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Tulsa Mourns Loss of Viola Fletcher, Oldest Survivor of Race Massacre, at 111
OKLAHOMA CITY – The city of Tulsa is in mourning following the passing of Viola Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the devastating 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, who died on Monday, November 24, at the remarkable age of 111.
Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols shared the news on social media, reflecting on Fletcher’s enduring spirit. “Today, our city mourns the loss of Mother Viola Fletcher – a survivor of one of the darkest chapters in our city’s history,” Nichols wrote. “Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose.”
Born in Comanche, Oklahoma, Fletcher moved to Tulsa with her family as a child and bore witness to the horrific events of the 1921 massacre. During this tragedy, an estimated 300 Black individuals were killed by a white mob, and Greenwood, a flourishing Black community in Tulsa, was utterly destroyed.
Throughout her long life, Fletcher was a tireless advocate for reparations for the massacre’s victims and their descendants. Oklahoma State Rep.
Ron Stewart fondly remembered her unwavering devotion to her family. “Any time you would find Mother Fletcher, and she was surrounded by her family, her smile,” Stewart recalled.
“She had a beautiful smile.”
Fletcher was one of the last two known living survivors of the race massacre. The sole remaining survivor is Lessie Benningfield Randle, aged 110. Fletcher’s brother, Hughes Van Ellis, also a survivor of the massacre, passed away in 2023 at 102.
A Century-Long Fight for Recognition and Justice
For nearly a century, the Tulsa Race Massacre remained largely unacknowledged. Fletcher played a pivotal role in changing that narrative, drawing national attention to the massacre, supporting a lawsuit for reparations, and publishing a memoir detailing her experience.
“Mother Fletcher was just, you know, we talk about 111 years of legacy and a living memorial, walking history is how she was revered, and she earned the title of Mother Fletcher,” Stewart commented.
Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, who led an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit for reparations, urged Tulsans to continue Fletcher’s crucial work. “She would not want her passing to be the end of the fight,” Solomon-Simmons stated. “She would want it to light a fire under all of us.”
To this day, no one has ever faced legal consequences for the Tulsa Race Massacre. The white mob destroyed more than 35 city blocks and an estimated 191 buildings, displacing approximately 10,000 Black residents from their homes.
“I live through the massacre every day”
In powerful testimony before the U.S. Congress in 2021, Fletcher vividly recounted the violence she endured, stating that nearly a century later, she could still see bodies in the street and smell the smoke.
“I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead,” she testified.
“I hear the screams. I live through the massacre every day.”
In 2020, Fletcher, Van Ellis, and Benningfield Randle filed a lawsuit against Tulsa seeking reparations, including a 99-year tax holiday for descendants of massacre victims. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the case.
However, in June, Tulsa announced the establishment of a $105 million trust aimed at addressing the lasting impacts of the massacre.
Former President Joe Biden met with Fletcher, Van Ellis, and Benningfield Randle during a 2021 visit to Tulsa commemorating the 100th anniversary of the massacre. “We should know the good, the bad, everything,” Biden declared in a speech during his visit.
“That’s what great nations do. They come to terms with their dark sides.
And we’re a great nation.”