TULSA DECO, & Historic Photos & Ephemera - Page 12
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Did you know that Tulsa once had a Triumphal Arch?
Built after WWI, it was located on Main Street near 4th and modeled after the famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Tulsan's built this "Arch of Welcome" to welcome home the Company D, 111th Engineer Regiment, known as the "Tulsa Engineers" who were due to pass through Tulsa on the evening of June 12, 1919.
People often ask, "What happened to it? Why did they tear it down?" The Arch was only meant to be temporary and is actually a nice bit of Trompe' L'oeil (trick of the eye) artistry. The structure is actually made of wood that is overlaid with cleverly painted canvas and wood trim to give the illusion of a sculpted stone archway.
Below: Zoomed in you can begin to see the wrinkles in the painted canvas, to the right of the columns, and the wood trim components around the edges.
TULSA RACE MASSACRE
1921
From Wikipedia:
The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The event is considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history.
The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood—at the time, one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States, colloquially known as "Black Wall Street."More than 800 people were admitted to hospitals, and as many as 6,000 black residents of Tulsa were interned in large facilities, many of them for several days. The Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics officially recorded 36 dead.The 2001 Tulsa Reparations Coalition examination of events identified 39 dead, 26 black and 13 white, based on contemporary autopsy reports, death certificates, and other records. The commission gave several estimates ranging from 75 to 300 dead.
Below: Image labled "Race Riot Ruins 6/5.21"
Below: Close-up of "Race Riot Ruins"
Below: Image labled " 6/5/21 Colored Town Ruins"
Below: Close-up of Image labled " 6/5/21 Colored Town Ruins" You can see some of the tents that were set up in the aftermath. Many were businesses and services already working help the people of Greenwood, and to help with the rebuilding process.
Below: Tulsa's Grand Theater/Opera House. 1919
The Opera House opened in 1906, and was located on East 2nd St. Between Boston and Cincinnati. By 1913 the ability to show Movies was added and it began being called the Grand Theater.
Below: Great view of the Hotel Boswell "tallest building" and surrounding buildings
121 S. Main Street, June 12 1919.
Below: Aftermath of fire in the Alexander Building, on Main Street, which housed Garners Drugs. December 10/ 1919. You can see the Hotel Boswell which also housed Boswell's Jewelry, to the far left. That building can be seen better in the image just above this one.
Thanks for Hanging Around!
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