As the first world war drew to a close, a campaign of violence swept America. In dozens of cities and rural communities, white mobs, reacting to growing Black empowerment and migration to the north engaged in racial terror, killing large numbers of people and burning entire communities to the ground.
These events indelibly changed America. Yet they are unknown to many Americans. The 1921 massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in which white citizens leveled an entire Black community and murdered up to 300 people, has received renewed attention in recent years. But far fewer people know of the scores of rampages that took place across the country between 1917 and 1923. America does not officially commemorate them. Few high school history books, museums or local governments touch on them. Much of this history lives in the memories and archives of the communities and families that were directly affected by these incidents.
The Guardian will commemorate this period in a major project launching in time for the Tulsa centennial in the coming months. As part of this project, we would like to collect the stories of readers whose families and communities were affected by the violence of this period. We especially want to hear from descendants of survivors. We will publish a collection of these stories in the Guardian.
Share your experiences
You can get in touch by filling in the form below. If you, or an elder, has a testimonial that would be easier to submit via video, you can upload or send a link in the form. Your responses are secure as the form is encrypted and only the Guardian has access to your contributions.
We may publish your response in the Guardian. We are also working with artist Bayete Ross Smith on this project; he or the Guardian may reach out to you for more information, so please do leave contact details.
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