I did get a quick drive by of the two FrankLlyod Wright houses. The Bott house is perched on a ridge with I'm sure a wonderful view of Kansas City. The Sondern House was not very visible from the road, but it was in a tony neighborhood next to the Thomas Hart Benton studio. I was not familiar with him; Benton was a regionalist style painter who was a contemporary of Grant Wood.
I passed a city named Delaware and there is a Delaware Ave in Tulsa. Being from Delaware that peaked my interest, but I have read that the Delaware Native American nations -- Leni Lenape and Nanticoke -- were driven west as far as Oklahoma so that probably accounts for the name.
My main objective today was the Greenwood Culitural Center to learn more about the riot that destroyed the Black Wall Street. It was a sobering experience. 36 blocks of the Greenwood area where there was a thriving black community were totally destroyed by fire. The altercation started because supposedly a black male had attempted to assault a female elevator operator who yellow newspapers claimed was an orphan working to pay her way through school.
Actually, she was a married woman who had come to Tulsa seeking a divorce and the gentleman had stumbled when the elevator jammed between two floors. Nevertheless, the KKK rallied their forces and a stray shot fired by one side or the other, triggered a melee. The white vigilantes stormed the black community shooting people as they tried to flee their homes before they were burned. Airplanes were mobilized to drop bombs or incendiary devices. The Nationa Guard was called in and put the remaining blacks in interment centers. The Red Cross seemed to be the only organization with compassion towards the black community. In all, more than 300 black people were killed and some bodies were never recovered as some were dumped in mass graves or thrown in the river.
When the blacks tried to collect on their insurance all claims were denied. The city council then attempted to sell their land, but a court appeal halted that effort. Tulsa has acknowledged this dark event in their history, and the Greenwood area has seen some resurgence, but now a freeway cuts through it. And no one knows what happened to accused or the accuser.
I had to decompress after learning more details of the attack. A woman at the center suggested Wanda J's for home food. I ended up sitting next to a black couple who had watched the documentary at the museum as well. We had a thoughtful conversation about this terrible event and how there are similarities to current events. I gave them my card because the husband really wants to go ice fishing.
I didn't realize that Tulsa had had a huge amount of Art Deco architecture so I went to the Decotopia on old Rt 66 to learn more. Sadly, many of the Art Deco buildings have been demolished but they had a sort of mini museum of photos of building and housewares from that period.
Just down the street in the Pearl district, was Buck Anton's Cosmic Curios on 66. The shopkeeper there was quite friendly and recommended I checkout the Philbtook Museum and Gardens rather than the botanical garden. I wasn't going to see the Golden Driller statue but when she said it was the largest free standing statue in the world I had to go. Beaides, I did go out of my way to see the Vulcan statue when I was in Birmingham, AL for work once because I had read about it in novel. Also when I asked her why they thought they had big foot there, because we're pretty sure he's in Minnesota. She said it's a new tourist atttaction and they claim he's in some "mountains" on the Texas border. The state legislators had tried to pass a bill to allow for Big foot hunting last year.
Last stop before turning in was the Cabin Boys micro brewery. I had a flight that included a salted pretzel lager. I was able to sit outside with Buddha because the weather was warm. A group at the neighboring table engaged in conversation with me after they gave Buddha lots of attention. One couple just had a baby. One gal had quit her job that day as a pastry chef because she really likes to make chocolates but was stuck making croissant. I said why doesn't she open her own chocolatier? But they already habe enough in Tulsa. Another woman was a Montessori teacher who takes her kids camping . They asked
me what I was doing in Tulsa and I explained my tour. They were quite enthusiastic about it but wanted me to stay in Tulsa longer. Most of them smoked which surprised me, but the hotel here had smoking rooms which I hadn't seen in a long time. They said a lot of people here smoke and you can't trust people unless they have at least one vice. :)
Comments