Viola Fletcher, oldest survivor of 1921 Tulsa massacre, dies at 111

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Viola Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died at 111. In the final years of her life, she and other survivors shared their stories publicly, bringing a more nuanced awareness about the legacy of that day.

On the night of May 31, 1921, 7-year-old Fletcher was asleep in bed as the city around her began to burn.

An angry mob of White residents had descended on the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, burning and looting homes and businesses in the thriving majority-Black neighborhood, known as “Black Wall Street.” The mob’s rageful attack had been fueled by racism and false allegations that a 19-year-old Black shoe shiner, Dick Rowland, had raped a 17-year-old White elevator operator, Sarah Page. Page declined to press charges and denied that an assault occurred.

Over two days, the raging White residents destroyed 35 city blocks. Some 300 people died, more than 800 were hospitalized and about 6,000 Black residents were detained in internment camps.

 “You know, I can still smell the smoke … the burning,” Fletcher told The 19th’s reporting fellow Katherine Gilyard in 2023. “I remember the bodies. All the Black bodies in the street. The sound of the guns … they didn’t stop — I can still hear them.” 

Fletcher’s family fled and were forced to live a nomadic life for years as seasonal sharecroppers. Fletcher eventually married, moved to California and worked as an assistant welder in the shipyards during World War II before working as a house cleaner until age 85.

It wasn’t until 2021 — the 100th anniversary of the massacre — that the country really began to reckon with this history.

“I am 107 years old and have never seen justice,” Fletcher testified before Congress that year. “I pray that one day I will. I have been blessed with a long life – and have seen the best and worst of this country. I think about the horrors inflicted upon Black people in this country every day.”

In 2023, at 109, Fletcher published her memoir, “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story.” Lessie Benningfield Randle, who celebrated her 111th birthday this month, is now the last known living survivor of the massacre.