Dr. Olivia Hooker, last known Tulsa Race Riot survivor dies at 103

[mahatmakanejeeves]

WhatCouldGoWrongHat Retweeted

In 1921 a mob of white vigilantes and police officers looted the wealthiest black community in the US and burned it to the ground. 100-300 people killed, 10,000 made homeless. Then National Guard imprisoned every black person in the area. Those responsible were never prosecuted.

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I am sad to report that Dr. Olivia J. Hooker, the last known survivor of the Tulsa Race Riots, who I interview for an August column entitled, “Eyewitness to the Desolation of ‘Black Wall Street,’” passes away last night. She was 103. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/opinion/olivia-hooker-tulsa-race-riot.amp.html …

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Dr. Olivia Hooker, last known Tulsa Race Riot survivor dies at 103

By: Chrishayla Smith

Updated: Nov 22, 2018 - 1:45 PM

TULSA, Okla. - QUICK FACTS:

• Dr. Olivia J. Hooker, last survivor of the Tulsa Race Riot died Wednesday at the age of 103.
• Hooker was the first African-American woman to join the United States Coast Guard during World War II.
• In July, FOX23 reported that Hooker told her story in a five-part film named "Greenwood Avenue."
• Hooker's funeral services will be held at the Historic Vernon AME Church at 311 Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa on Friday, November 23 at 1 p.m.
People are remembering Dr. Olivia J. Hooker, the last known survivor of the Tulsa Race Riot, who died Wednesday at the age of 103.

According to a U.S. Coast Guard blog, Hooker was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1915. She was 6 years old when the Klu Klux Klan burned her father's clothing store in the 1921 Tulsa Race Riots. Hooker and her siblings hid in their home while it was ransacked by rioters.

Hooker earned a bachelor's degree in education before becoming the first African-American woman to join the United States Coast Guard SPARs in 1945. She served until the SPARs were disbanded in mid-1946.

Hooker then earned her masters degree and Ph.D. in psychology. She became a psychologist, professor and member of the Kennedy Child Study Center in the Bronx before retiring in 2002, at the age of 87, according to the blog.

Throughout her life, Hooker has been a leader in civic, cultural and educational organizations. ... In July, Hooker was interviewed for a five-part series called "Greenwood Avenue," which is sponsored by Google.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I remember reading about Tulsa. I'll look around some more later, but I seem to remember...

it was only partly about race.

As I remember, AA's in Tulsa were wildly successful in business and politics while their white neighbors were sucking wind. Time came when they were "in the way" of some white ventures and so had to be taken out.

It's the American way.

[Runningdawg]

2. Of course white people were jealous of the "Black Wall Street"

But make no mistake, what started the massacre was an alleged incident of indecent touching in an elevator.

[appalachiablue]

3. Dr. Olivia Hooker, amazing lady. So much racism, violence then & now.

Anti- East Indian Bellingham, Washington Race Riot 1907. On September 4th, 1907 five hundred white working men in Bellingham, WA gathered to drive a community of South Asian migrant workers out of the city. With the mission of “scar[ing] them so badly that they will not crowd white labor out of the mills,” the growing mob rallied and went to work.

The rioters moved through town, breaking windows, throwing rocks, indiscriminately beating people, overpowering a few police officers, and pulling men out of their workplaces and homes. They eventually rounded up two hundred or so of the South Asian immigrant workers in the basement of City Hall to stay the night. The mob was successful in that within ten days the entire South Asian population departed town.

Despite promises of protections from city officials, the South Asian workers well understood that there was no protection for them in Bellingham and migrated up and down the Pacific coast looking for safer and saner living conditions.
The historical forces that lead to this outbreak of racist violence in this small town in the Pacific Northwest are complex and were long in the making.http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_history.htm