Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest known survivor of the 1921’s horrific Tulsa Race Massacre, died on Monday at the age of 111, CNN reported, citing her grandson Ike Howard. The city’s mayor, Monroe Nichols, also confirmed her death. Fletcher died at a Tulsa hospital surrounded by her family.
Earlier this year, Mother Viola Fletcher marked her 111th birthday. In 2023, she published her memoir, Don’t Let Them Bury My Story, written with her grandson Ike Howard. A lifelong advocate for justice, she continued pushing for reparations for survivors and descendants well into her later years, even spending her 109th birthday in court alongside the remaining survivors and the Justice for Greenwood movement.
At the age of 7, Fletcher witnessed the violent destruction of Greenwood. On May 31, 1921, a White mob attacked the district following sensationalized newspaper reports accusing a Black man of assaulting a White woman. Black residents armed themselves to protect the man from lynching, prompting a brutal response from White residents. The two-day massacre left hundreds dead, over 30 city blocks destroyed, and countless families displaced.
Viola Fletcher, widely known as Mother Fletcher, was the oldest known survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and one of the nation’s few living supercentenarians.
Born on May 10, 1914, in Oklahoma, Fletcher spent her early years in Greenwood, a thriving Black-owned neighborhood famously known as “Black Wall Street.” In her memoir, she described Greenwood as a self-sufficient oasis during segregation, with doctors, grocery stores, restaurants, banks, and homes for Black families.
Fletcher’s family was forced to due to the Tulsa Race Massacre, living nomadically in tents while working as sharecroppers. Her formal education ended after the fourth grade due to the upheaval.
By age 16, Fletcher returned to Tulsa and found work cleaning and creating window displays in a department store. She later married Robert Fletcher and moved to California, where she worked as a welder in a Los Angeles shipyard during World War II.
Fletcher eventually left her husband, who was physically abusive, and returned to Oklahoma to raise her children closer to family. She gave birth to her son, Robert Ford Fletcher, and later had two other children, James Edward Ford and Debra Stein Ford, from other relationships.
Earlier this year, Mother Viola Fletcher marked her 111th birthday. In 2023, she published her memoir, Don’t Let Them Bury My Story, written with her grandson Ike Howard. A lifelong advocate for justice, she continued pushing for reparations for survivors and descendants well into her later years, even spending her 109th birthday in court alongside the remaining survivors and the Justice for Greenwood movement.
Tulsa race massacre
At the age of 7, Fletcher witnessed the violent destruction of Greenwood. On May 31, 1921, a White mob attacked the district following sensationalized newspaper reports accusing a Black man of assaulting a White woman. Black residents armed themselves to protect the man from lynching, prompting a brutal response from White residents. The two-day massacre left hundreds dead, over 30 city blocks destroyed, and countless families displaced.
Who was Viola Fletcher
Viola Fletcher, widely known as Mother Fletcher, was the oldest known survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and one of the nation’s few living supercentenarians.
Born on May 10, 1914, in Oklahoma, Fletcher spent her early years in Greenwood, a thriving Black-owned neighborhood famously known as “Black Wall Street.” In her memoir, she described Greenwood as a self-sufficient oasis during segregation, with doctors, grocery stores, restaurants, banks, and homes for Black families.
Fletcher’s family was forced to due to the Tulsa Race Massacre, living nomadically in tents while working as sharecroppers. Her formal education ended after the fourth grade due to the upheaval.
By age 16, Fletcher returned to Tulsa and found work cleaning and creating window displays in a department store. She later married Robert Fletcher and moved to California, where she worked as a welder in a Los Angeles shipyard during World War II.
Fletcher eventually left her husband, who was physically abusive, and returned to Oklahoma to raise her children closer to family. She gave birth to her son, Robert Ford Fletcher, and later had two other children, James Edward Ford and Debra Stein Ford, from other relationships.
