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The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice
And then they were gone.
More than one thousand homes and businesses. Restaurants and movie theaters, churches and doctors' offices, a hospital, a public library, a post office. Looted, burned, and bombed from the air.
Over the course of less than twenty-four hours in the spring of 1921, Tulsa's infamous "Black Wall Street" was wiped off the map--and erased from the history books. Official records were disappeared, researchers were threatened, and the worst single incident of racial violence in American history was kept hidden for more than fifty years. But there were some secrets that would not die.
A riveting and essential new book, The Ground Breaking not only tells the long-suppressed story of the notorious Tulsa Race Massacre. It also unearths the lost history of how the massacre was covered up, and of the courageous individuals who fought to keep the story alive. Most importantly, it recounts the ongoing archaeological saga and the search for the unmarked graves of the victims of the massacre, and of the fight to win restitution for the survivors and their families.
Both a forgotten chronicle from the nation's past, and a story ripped from today's headlines, The Ground Breaking is a page-turning reflection on how we, as Americans, must wrestle with the parts of our history that have been buried for far too long.
More than one thousand homes and businesses. Restaurants and movie theaters, churches and doctors' offices, a hospital, a public library, a post office. Looted, burned, and bombed from the air.
Over the course of less than twenty-four hours in the spring of 1921, Tulsa's infamous "Black Wall Street" was wiped off the map--and erased from the history books. Official records were disappeared, researchers were threatened, and the worst single incident of racial violence in American history was kept hidden for more than fifty years. But there were some secrets that would not die.
A riveting and essential new book, The Ground Breaking not only tells the long-suppressed story of the notorious Tulsa Race Massacre. It also unearths the lost history of how the massacre was covered up, and of the courageous individuals who fought to keep the story alive. Most importantly, it recounts the ongoing archaeological saga and the search for the unmarked graves of the victims of the massacre, and of the fight to win restitution for the survivors and their families.
Both a forgotten chronicle from the nation's past, and a story ripped from today's headlines, The Ground Breaking is a page-turning reflection on how we, as Americans, must wrestle with the parts of our history that have been buried for far too long.
323 pages, Hardcover
First published May 18, 2021
138 people are currently reading
5743 people want to read
About the author
Scott Ellsworth
6 books110 followersScott Ellsworth is the bestselling author of several books, including The Secret Game, which was the winner of the 2016 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing. He has written about American history for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Formerly a historian at the Smithsonian Institution, he is the author of Death in a Promised Land, his groundbreaking account of the 1921 Tulsa race riot. He teaches at the University of Michigan.
(source: Amazon)
(source: Amazon)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 216 reviews
December 22, 2021
After having read Isabel Wilkerson's Caste (2020) and The Sum of Us (2021) by Heather McGhee, I found this book on our library's new release shelf and decided to check it out.
If Caste and The Sum of Us were a view from 10,000 feet at the interconnections between race, class, gender, socioeconomic status, and more, Scott Ellsworth's The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice (2021) examines in greater detail a thread from that complicated tapestry of hierarchy: the Tulsa Race Massacre of June 1921. A horrific event that was virtually erased from American consciousness until recently, a secret whispered about by Tulsan families, considered taboo to talk openly about. Erased from textbooks and not taught about in schools.
A New York Times history writer, Ellsworth went to modern-day Tulsa to interview locals an even do an archeological dig of the city's graveyards in search for the remains of those unaccounted for. Naturally, that stirred some things up with the locals, some helpful while others hostile to Ellsworth's investigation. Yet, Ellsworth persisted, working with the local authorities and folk willing to talk about their firsthand experiences of the event, or to listen to stories passed down to them from family members caught up in the violence.
From his dogged investigation comes a comprehensive narrative of the events of June 1921, in which around 300 African-Americans perished (the exact number will never be known, but may still be much higher than the official records) in the historically black Greenwood district, a thriving business and residential area that was known as "Black Wall Street." Businesses were looted and homes set afire.
