Viola Fletcher, Among Last Known Survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre, Dies at 111

Mother Fletcher's legacy will live on as the epitome of honor, courage, strength, and resilience in the face of violent terrorism, white supremacy, and cowardice

Last summer I had the opportunity to visit the location of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I did not learn of the Tulsa Race Massacre until I was in law school. It was not taught in schools. Today, as Project 2025 increases its death grip on public education, mentions of white supremacist terrorism against Black and brown people continue to face erasure from the history books.

Mural at the site of the Tulsa Race Massacre. [Photo Credit: Qasim Rashid]

In the face of such suppression in this country, one person who defied the odds and refused to remain silent was Viola Fletcher. Born in Comanche, Oklahoma on May 10, 1914, and died on November 24, 2025 in Comanche, Oklahoma, Ms. Fletcher was the oldest known living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre. She fought valiantly throughout her life, facing horrific opposition from city and state authorities in her attempts to bring truth to light, with no help from the federal government. In fact, it wasn’t until January 10, 2025 that the Federal Government finally published a report documenting the atrocities that took place on Black Tulsa residents on those horrid days.

As you read through this detailed review of what she lived through in one of the worst incidents of mass racial violence in American history, and the legacy she leaves behind today–I invite you to think about the disinformation and violence that was used to spread hate back then, and how it’s still employed today. This should serve as a reminder of the work that remains before us, and the obligation each of us have to play our part to right these systemic wrongs. Let’s Address This.

Viola Fletcher, 111 years old, the oldest survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

No one article can do justice to the brilliant and inspiring life of Mother Fletcher. But I feel compelled to share what I can in this piece. For starters, I encourage you to read a more thorough analysis of her life at the Black Wall Street website, an excerpt of which I provide below.

In 1932, at the age of 18, Fletcher married Robert Fletcher and moved to California in search of better opportunities. The Great Depression had gripped the nation, and many families struggled to make ends meet. Viola and Robert found work in the burgeoning shipyard industry during World War II, contributing to the war effort. Viola worked as an assistant welder, a physically demanding job that underscored her determination and resilience.

After the war, the Fletchers returned to Oklahoma to raise their three children. Viola took on work cleaning houses, demonstrating an enduring work ethic that would see her employed well into her 80s. Her life after the massacre was marked by a quiet strength, as she focused on providing for her family and instilling in her children the values of hard work and determination. Despite the challenges of systemic racism and the socioeconomic fallout of the massacre, Viola Fletcher remained a pillar of strength for her family and community.

Her life, however, was not solely defined by personal struggles; she became a beacon of hope and a voice for justice for survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre and their descendants.

What They Don’t Teach About Tulsa

Did you know that the first time terrorists used planes to attack Americans wasn’t on 9/11 or at Pearl Harbor? It was during the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 when white supremacists flew “a dozen planes to drop turpentine or nitroglycerin bombs & men shot from planes.”

This year, May 31 and June 1 marked the 104-year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. It stands as one of the most devastating instances of racial terror in this country, and also one of the most underreported and underrecognized.

Even now, 104 years later, the Tulsa Race Massacre has resulted in zero consequences for the culprits who ignited the massacre. Sadly, this lack of accountability for racial violence has been the norm for the entirety of American history. It is no wonder that today, every intelligence agency points to white supremacy terrorism as the greatest threat to American national security today.

Hughes Van Ellis, 102 (late), Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, and Viola Fletcher, 110. Ms. Randle and Ms. Fletcher were the last known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Indeed, it is truly a contemporary disgrace that in June of 2023, an Oklahoma judge dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit seeking accountability for the Tulsa Race Massacre.

What Happened That Day?

The Tulsa Massacre murdered as many as 300 Black people, destroyed 35 Black-owned city blocks, hospitalized 800 Black people, interned 8,000 Black people in homeless shelters, and displaced more than 10,000 Black people from their homes. Yet, not a single culprit was brought to justice, no reparations were ever paid, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court horrifyingly rejected all civil suits and protected all insurance companies from having to pay out claims. In the final years of her life, Viola Fletcher refused to give up on accountability, she testified before Congress, declaring:

“I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home,” Fletcher said. “[I] still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. [I] still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. [I] still hear airplanes flying overhead, I hear the screams. [I] have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot.”

Smoke billows over Tulsa, Oklahoma during the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921. Credit: Alvin C. Krupnick Co./Library of Congress via AP.

Malcolm X famously remarked, “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” After the massacre, local and national media did exactly that by immediately whitewashing the attack. Despite the estimated 300 Black Americans killed, the Tulsa World newspaper astoundingly led with “Two Whites Dead in Race Riot” and “Many More Whites Are Shot,”— completely neglecting the mass destruction of Black people and Black livelihoods.

Likewise, in an early version of “All Lives Matter,” The Los Angeles Express and The San Diego Union ran headlines completely erasing the targeted attacks on Black Americans—instead only speaking about the estimated number of those killed.

Not to be outdone, the New York Times made it seem like an equal number of white and Black Americans were killed in the massacre. In reality, fewer than 10 white Americans died. As an ongoing reminder of the injustices committed during this massacre, the GOP insists on whitewashing this history and censoring study of atrocities like the Tulsa Race Massacre. How could Black Americans, let alone the Tulsa community, ever heal or believe in their safety and value in this country when basic repair and justice remains unfound?

In the words of Ms. Viola Fletcher,

“We were made to feel that our struggles were unworthy of justice. That we were less valued than whites, that we weren’t fully American. We were shown that in the United States, not all men were equal under law. We were shown that when Black voices called out for justice, no one cared.”

Viola Fletcher. [Credit: https://blackwallstreet.org/violafletcher]

The Bottom Line

Here’s the bottom line. America cannot fulfill its founding promise of equal justice for all without meaningful accountability for those who violate that equal justice. Acknowledgement, reparations for the victims and their families, and an apology for Tulsa would be the basic, necessary steps towards justice. To date, the United States has delivered none of the above.

Ms. Fletcher fought her whole life for acknowledgement and justice for the survivors like her.

“I believe we must acknowledge America’s sins,” she said. “It is the least we can do.”

True reform will require a complete reimagining of public safety to counter the systemic violence against BIPOC communities. We cannot afford another century of apathy. If we are sincere about accountability for historical atrocities like the Tulsa Race Massacre, we must also be committed to meaningfully curb the tide of systemic racist violence, end white supremacy, and build a more perfect union that truly offers equal justice for all.

And this is not ancient history. Consider that Ms. Viola Fletcher was born only one year after Harriett Tubman died, who herself was four years old when Thomas Jefferson died. That is how stark today’s connection is to the founding of this country. This isn’t ancient history. This is contemporary reality. And that is why it is all the more critical that we act quickly to ensure justice for Tulsa and the dozens of other anti-Black massacres that have gone unpunished throughout American history.

Conclusion

Viola Fletcher’s 111 years on this Earth are a living indictment of America’s refusal to confront its own violence. She carried, in her memory and in her testimony, the full truth of Tulsa—what was taken, what was destroyed, and what this nation still refuses to reconcile. Ms. Fletcher was not just a survivor; she was a historian, a witness, and a moral compass who spent a century demanding that this country tell the truth about itself. Now she passes the torch.

Her passing is not the end of the Tulsa story. It is a reminder that we now inherit her fight. We owe it to her—to her courage, her persistence, her unwavering clarity—to ensure Tulsa is neither forgotten nor sanitized.

Justice sadly did not arrive in her lifetime, but it must in ours.