Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest known survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and a powerful voice for historical reckoning, has died at 111. Her death leaves just one known living survivor of the massacre, Lessie Benningfield Randle, also 111.​

Fletcher was only seven years old when she witnessed white mobs descend on Greenwood, a prosperous Black neighborhood in Tulsa once known as “Black Wall Street.”

During what is now known as the Tulsa Race Massacre from May 31st to June 1st, 1921, 300 Black residents were killed by white mobs.

For two terrorizing days, mobs burned homes, churches, and businesses. More than 35 blocks were destroyed. The attack displaced thousands and remains one of the deadliest known episodes of racist violence in U.S. history.​

Though it would take testimony from Fletcher a century later to bring the event back to the forefront in a fight for reparations.

After the attack, Fletcher moved away from Tulsa, and worked as a welder in a shipyard during World War II, and spent decades as a housekeeper while raising three children with her husband.

Finally able to cast her fears of retribution for speaking up aside, it wasn’t until Fletcher entered her late 90s and 100s that she began testifying on the atrocities that transpired in Tulsa 100 years ago.

Alongside her younger brother, Hugh Van Ellis, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, the trio sought reparations and gained a national spotlight. 

In 2021, ahead of the massacre’s centennial, they testified before Congress, urging lawmakers not to let the country forget what happened in Tulsa.​

The case was ultimately dismissed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, concluding that there was no viable path for criminal prosecution a century later. 

Though the experience made her realize there was so much more to say. In 2023, Fletcher published a memoir, “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story,” framing her experiences as a warning and an appeal for accountability.

Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols called her “Mother Fletcher” and said the city is mourning a woman who “lit a path forward with purpose” after one of its darkest days.

In a statement, her grandson, Ike Howard, said Monday that she died surrounded by family at a Tulsa hospital.