The previous day, May 30th, a young black man named Dick Rowland was arrested for allegedly assaulting Sarah Page, a white woman, in an elevator at the Drexel Building. Charges were eventually dropped, yet a report in the newspaper the next day led to a confrontation between white and black mobs around the courthouse where Dick Rowland was being held until his trial.
Tensions escalated further when white rioters attacked Greenwood in the early hours of June 1st with bombs and fire, looting and destroying businesses and homes. (Yeah, bombs.) Destruction from the air and on the ground.
Oklahoma's governor sent in the National Guard to assist with restoring order in Tulsa, where martial law had been declared. They assisted with putting out fires and breaking everyone up, but arrested black Tulsans who had been handed over to the National Guard from various white vigilantes.
In the aftermath, some one thousand homes and businesses were destroyed, from a hospital, public library, and post office, to restaurants, movie theaters, and other black-owned businesses. Many were left homeless, their livelihoods and wealth having literally been burned or looted.
I should have mentioned at the outset that I had no idea about the Tulsa Race Massacre of June 1921, until I heard it mentioned on a history podcast and later read The Ground Breaking. It was not something that was taught in school, which now seems like a major, shameful oversight.
How are we supposed to heal and move forward together if we never look critically at our history, acknowledge both the good and the bad? Tulsa's response to erase the massacre from its histories, effectively say it never happened, so the event can never even be acknowledged, only lets the historical wounds fester. It also boggled me and made me angry, once I realized the cynical reasoning and decision-making that would lead to such erasure.
The Ground Breaking is essential, yet heartbreaking and sorrowful reading into a chapter of American history previously hidden away.
-Cora
Find this book and other titles within our catalog.
See also:
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020) by Isabel Wilkerson
**This book will be discussed by our book club in November. Please visit our website to access a copy of Caste through our catalog, Hoopla, or Libby.**
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together (2021) by Heather McGhee
From the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum: "The Attack on Greenwood"
If Caste and The Sum of Us were a view from 10,000 feet at the interconnections between race, class, gender, socioeconomic status, and more, Scott Ellsworth's The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice (2021) examines in greater detail a thread from that complicated tapestry of hierarchy: the Tulsa Race Massacre of June 1921. A horrific event that was virtually erased from American consciousness until recently, a secret whispered about by Tulsan families, considered taboo to talk openly about. Erased from textbooks and not taught about in schools.
"But here, in this aging cemetery in the heart of the country, was the first time that an American government--federal, state, or local--had ever actively set out to locate the remains of victims of American racism."
A New York Times history writer, Ellsworth went to modern-day Tulsa to interview locals an even do an archeological dig of the city's graveyards in search for the remains of those unaccounted for. Naturally, that stirred some things up with the locals, some helpful while others hostile to Ellsworth's investigation. Yet, Ellsworth persisted, working with the local authorities and folk willing to talk about their firsthand experiences of the event, or to listen to stories passed down to them from family members caught up in the violence.
From his dogged investigation comes a comprehensive narrative of the events of June 1921, in which around 300 African-Americans perished (the exact number will never be known, but may still be much higher than the official records) in the historically black Greenwood district, a thriving business and residential area that was known as "Black Wall Street." Businesses were looted and homes set afire.
The previous day, May 30th, a young black man named Dick Rowland was arrested for allegedly assaulting Sarah Page, a white woman, in an elevator at the Drexel Building. Charges were eventually dropped, yet a report in the newspaper the next day led to a confrontation between white and black mobs around the courthouse where Dick Rowland was being held until his trial.
Tensions escalated further when white rioters attacked Greenwood in the early hours of June 1st with bombs and fire, looting and destroying businesses and homes. (Yeah, bombs.) Destruction from the air and on the ground.
Oklahoma's governor sent in the National Guard to assist with restoring order in Tulsa, where martial law had been declared. They assisted with putting out fires and breaking everyone up, but arrested black Tulsans who had been handed over to the National Guard from various white vigilantes.
