Viola Ford Fletcher

Viola Ford Fletcher was the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — a witness to the destruction of Black Wall Street who spent the last years of her life demanding justice for what was taken from her community. She was seven years old when a white mob attacked the Greenwood District, burning 35 blocks, killing an estimated 100 to 300 Black residents, and destroying one of the most prosperous Black communities in America.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on January 18, 1914, Fletcher remembered the terror of that night: running through the streets, stepping over bodies, watching her neighborhood burn. Her family lost everything. She spent the next century carrying that memory while the city of Tulsa refused to acknowledge what had happened. The massacre was not taught in Oklahoma schools, was not included in history books, and was actively suppressed.

At age 107, Fletcher testified before the U.S. Congress, demanding reparations for the massacre survivors. "I have lived through the massacre every day," she told the committee. "I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street." Her testimony brought lawmakers to tears and reignited the national conversation about reparations for racial violence. She joined the ancestors on November 24, 2025, at the age of 111 — the last direct link to one of America's most horrific acts of racial terrorism.