Viola Fletcher (née Ford; May 10, 1914 – November 24, 2025), also known as Mother Fletcher, was an American woman who, at the time of her death, was the oldest known living survivor of the Tulsa race massacre and a supercentenarian. One hundred years after the massacre, she testified before Congress about the need for reparations.
Viola Fletcher | |
|---|---|
| Born | Viola Ford May 10, 1914 Comanche, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | November 24, 2025 (aged 111) Comanche, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Known for | Oldest known living survivor of the Tulsa race massacre |
| Spouse |
Robert Fletcher
(m. 1932; died 1941) |
| Children | 3 |
Early life
editFletcher was born May 10, 1914, in Comanche, Oklahoma, to Lucinda Ellis and John Wesley Ford.[a][4] She was the second oldest of eight children.[2] One younger brother, Hughes Van Ellis, was a newborn at the time of the massacre;[2][4] Ellis died on October 9, 2023, at the age of 102.[5] The house had no electricity.[2] Before moving to Tulsa the family had been sharecroppers.[2] In Tulsa, the family attended St. Andrew, a Black Baptist church.[6]
Fletcher told Congress that due to family circumstances after the massacre, she left school after the 4th grade.[4] She returned to Tulsa at the age of 16 and got a job cleaning and creating window displays in a department store.[7]
Life
editExperiences during the massacre
editHer family, including four of her siblings, was living in Greenwood, a wealthy Black neighborhood of Tulsa known as the "Black Wall Street", at the time of the massacre.[2][6][8]
Fletcher was seven years old at the time. She was in bed asleep on May 31, 1921, when the massacre began; her mother woke the family and they fled. The family lost everything but the clothes they were wearing.[6] The oldest known living survivor of the massacre (several months older than Lessie Benningfield Randle, who was born later the same year, 1914), Fletcher reportedly still slept sitting up on her couch with the lights on.[2][6]
Pursuit of reparations
editIn 2020, Fletcher and the other survivors filed suit against the city of Tulsa, the Tulsa Board of Commissioners and the Oklahoma Military Department, seeking reparations. The suit was dismissed by Tulsa County District Judge Caroline Wall in July 2023.[8] Fletcher testified about reparations before the U.S. Congress on May 19, 2021, along with her 100-year-old brother Hughes and Lessie Benningfield Randle, who was 106.[2] Fletcher told Congress:[9]
"I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams"
She testified that the city of Tulsa had used the names of victims and images of the massacre to generate money for the city.[4] In 2022, Fletcher, her brother, and Randle received $1 million from New York philanthropist Ed Mitzen.[10]
A Justice Department review in 2024 found that federal prosecution may have been possible a century ago, but there was no longer an avenue to bring a criminal case launched under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.[7]
Visit to Ghana
editIn August 2021, Fletcher and her brother Hughes visited Ghana.[11] They met with Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo.[11] She was crowned a queen mother and given several Ghanaian names, including Naa Lamiley, which means, "Somebody who is strong. Somebody who stands the test of time", Naa Yaoteley, which means "the first female child in a family or bloodline", and Ebube Ndi Igbo.[11]
Oral history project
editFletcher was interviewed in 2014 for an oral history project conducted by the Oklahoma Oral History Research program and the Oklahoma State University College of Human Sciences.[2][12]
In 2021, on the occasion of the centennial of the massacre, an AI-powered conversational video project using StoryFile technology debuted at the Gilcrease Museum and was made accessible to the public online, so people could ask her questions about her experiences. [8][13]
Personal life and death
editIn 1932, at the age of 18, she married Robert Fletcher (d. 1941) and moved with him to California, where they both worked in shipyards, Viola as an assistant welder.[2] She left her husband, who had been physically abusive just before her son, Robert Ford Fletcher, was born and went to live in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.[7]
She had another son, James Edward Ford, and a daughter, Debra Stein Ford, from other relationships.[7] She returned to Oklahoma after World War II and raised three children by herself, while she worked cleaning houses.[2][7] She worked until she was 85.[2][12]
Fletcher was also known as Mother Fletcher or Mother Viola Fletcher.[4] In 2023, she wrote a memoir, Don't Let Them Bury My Story, with her grandson.[8][14]
On May 10, 2024, Fletcher turned 110, and became a supercentenarian.[3]
Fletcher's death was announced on November 24, 2025; she lived to the age of 111.[15] Her age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group.[16]
Bibliography
edit- Howard, Ike; Ford Fletcher, Viola (2023). Don't Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre in Her Own Words (Hardcover). Los Angeles: Mocha Media, Inc. ISBN 978-1737168409.
Notes
edit- ^ While The Washington Post reported Fletcher's birthday as May 5, 1914, in 2021,[2] local media in Tulsa report her 110th birthday as May 10, 2024, in 2024.[3]
References
edit- ^ "Death: California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997". Family History Library. Sacramento. January 6, 1941. p. 31. 5180 #8305859. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Brown, Deneen L. (May 19, 2021). "One of the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — 107 years old — wants justice". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Archived from the original on November 25, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ a b Abrams, Ben (May 10, 2024). "Well wishes pour in for Race Massacre survivor ahead of birthday celebration". KWGS. The University of Tulsa. Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Brown, Stacy M. (July 25, 2021). "'Mother' Viola Fletcher among 200 Black Wall Street survivors headed to Ghana". Atlanta Voice. OCLC 4423131. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via Newspack.
- ^ "Tulsa Race Massacre survivor dies at 102". KJRH. E. W. Scripps Company. October 9, 2023. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Cachero, Paulina (May 29, 2021). "Survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre Try to Break Its Curse". Time. Time USA, LLC. ISSN 0040-781X. OCLC 1311479. Archived from the original on May 29, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Viola Ford Fletcher, one of the last survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, dies at age 111". PBS. Owned & Operated PBS Stations. November 24, 2025. Archived from the original on November 25, 2025. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ a b c d Gilyard, Katherine (August 30, 2023). "Oldest Tulsa massacre survivor releases memoir". The Bay State Banner. ISSN 1946-6730. OCLC 6749070. Archived from the original on July 29, 2025. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ^ Summers, Juana (May 19, 2021). "Survivors Of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Share Eyewitness Accounts". NPR. United States: Owned & Operated Radio Stations. Archived from the original on September 22, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ Chavez, Nicole (May 19, 2022). "Three survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre receive $1 million donation". CNN. CNN Worldwide. Archived from the original on September 13, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ a b c Brown, Deneen L. (September 4, 2021). "She survived the Tulsa Race Massacre. Now, at 107, she's become a queen mother". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ a b DeSantis, Rachel (May 12, 2021). "Viola Fletcher, Oldest Living Survivor of Tulsa Race Massacre, Celebrates 107th Birthday". People. People Inc. ISSN 0093-7673. OCLC 794712888. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ Trotter, Matt (May 27, 2021). "Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors Share Their Stories Through New Exhibit at Gilcrease Museum". KWGS. The University of Tulsa. Archived from the original on March 16, 2025. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
- ^ Howard, Ike; Ford Fletcher, Viola (August 15, 2023). "Don't Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre in Her Own Words". USA Today. USA Today Co. ISSN 0734-7456. OCLC 8799626. Archived from the original on November 25, 2025. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ^ Traub, Alex (November 24, 2025). "Viola Fletcher, Oldest Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Dies at 111". The New York Times. eISSN 1553-8095. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on November 24, 2025. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
- ^ "Viola Fletcher | Gerontology Research Group". Gerontology Research Group. Archived from the original on April 5, 2025. Retrieved November 25, 2025.