In the aftermath, some one thousand homes and businesses were destroyed, from a hospital, public library, and post office, to restaurants, movie theaters, and other black-owned businesses. Many were left homeless, their livelihoods and wealth having literally been burned or looted.
I should have mentioned at the outset that I had no idea about the Tulsa Race Massacre of June 1921, until I heard it mentioned on a history podcast and later read The Ground Breaking. It was not something that was taught in school, which now seems like a major, shameful oversight.
How are we supposed to heal and move forward together if we never look critically at our history, acknowledge both the good and the bad? Tulsa's response to erase the massacre from its histories, effectively say it never happened, so the event can never even be acknowledged, only lets the historical wounds fester. It also boggled me and made me angry, once I realized the cynical reasoning and decision-making that would lead to such erasure.
"Because history isn't just a chronicle of events. Rather, it is a mirror of both who we are and who we want to be. For us to learn from the past, we have to look at and wrestle with all of it--the sad and the ugly as well as the good and the great. And while we can't take credit for the accomplishments of previous generations, we can learn from their mistakes."
The Ground Breaking is essential, yet heartbreaking and sorrowful reading into a chapter of American history previously hidden away.
-Cora
Find this book and other titles within our catalog.
See also:
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020) by Isabel Wilkerson
**This book will be discussed by our book club in November. Please visit our website to access a copy of Caste through our catalog, Hoopla, or Libby.**
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together (2021) by Heather McGhee
From the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum: "The Attack on Greenwood"
November 18, 2021
National Book Award for Nonfiction Longlist 2021. The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 began innocently enough when an incident occurred between Dick Rowland, a Black shoe shiner and Sara Page, a white elevator operator. Detectives questioned both of them and seemed unconcerned. Sara pressed no charges. But then the rumor mill started churning and the police chose to arrest 19-year-old Mr. Rowland after all. And then things started escalating BIG TIME. A lynch mob of armed, angry white men gathered outside of the jail; which then caused 20 Black veterans of WWI, some of which were armed, to come onto the scene to protect Mr. Rowland. A shot is fired and all Hell breaks loose.
The thriving Black enclave of Greenwood was laid waste, including 1,100 structures on 35 square blocks. As many as 300 men, women, and children were killed and another 800 were treated for gunshots and burns. And then the city of Tulsa buried the story. Completely! No one was to ever discuss what happened!
Twelve-year-old Ellsworth came across the story by chance while looking at microfilm of old newspaper accounts in the library in Tulsa. So, when he was looking for his history thesis subject at Reed College, he decided to research what really happened in Tulsa in 1921. He published ‘Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921’ in 1982 based upon his thesis.
Currently a history professor at the University of Michigan, he is also the chairman of the physical investigation committee for the city of Tulsa, working with archaeologists and forensic scientists to find the unmarked mass graves of the massacre victims. In October, this team found twelve pine coffins in an unmarked location.
The determination and thoroughness of Ellsworth’s research to uncover the facts of what happened in Tulsa in 1921 is admirable. Enjoy this excellent account of his journey to learning that truth.
The thriving Black enclave of Greenwood was laid waste, including 1,100 structures on 35 square blocks. As many as 300 men, women, and children were killed and another 800 were treated for gunshots and burns. And then the city of Tulsa buried the story. Completely! No one was to ever discuss what happened!
Twelve-year-old Ellsworth came across the story by chance while looking at microfilm of old newspaper accounts in the library in Tulsa. So, when he was looking for his history thesis subject at Reed College, he decided to research what really happened in Tulsa in 1921. He published ‘Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921’ in 1982 based upon his thesis.
Currently a history professor at the University of Michigan, he is also the chairman of the physical investigation committee for the city of Tulsa, working with archaeologists and forensic scientists to find the unmarked mass graves of the massacre victims. In October, this team found twelve pine coffins in an unmarked location.
The determination and thoroughness of Ellsworth’s research to uncover the facts of what happened in Tulsa in 1921 is admirable. Enjoy this excellent account of his journey to learning that truth.
