Viola Ford Fletcher, one of the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, died on Monday at a Tulsa hospital surrounded by family at the age of 111.
Fletcher’s death marks the passing of a crucial witness to one of America’s darkest chapters — a violent attack that destroyed a thriving black community and went largely unacknowledged for decades.
Her grandson, Ike Howard, confirmed her death on Monday.
Fletcher had spent her final years seeking justice for the massacre that devastated Tulsa’s prosperous Greenwood district, known as Black Wall Street. Her testimony is included in the Department of Justice’s 2025 Review and Evaluation of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
“As a survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Viola Ford Fletcher bravely shared her story so that we’d never forget this painful part of our history,” former President Barack Obama posted on X. “Michelle and I are grateful for her lifelong work to advance civil rights, and send our love to her family.”
“I’m deeply saddened by the passing of Viola Ford Fletcher. … Mother Fletcher, as she was affectionately known, overcame incredible odds to live a full life dedicated to truth, healing, and justice,” said Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware.” My prayers are with her children, loved ones, and the entire Tulsa community. May she rest in eternal peace and power.”
She was just 7 years old when a white mob attacked her neighborhood on May 31, 1921. The two-day rampage left hundreds dead and over 30 city blocks in ruins.
“I could never forget the charred remains of our once-thriving community, the smoke billowing in the air, and the terror-stricken faces of my neighbors,” Fletcher wrote in her 2023 memoir, “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story.”
As her family fled in a horse-drawn buggy, she witnessed unimaginable horror. She described seeing bodies piled in streets and watching a white man shoot a black man in the head before firing at her family.
The attack began after a local newspaper published a sensationalized report about a black man accused of assaulting a white woman. When black Tulsans arrived at the courthouse armed to prevent a lynching, white residents responded with overwhelming force.
Fletcher told the Associated Press in 2023 that fear of reprisals kept her silent for years. Her grandson had to persuade her to share her story.
“We don’t want history to repeat itself so we do need to educate people about what happened and try to get people to understand why you need to be made whole, why you need to be repaired,” Howard told AP in 2024. “The generational wealth that was lost, the home, all the belongings, everything was lost in one night.”
Born May 10, 1914, Fletcher spent her early years in Greenwood, which she described as an oasis during segregation. The community had everything from doctors to banks to restaurants.
After the massacre forced her family to flee, they lived as nomadic sharecroppers in tents. Fletcher’s formal education ended in fourth grade.
At 16, she returned to Tulsa and found work in a department store. She later married Robert Fletcher and moved to California, where she worked as a welder in a Los Angeles shipyard during World War II.
Fletcher eventually left her abusive husband and raised three children — Robert Ford Fletcher, James Edward Ford, and Debra Stein Ford. She worked as a housekeeper until age 85, caring for families for decades.
The massacre remained largely forgotten until Oklahoma formed a commission in 1997 to investigate. In 2021, Fletcher testified before Congress about her experiences.
She joined her younger brother Hughes Van Ellis and survivor Lessie Benningfield Randle in suing for reparations. The Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit in June 2024.
“For as long as we remain in this lifetime, we will continue to shine a light on one of the darkest days in American history,” Fletcher and Randle said in a statement after the dismissal, per AP.
Van Ellis had died a year earlier at 102. A Justice Department review released in January 2024 concluded that while prosecution might have been possible a century ago, no criminal case could be brought now.
“The fact that she died without any meaningful redress — not for herself, her family, or her community — isn’t just a legal failure. It’s a moral one,” said Damario Solomon-Simmons, an attorney for the survivors, AP reported.
“She would not want her passing to be the end of the fight,” Solomon-Simmons added. “She would want it to light a fire under all of us.”
Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols, the city’s first black leader, said the community was mourning Fletcher’s loss: “Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose.”
Howard said speaking out about the massacre proved therapeutic for his grandmother. “This whole process has been helpful,” he said.
Fletcher wrote that faith and her close-knit black community sustained her through life’s hardships. She eventually returned to Tulsa, hoping the move would aid her fight for justice.
Randle, who turned 111 earlier this month, is now the only remaining survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
