Viola Fletcher: A Beacon of Resilience Amid Dark History

Viola Fletcher, the oldest living Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, passed away at 111. She witnessed the 1921 attacks in Tulsa's Greenwood neighborhood and became a prominent voice for justice. Despite her court case being dismissed, Tulsa created a fund to address the massacre's enduring impacts.

Viola Fletcher, the oldest known survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, passed away at the age of 111, as confirmed by Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols. The mayor commemorated Fletcher as a guiding light, noting her tremendous resilience in surviving one of the city's darkest episodes.

Born in Comanche, Oklahoma, Fletcher moved to Tulsa as a child and, at age seven, witnessed the 1921 massacre where white attackers decimated the thriving Black community of Greenwood. This violent history left scars that she recalled vividly nearly a century later during her 2021 testimony before the U.S. Congress.

Fletcher, along with her brother Hughes Van Ellis and fellow survivor Leslie Benningfield Randle, sought reparations through a lawsuit in 2020. Although the case was dismissed, Tulsa addressed the massacre's legacy with a $105 million trust. President Biden met with Fletcher in 2021, emphasizing the nation's need to confront its past.

(With inputs from agencies.)