June 14, 2021
This is a superb historian's account of the 1921 Tulsa massacre and--at particular length--the efforts to find the bodies of the victims.
Readers will admire Ellsworth's perseverance--he has been attempting to uncover the historical truth for more than 40 years, undaunted by the absence/disappearance of much of the written records of the event.
Time after time, he describes the extensive oral interviews with survivors and families--many of which grew into friendships--as well as the roadblocks, the slow accumulation of evidence. Moreover, he accomplishes something that is challenging for a historical record--making it suspenseful. Will this person open up? Is that person's memory accurate?
Readers will appreciate that this book is not about Scott Ellsworth. Instead, Ellsworth describes the important roles of everyone with whom he speaks and works, and what so many have done to find the truth after a half-century of coverup.
Highly, highly recommended.
Readers will admire Ellsworth's perseverance--he has been attempting to uncover the historical truth for more than 40 years, undaunted by the absence/disappearance of much of the written records of the event.
Time after time, he describes the extensive oral interviews with survivors and families--many of which grew into friendships--as well as the roadblocks, the slow accumulation of evidence. Moreover, he accomplishes something that is challenging for a historical record--making it suspenseful. Will this person open up? Is that person's memory accurate?
Readers will appreciate that this book is not about Scott Ellsworth. Instead, Ellsworth describes the important roles of everyone with whom he speaks and works, and what so many have done to find the truth after a half-century of coverup.
Highly, highly recommended.
May 27, 2021
One hundred years ago a young black man got onto a Tulsa elevator. Something caused the female operator to scream. The man ran away. It was assumed that he had harassed the woman and was arrested.
Just the previous year, a lynch mob had hung a white prisoner. Now, they gathered to deal out that same justice. Armed WWI veterans from the black community came to protect the jail. With passions high, fights broke out, and twenty-four hours later, the entire black community of Greenwood had been destroyed and unknown numbers murdered.
Scott Ellsworth was a Tulsa native who was shocked when he learned this history. The story had been repressed; there were missing police reports and archival newspapers edited by scissors. Ellsworth has spent his lifetime studying and researching the Tulsa Race Massacre, his dissertation becoming the definitive history Death in a Promised Land.
The Ground Breaking takes readers into the aftermath of the massacre, how the Greenwood community rebuilt, the repression of memory that amounted to denial, the search for the victims buried in unmarked graves, and the quest for reparations. The deep impact of the incident is evident in the stories told by the survivors Ellsworth interviews. For a hundred years, the controlling interests of the city have pushed to let the past be the past, while the activists who sought to unearth the incident were vilified.
I felt the suspense build as the project strove to investigate the probable and rumored locations of mass graves.
This is more than a history of a moment in time. It is the story of a thriving community that was destroyed and how it remade itself and was destroyed again. It is the story of the people who persisted in resurrecting a repressed history that continues to haunt the families of victims. We may try to bury the past because it looks bad, but we can not negate the legacy that haunts the families of the survivors.
This is more than the story of a city and a moment in time. It is the story of those who persisted in resurrecting the truth, and it is the story of America’s deep rooted denial and its cost. We may try to bury the past, but its legacy still haunts us.
I received a free book from the publisher through Goodreads giveaways. My review is fair and unbiased.
Just the previous year, a lynch mob had hung a white prisoner. Now, they gathered to deal out that same justice. Armed WWI veterans from the black community came to protect the jail. With passions high, fights broke out, and twenty-four hours later, the entire black community of Greenwood had been destroyed and unknown numbers murdered.
Scott Ellsworth was a Tulsa native who was shocked when he learned this history. The story had been repressed; there were missing police reports and archival newspapers edited by scissors. Ellsworth has spent his lifetime studying and researching the Tulsa Race Massacre, his dissertation becoming the definitive history Death in a Promised Land.
The Ground Breaking takes readers into the aftermath of the massacre, how the Greenwood community rebuilt, the repression of memory that amounted to denial, the search for the victims buried in unmarked graves, and the quest for reparations. The deep impact of the incident is evident in the stories told by the survivors Ellsworth interviews. For a hundred years, the controlling interests of the city have pushed to let the past be the past, while the activists who sought to unearth the incident were vilified.
