Viola Ford Fletcher, oldest survivor of Tulsa Race Massacre, dies at age 111

Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died at the age of 111, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols announced Monday.

“Today, our city mourns the loss of Mother Viola Fletcher – a survivor of one of the darkest chapters in our city’s history. Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose,” Nichols said on social media.

“Mother Fletcher carried 111 years of truth, resilience, and grace and was a reminder of how far we’ve come and how far we must still go,” he said. “She never stopped advocating for justice for the survivors and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and I hope we all can carry forward her legacy with the courage and conviction she modeled every day of her life.”

Fletcher, a grandmother of six, told CBS News in a 2021 interview that she thought about the massacre every day.

“It will be something I’ll never forget,” she said.

Tulsa’s Greenwood District, which was known as “Black Wall Street,” was destroyed by a White mob after a Black man was accused of assaulting a White woman. At least 300 Black residents were killed, and thousands were left homeless following the daylong massacre in which White rioters attacked Black residents, looted businesses and burned buildings. 

The National Guard was brought in, imposing martial law and helping to round up and imprison Black people. More than 35 blocks were charred and 6,000 people were held in detention — some for up to eight days, according to the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum.

“We had friends and played outside and [would] visit with neighbors and was happy there with our parents. Just loved being there,” Fletcher told CBS News, recalling Greenwood before the massacre.

Lessie Benningfield Randle, 111, is now the only survivor of the Tulsa Massacre.