Death in a Promised Land Read Online Free PDF Page B

written information, I was ably assisted by the staffs of a number of institutions. I would especially like to give thanks to the staffs of the following: the Tulsa City-County Library, Central Branch; the McFarlin Library of the University of Tulsa (especially Dr. Guy Logsdon); the Oklahoma State Historical Society (with a special thanks to Mrs. Mary Moran, who ably manages the newspaper archive); the Tulsa County Historical Society (particularly Mrs. Ruth Avery, another scholar of the riot); the Publications and Communications Office of the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce; and three Tulsa newspapers, the Oklahoma Eagle, the Tulsa Tribune, and the Tulsa World .
    This book has been shaped over the years by a number of individuals who also have provided needed support and encouragement. While most of them are involved in pursuits far afield from American social history, their questions about my work have shaped it significantly. Others assisted in ways ranging from housing me to helping me with the various drafts. In particular, I would like to thank Carolyn Billings, Elise Butler, John Fawley Wade Hockett, Jeff Jacobs, George and Mary Sue McDaniel, Rachel Mason, Jim Pearson, Craig and Kathy Ryan, Roberta Stein, and Jane Vessels. At LSU Press, I have benefited from the interest and ideas of Marie Blanchard and Beverly Jarrett.
    There is one other group which has significantly affected this book. Any author seeks a universal audience, but there are always a few, finite groups to whom a work is directed. One of mine is the Class of 1972 at Tulsa Central High School. As most of us were born in 1954, we were literally the children of the Brown decision, the children of integrated public schools. We were a true microcosm of the city of Tulsa, of all races and all social classes. Our three years together were marked by both large-scale racial violence and small-scale attempts at racial understanding. My classmates, many of them close friends, and our experiences together have very much remained in the back of my mind in the writing of this book. They have both fueled its creation and altered its form.
    Lastly, I would like to thank my family. My brother generously lent me the use of his camera, and my sister provided me with important information about the musical history of Tulsa. My parents deserve the most credit of all. Throughout the process they have been a constant source of support. Indeed, they may have played a much larger role in the coming about of this book than they might imagine. When I was very young, my mother read me a history of the world, and my father taught me about rocks, fossils, and the geologic history of Oklahoma. I think this must have played a part.

Index
     
    Abernathy, Reverend J. H., 38
    Adkison, J. M., 49, 130
    African Blood Brotherhood, 24, 136–37
    Airplanes, use of in riot, 63
    Allen, Walter, 39
    American Federation of Labor, 18
    American Legion, 78
    Avery, C. S., 92
    Barnett, Victor R, 127
    Barrett, Charles F.: on cause of riot, 48
       mobilizes National Guard, 53
       arrives in Tulsa, 61
       bans funerals, 67
       issues regulations, 74–75
       requests organization of relief committee, 82–83
    Baughm, Theodore, 74
    Bell, Major James A., 50–51, 53
    Belton, Roy, incident involving (1920), 38–44, 126
    Berry, Simon, 108
    Biddison, W. Valjean, 53, 94, 97
    Blaine, George Henry, 54, 78, 125, 128–29, 130
    Booker T. Washington High School, 14, 67, 71, 81, 87
    Boyd, E. M., 28
    Brady, W. Tate, 123–24
    Bridgewater, Dr. R. T, 72
    Briggs, Cyril, 136
    Brown, Major Paul R., 66
    Bruce, John Edward, 23
    Bush, Wesley, 90
    Business Men’s Protective League, 78
    Challenge Magazine, 24
    Chamber of Commerce, Tulsa
    —general actions: finances “Police Protection”
       cards, 72
       seeks martial law extension, 76
       helps organize Business Men’s Protective League, 78
       on grassroots relief, 79
       postriot activities, 84–86
       turns against Union Station