I felt the suspense build as the project strove to investigate the probable and rumored locations of mass graves.
This is more than a history of a moment in time. It is the story of a thriving community that was destroyed and how it remade itself and was destroyed again. It is the story of the people who persisted in resurrecting a repressed history that continues to haunt the families of victims. We may try to bury the past because it looks bad, but we can not negate the legacy that haunts the families of the survivors.
This is more than the story of a city and a moment in time. It is the story of those who persisted in resurrecting the truth, and it is the story of America’s deep rooted denial and its cost. We may try to bury the past, but its legacy still haunts us.
I received a free book from the publisher through Goodreads giveaways. My review is fair and unbiased.
June 6, 2022
I was hoping this would be a history book centering the Black community in Tulsa, but instead the author himself is the through line, and it's not a good look. I have a bunch of examples in this Booktube Prize vlog if you'd like to hear more. Overall the book is okay, but it would have been so much better with less memoir and more history.
February 14, 2026
Scott Ellsworth’s The Ground Breaking fits powerfully into my ongoing study of racism in America — a study that, for me, is not academic alone but deeply personal. As the father of three sons — two of whom are African American — I’ve watched them navigate the direct and indirect realities of racism their entire lives. My oldest is now 25, and while I am profoundly proud of the men my boys have become, I still wrestle with the knowledge that their road has been — and will continue to be — shaped by forces beyond their control. Even so, I remain hopeful that their future, though clouded at times by this enduring scourge, is still bright.
Ellsworth’s book is a strong and heartfelt work. What stands out most is his personal connection to Tulsa and his decades-long desire to help secure recognition and resolution for the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. One of my major takeaways is chilling in its clarity: for African Americans living in Tulsa at the time, your hard work, your business, your home, your family legacy — everything — could be erased in a matter of hours. And it was.
Interestingly, the book does not dwell extensively on the massacre itself — that history occupies only a chapter or two. Instead, this is largely a story about the long, difficult pursuit of closure and justice. Ellsworth chronicles the archaeological searches, the political battles, the community advocacy, and the emotional weight carried by descendants seeking acknowledgment.
At times, the narrative dragged a bit for me and did not hit with the same emotional force as Midnight on the Potomac, which I found more searing in its impact. Still, Ellsworth’s work remains deeply important and worthwhile. It’s hard to believe that this horrific event was struck from the memory of the establishment for over 50 years — a slap in the face to the residents who endured the tragedy.
One encouraging follow-up worth noting: the city of Tulsa has since established a trust for victims, and bodies are being recovered from mass grave sites and given respectful burials. It is long overdue, but justice — even delayed — is finally beginning to take form.
A meaningful, sobering, and ultimately necessary read.
Ellsworth’s book is a strong and heartfelt work. What stands out most is his personal connection to Tulsa and his decades-long desire to help secure recognition and resolution for the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. One of my major takeaways is chilling in its clarity: for African Americans living in Tulsa at the time, your hard work, your business, your home, your family legacy — everything — could be erased in a matter of hours. And it was.
Interestingly, the book does not dwell extensively on the massacre itself — that history occupies only a chapter or two. Instead, this is largely a story about the long, difficult pursuit of closure and justice. Ellsworth chronicles the archaeological searches, the political battles, the community advocacy, and the emotional weight carried by descendants seeking acknowledgment.
At times, the narrative dragged a bit for me and did not hit with the same emotional force as Midnight on the Potomac, which I found more searing in its impact. Still, Ellsworth’s work remains deeply important and worthwhile. It’s hard to believe that this horrific event was struck from the memory of the establishment for over 50 years — a slap in the face to the residents who endured the tragedy.
One encouraging follow-up worth noting: the city of Tulsa has since established a trust for victims, and bodies are being recovered from mass grave sites and given respectful burials. It is long overdue, but justice — even delayed — is finally beginning to take form.
