Viola Ford Fletcher, Tulsa Massacre survivor and tireless voice for justice, dies at 111

Viola Ford Fletcher, one of the last living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and a lifelong campaigner for recognition and reparations, has died at the age of 111.

Even in her later years, Fletcher remained a powerful public figure, turning her personal trauma into a relentless demand for historical truth. Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols marked her passing with a tribute that captured her significance to the city and beyond.

“Today, our city mourns the loss of Mother Viola Fletcher. She was a survivor of one of the darkest chapters in our city’s history and endured more than anyone should,” he wrote. “Mother Fletcher carried 111 years of truth, resilience, and grace and was a reminder of how far we’ve come and how far we must still go.”

Fletcher was just seven when the Tulsa Massacre erupted in a state still governed by Jim Crow segregation laws. The violence began after police arrested 19-year-old Dick Rowland, accused of assaulting white elevator operator Sarah Page. As a white mob gathered demanding Rowland be lynched, Black residents attempted to protect him and, as later described, “all hell broke out”.

What followed was systematic devastation. Vigilantes and elements of law enforcement burned and looted 35 blocks of the Greenwood District, then one of the most prosperous Black communities in the US. Up to 300 people were killed, hundreds injured, and many buried in unmarked graves. The economic damage, adjusted for inflation, was later estimated at more than $32m.

Fletcher and her family fled, eventually becoming sharecroppers, pushed into poverty after losing everything. Rowland was never charged after Page declined to pursue the case.

For decades, the massacre was largely erased from mainstream history. It was only in 1997 that Oklahoma launched a formal investigation, and while attempts at compensation failed in 2001, Fletcher never stopped speaking. She testified before Congress in 2021 and co-authored her memoir Don’t Let Them Bury My Story with her grandson two years later.

Tributes poured in from across the US, including former President Barack Obama, who wrote:

“As a survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Viola Ford Fletcher bravely shared her story so that we’d never forget this painful part of our history. Michelle and I are grateful for her lifelong work to advance civil rights, and send our love to her family.”