Viola Ford Fletcher, Oldest Tulsa Massacre Survivor, Dies at 111

Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest known survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, died at age 111, leaving only one living witness to one of the deadliest episodes of racial violence in United States history. Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols announced her death on Monday, November 24, 2025, describing Fletcher as a symbol of resilience who spent her life advocating for justice and truth.

Fletcher's passing comes as the city of Tulsa continues efforts to address the massacre's enduring legacy. Nichols, Tulsa's first Black mayor, stated that Fletcher "endured more than anyone should, yet she used her life to guide others toward truth and purpose." Her death reduces the number of survivors to Lessie Benningfield Randle, also 111 years old, highlighting the fading firsthand accounts of the event that destroyed the prosperous Greenwood district, known as Black Wall Street.

Born in May 1914 in rural Comanche County, Oklahoma, to sharecropper parents, Fletcher moved as a child to Greenwood, a thriving Black neighborhood of about 10,000 residents boasting successful businesses, schools and churches. Her stepfather, Henry Ellis, built the family a home there, and young Viola attended local...