A meaningful, sobering, and ultimately necessary read.
November 16, 2022
So this book isn’t good! It is a bad book. The history of the Tulsa race massacre is tragic and compelling and important to know about, and we get that in the beginning of the book. But what Scott Ellsworth (the white author of the book and Tulsa native) does NOT realize is that Scott Ellsworth is the LEAST interesting and LEAST relevant aspect of this story!!!! I do not care about Scott Ellsworth, I care about the history. I do not care about the nitty gritty details of what it takes to get an archaeological dig going, though that honestly could be interesting too!! But he just says some shit like “archaeologists notice allll sorts of things when they are digging”…like ok sick?!?!? Tell me about them??? There is a LOT in this book about trying to find the location of the mass grave, like two thirds of the book maybe? And there are TWO chapters that are straight up LITERALLY ABOUT DIGGING and in both of them they don’t find anything. And then he doesn’t even tell you how many bodies were in the grave that they found at the end!!!!! Per the back of the book I thought there was going to be more about how this event was covered up, and there was not really any of that, very misleading back. I feel like Ellsworth does not have a good conception of what is interesting about this story or any story. This is written like a fifth grader trying to imitate a newscaster. Every three paragraphs and I SWEAR TO GOD this isn’t an exaggeration he will say some shit like “but that was not all that happened” or “but then something else happened also” or “but there was something else also”. And man. Idk it feels weird to get this worked up, but this book was not only poorly written I just don’t feel like it was fair in how it was advertised/presented
August 20, 2022
“Because history isn’t just a chronicle of events. Rather, it is a mirror of both who we are and who we want to be. For us to learn from the past, we have to look at and wrestle with all of it — the sad and the ugly as well as the good and the great. And while we can’t take credit for the accomplishments of previous generations, we can learn from their mistakes.”
I appreciated this book about the Tulsa race massacre of 1921 and the decades long cover up that occurred afterwards. In 1921, the “Black Wall Street” neighborhood in Tulsa was destroyed one one of the worst acts of racial violence in our country. Churches, businesses, a hospital, residences — all were destroyed by angry whites who attacked both by ground and using private airplanes. There’s no real record of how many lives were lost and stories of unmarked, mass graves are a part of the narrative history of this tragic event. In The Ground Breaking, Ellsworth tells the story of the riots themselves — in a chapter that feels so vivid that you almost look over your shoulder. And while this was interesting and informative, I found the story of the decades of cover up equally important. The city government and many of the people of Tulsa did everything they could to ensure that the events of May 1921 remained buried in the past. It was removed from newspaper coverage, articles were removed from physical copies of newspapers kept in archives, discussion at colleges and universities was silenced — it is frightening how much effort was put into pretending that this horror never occurred. In the second half of the book, Ellsworth digs into not just the cover up, but also the efforts for reparations for all the damage of the riots as well as the search for the rumored unmarked graves. This was a compelling read and a vivid reminder of how far people will go to wipe out the evidence of not just their own actions, but the actions of the generations that came before them.
I appreciated this book about the Tulsa race massacre of 1921 and the decades long cover up that occurred afterwards. In 1921, the “Black Wall Street” neighborhood in Tulsa was destroyed one one of the worst acts of racial violence in our country. Churches, businesses, a hospital, residences — all were destroyed by angry whites who attacked both by ground and using private airplanes. There’s no real record of how many lives were lost and stories of unmarked, mass graves are a part of the narrative history of this tragic event. In The Ground Breaking, Ellsworth tells the story of the riots themselves — in a chapter that feels so vivid that you almost look over your shoulder. And while this was interesting and informative, I found the story of the decades of cover up equally important. The city government and many of the people of Tulsa did everything they could to ensure that the events of May 1921 remained buried in the past. It was removed from newspaper coverage, articles were removed from physical copies of newspapers kept in archives, discussion at colleges and universities was silenced — it is frightening how much effort was put into pretending that this horror never occurred. In the second half of the book, Ellsworth digs into not just the cover up, but also the efforts for reparations for all the damage of the riots as well as the search for the rumored unmarked graves. This was a compelling read and a vivid reminder of how far people will go to wipe out the evidence of not just their own actions, but the actions of the generations that came before them.
