The National Guard finally ended the riot early on June 1. The town was placed under Martial Law. The estimated death toll was 90 blacks and 10 whites, ("Dead Estimated at 100-).
Up until just about five years ago, no one talked about the riot. Now it is believed that at least 300 blacks were killed. The truth about the death toll and the destruction was covered up. In an interview done by CNN, Beulah Smith told about her experience in the riot when she was 14 years old. She remembers her neighbor coming and telling her, "Get your families out of here because they"re killing niggers uptown." "We hid in the weeds in the hog pen" (Morris). Ruth Avery told about small airplanes dropping explosives on the area known as Little Africa. There was an internment camp that was set up at the Tulsa Fairgrounds for whites and blacks who had nowhere to go. Many blacks ran north when the riot started.
During the riot, truckloads of whites set fires and shot blacks. More than 1,400 houses and buildings were set on fire. Machine guns were fired into crowds (Morris). Among all the damage, one of the buildings destroyed was the Mount Zion Church. It had just been constructed and opened for the North Tulsa black community six weeks earlier, then burned to the ground along with 35 blocks of Greenwood. It cost $85,000 to build, and the community had $50,000 still to pay back. Although the building was no longer standing, the debt was completely paid 21 years later (Blakey 104).
Before the riot, the Greenwood area was known as "The Black Wallstreet." Then most blacks lost everything they owned to fire or robbery. The blacks were also blamed for the incident. After the riot, "Whites were ordered not to permit any black not in their employ to occupy any building on their property. They were also denied sale or possession of firearms or weapons of any kind" (Blakey 104).
Over 75 later, J.B. Stradford, the man arrested for the wrongdoing concerning the riot, was cleared.
