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2mo ago

Viola Ford Fletcher, Oldest Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Dies at 111

Her death refocuses attention on Tulsa’s $105 million Road to Repair plan after courts rejected survivors’ bid for reparations.

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Survivors and siblings Viola Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis listen as U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the centennial anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre during a visit to the Greenwood Cultural Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S., June 1, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
Survivors and siblings Viola Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis attend the soil dedication at Stone Hill on the 100 year anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S., May 31, 2021. REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant/File Photo
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Overview

  • Her family and Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols confirmed she died on Nov. 24, with grandson Ike Howard saying she was surrounded by loved ones.
  • Known as “Mother Fletcher,” she testified before Congress in 2021 and later co-wrote the 2023 memoir “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story.”
  • The Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the survivors’ reparations lawsuit in June 2024, ending the last active case seeking direct compensation.
  • With her passing, 111-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle is identified as the last living survivor of the 1921 attack on Greenwood.
  • The massacre destroyed roughly 30–35 blocks of Black Wall Street, killed an estimated up to 300 people, and left thousands homeless, and federal reviewers said no criminal prosecutions are now possible.