Oldest survivor of Tulsa Race Massacre dies at age 111
Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died at the age of 111, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols announced Monday.
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Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died at the age of 111, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols announced Monday.
In 1921, a thriving black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, burned, leaving hundreds dead. Scott Pelley reports.
In 1921, a thriving black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, burned, leaving hundreds dead. Scott Pelley reports.
The Tulsa Police Department is making efforts to repair trust with the community it serves. But it's no easy task after more than a century of racial tension. Mark Strassmann has the story.
The discovery comes almost a month after the first identification of remains previously exhumed during the search for massacre victims were identified as World War I veteran C.L. Daniel.
The breakthrough for identifying C.L. Daniel came when investigators found a 1936 letter from his mother's attorney seeking veteran's benefits.
"CBS Mornings" co-host Nate Burleson and his wife, Atoya, go on a journey to explore her ancestral roots and the impact of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.
Only two other survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre are still alive, Hughes Van Ellis' sister, Viola Ford Fletcher, 109 and Lessie Benningfield Randle, 108.
None of the remains found thus far have been confirmed as victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
"We get closer to figuring out who was buried in that cemetery and when," said forensic anthropologist Phoebe Stubblefield.
The person's race and whether the remains are those of a massacre victim are not yet known.
President Biden marked the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the deadliest in U.S. history, when a White mob in 1921 murdered hundreds of African Americans and destroyed the area known as Black Wall Street. Mr. Biden also unveiled plans to help communities of color throughout the U.S. "CBS Evening News" anchor Norah O'Donnell anchors this CBS News Special Report from Washington with CBS News correspondent Omar Villafranca in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Karlos Hill, a professor at the University of Oklahoma and a board member for the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission.
The coffins, then the remains, will be examined to see if they match reports from 1921 that the victims were males buried in plain caskets.
In 1921, over 1,000 homes were burned, hundreds were looted and a thriving business district known as Black Wall Street was destroyed.
Scientists shared an update in their ongoing effort to identify victims of the 1921 attack and connect them to living descendants.
Researchers are examining 14 sets of remains removed from a local cemetery a year ago and have said at least two of the remains contain enough usable DNA for testing for possible identification.
A search for the graves of massacre victims began in 2020 and resumed last year with nearly three dozen coffins containing remains of possible victims recovered.
It's been 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre, a two-day attack on Black Americans in the thriving business district of Greenwood. Hear from survivors, descendants of victims and thought leaders in the CBS News special "Tulsa 1921: An American Tragedy," anchored by "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King.
Survivors and descendants are suing Tulsa for reparations.
In1921, a White mob descended on the Black section of Tulsa and burned over 1,000 homes and destroyed its thriving business district.
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