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May 31 6 tweets 3 min read
#OnThisDay in 1921, the deadliest racial massacre in U.S. history began in the thriving Greenwood African American community of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Black Wall Street in Tulsa, OK was destroyed by a racist mob. #APeoplesJourney #ANationsStory A black-and-white photograph of the Greenwood District of Tu
In late May 1921, Black teenager Dick Rowland was falsely accused of assaulting a white woman in Tulsa, OK. Clashes between Black & white residents of Tulsa spiraled into the deadliest in a series of incidents of mass racial violence that convulsed the US in the early 1900s. A black-and-white photograph of men walking down the middle
In Tulsa, as in all of these massacres, white mobs destroyed Black communities, property, and lives. More than a century after the riot, the people of Tulsa & the nation continue to struggle to reckon with the massacre’s multiple legacies. More: s.si.edu/3MXtFX0
Dozens of Black-owned businesses were rebuilt in Greenwood within a year of the massacre, and hundreds more followed over the next three decades. This rapid rebuilding illustrates the energy and resiliency of the community. A black-and-white photograph of Eunice Jackson, Owen William
Our collection items, like these pennies charred during the Massacre, help fill the silences in our nation’s memory around these events & its reverberations, preserving & sharing wider stories of Black communities & centering the testimonies of survivors & their descendants. Three charred pennies from the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921.
Confronting the past through these materials provides us opportunities to understand our present and better shape our future. View & learn more about the Tulsa items in our collection: s.si.edu/3MV2U5z

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More from @NMAAHC

Feb 22
#DYK? An enslaved man named Onesimus introduced the smallpox vaccine to doctors in Colonial North America. #BlackHistoryMonth Infographic with a teal bor...
Smallpox was an extremely contagious virus that plagued much of the world for millennia, and killed 15% of Boston’s population in 1721. Some African societies had previously developed and implemented a method to combat the spread of the disease. #ANationsStory
Onesimus described to doctors the long-standing African practice of inoculation, introducing pathogens to open wounds to produce antibodies and induce immunity. #APeoplesJourney
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Aug 28, 2021
#OnThisDay in 1963, 250K people made the journey to The #MarchOnWashington for Jobs and Freedom.

Today we recount their stories. #APeoplesJourney

nmaahc.si.edu/march-on-washi…
The #MarchOnWashington sought to pressure Congress to pass civil rights legislation. Many public officials feared that the march would result in violence and proposed a bill in Congress to prevent it. nmaahc.si.edu/march-on-washi…
Every region of the country was present—people of all different races and creeds converged over 50 yrs ago today: bit.ly/2wCwUip
Read 22 tweets
May 31, 2021
100 years ago today, the deadliest racial massacre in U.S. history began in the thriving Greenwood African American community of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Black Wall Street in Tulsa was destroyed by a racist mob. #Tulsa100
The imprisonment of Dick Rowland, a Black man falsely accused of assaulting a white woman, sparked the Tulsa Massacre. A lynch mob gathered to hang Rowland; Black Tulsans hurried to the courthouse to protect him. A tinderbox of racial resentment & white supremacy quickly ignited.
From May 31 to June 1 white mobs ransacked, razed, and burned over 1,000 homes, businesses, and churches in Greenwood, and murdered scores of African Americans. #Tulsa100
Read 10 tweets
May 17, 2021
#OTD in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. For more than a decade, Charles Houston, Dean of @howardlawschool, headed a team of lawyers that challenged the segregation of schools in 4 states & DC. #APeoplesJourney Image
@howardlawschool After Houston’s death, Thurgood Marshall argued a joint appeal of these cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education.
Part of their defense relied on the testimonies and research of social scientists throughout their legal strategy. #APeoplesJourney Image
@howardlawschool In the 1940s, psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark designed and conducted a series of experiments known as “the doll tests” to study the psychological effects of segregation on African American children.
Learn more: nyti.ms/2VrPQJi #APeoplesJourney
Read 4 tweets
Dec 18, 2020
Ma Rainey, known as the "Mother of the Blues,” is one of the earliest known American professional blues singers. She was born Gertrude Pridgett in Columbus, Georgia, on April 26, 1886.

nmaahc.si.edu/LGBTQ/ma-rainey #MaRaineyFilm #APeoplesGroove
At the age of 18, she married William Rainey and the two toured as performers with multiple minstrel and vaudeville shows, including the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. They later separated and Ma Rainey relocated to Chicago. #MaRaineyFilm #APeoplesGroove
In the 1920’s Ma Rainey signed a recording contract with Paramount Records. Marketed as “the Mother of the Blues” Ma Rainey was heavily advertised in the Black press, particularly the Chicago Defender. #MaRaineyFilm #APeoplesGroove
Read 7 tweets
Jul 16, 2020
At the National Museum of African American History and Culture, we believe that any productive conversation on race must start with honesty, respect for others, and an openness to ideas and information that provide new perspectives.
In that context, we recently unveiled “Talking About Race,” an online portal providing research, studies, and other academic materials from the fields of history, education, psychology, and human development.
Our goal in doing so was to contribute to a discussion on this vitally important subject that millions of Americans are grappling with.

Since yesterday, certain content in the “Talking About Race” portal has been the subject of questions that we have taken seriously.
Read 6 tweets

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