- Created by
- Unidentified
- Owned by
- Ross, J. Kavin, American
- Date
- 1921
- Medium
- silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper, with ink on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W: 3 7/16 × 5 7/16 in. (8.7 × 13.8 cm)
- Caption
- On May 31 and June 1, 1921, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, mobs of white residents brutally attacked the African American community of Greenwood, colloquially known as "Black Wall Street," in the deadliest racial massacre in U.S. history. This unidentified individual was just one of the many victims. The Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics recorded the official death toll as 36, but it is now believed it may have been as high as 300 dead with many more missing and wounded.
- Photo postcards of the Tulsa Race Massacre were widely distributed following the massacre in 1921. Like postcards depicting lynchings, these souvenir cards were powerful declarations of white racial power and control. Decades later, the cards served as evidence for community members working to recover the forgotten history of the riot and secure justice for its victims and their descendants.
- Description
- A sepia-toned photographic postcard depicting the body of an unidentified victim of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The image shows the body lying in the middle of the street, with newspapers covering the face. A man stands at left, looking down at the body. In the background is a damaged car, debris, and destroyed buildings. Across the bottom of the image, written into the negative and appearing as white text is [NEGRO SLAIN IN TULSA RIOT JUNE-1-1921]. The verso is marked [POST CARD] at the top with spaces for [CORRESPONDENCE] and [ADDRESS] and an AZO stamp box in the top right corner.
- Place depicted
- Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Photographs and Still Images
- Type
- gelatin silver prints
- photographic postcards
- Topic
- Communities
- Photography
- Race relations
- Race riots
- Tulsa Race Massacre
- U.S. History, 1919-1933
- Violence
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2011.175.6
- Restrictions & Rights
- Public domain
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




