual person(s). Read the story of the survivor or pioneer (represented on a Knowledge Card).
Consider these as guiding questions:
- How does the story or account of the individual capture the events of the 1921 Race Riot and the story of Greenwood?
- What seems most significant about this person’s view or perspective of the events?
- Predict how the individual(s) survived the events of May 31–June 1, 1921.
Your Prediction – Capture the person’s life in one sentence
Thinking Activity Two:
Beyond 1921 – What is the rest of the story?
Was your prediction of how the person “survived” accurate? Based on what information?
How would you tell (or write) the rest of the story? This should be based on facts, so, this would also require doing more research on the individual.
Consider:
- How do you define being a “survivor” or “pioneer”?
- Did the person remain in the Greenwood District?
- If so, what was the motivation for remaining?
- If not, what was the motivation for leaving/ relocating?
The rest of the story… (encourage the participant/ learner to explore beyond the representative story)