November 29, 2023
Trigger warnings: racism, death, racial violence, massacre, hate crimes
Oof. This book was a lot. And I kind of wish it had been more of a detailed history of the Tulsa Race Massacre than of the years afterwards, because I don't think I know quite enough about the events to fully appreciate the aftermath, you know? Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad I read it and the author's dedication to telling the stories of the survivors and of exposing Tulsa's hidden history is admirable.
I listened to this on audiobook and while I definitely enjoyed the audiobook, I think I probably would have gotten more out of this if I'd read it with my eyeballs and not my ears. Still, it was a fascinating read and it's only my own ignorance that stopped me from getting more out of this than I did.
Oof. This book was a lot. And I kind of wish it had been more of a detailed history of the Tulsa Race Massacre than of the years afterwards, because I don't think I know quite enough about the events to fully appreciate the aftermath, you know? Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad I read it and the author's dedication to telling the stories of the survivors and of exposing Tulsa's hidden history is admirable.
I listened to this on audiobook and while I definitely enjoyed the audiobook, I think I probably would have gotten more out of this if I'd read it with my eyeballs and not my ears. Still, it was a fascinating read and it's only my own ignorance that stopped me from getting more out of this than I did.
May 29, 2021
A breathtaking account of one of the most horrific and undercovered massacres in history. This book was meticulously reported and very moving. An example of the power of narrative nonfiction at its best: you feel like you’re riding along with the narrator, the author, for the journey. I was pretty spellbound at the level of detail that the author was able to re-create. It’s insane how much our nation has tried to cover this up, even so far as to tear up public records of it. Thankful for journalism like this that holds public memory with such love and care.
March 7, 2022
This book was a well-documented account of not only the Tulsa massacre itself, but of efforts afterwards through many decades of individuals who tried to bring proper attention to what happened in 1921.
December 26, 2023
I've got to get to Tulsa. I didn't realize this book was going to be about the narrative around covering the massacre but found it useful and important history. this book is much more than just the "riot" itself. recommended reading
March 21, 2023
read this for my history grad req but it honestly made me cry. ellsworth’s journey is life changing
February 9, 2026
3.5 stars
"And while we can't take credit for the accomplishments of previous generations, we can learn from their mistakes."
Scott Ellsworth's 'The Ground Breaking' is a thorough exploration of the worst single incident of racial violence in American history, the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. For almost a century, the whereabouts of the victims' bodies have been unknown...until now.
As part of a Life Writing module I'm taking for my undergraduate Sociology degree, we were required to read the first 50-odd pages for a seminar and I just couldn't possibly leave it at that. So, £10.99 later, here I am having purchased and read the book in its entirety.
First of all, high praise has to go to that prologue – its ambiguity was excellent in drawing me in and I'm sure it's probably quite attractive for those who might not be so keen on non-fiction. It reads like a gripping murder-mystery novel, starting off with the all important question: Where are the bodies? Being a non-fiction, I could quite easily have looked up the conclusion, but because of its engaging start, I felt like I had to read this like a fiction, completely spoiler-less.
I had absolutely no idea what the Tulsa Race Massacre was and I think that speaks volume. Ellsworth does a brilliant job in exposing how this event just got completely swept under the rug: "The less said about the riot, the better. And that's just what happened." It was even shocking to find that for such a long period of time, people dubbed the event the "race riot" – some felt that the term implied guilt on both sides when, in actual fact, it was completely obvious which side was to blame. But as we see today, scapegoating usually sees African Americans disproportionately put under the spotlight.
I have to admire Ellsworth and his team's resilience throughout this book. The amount of barriers they had to face (including an entire pandemic) during their search for the bodies would have forced anyone else to give up on the spot. Ellsworth was particularly admirable for how many years he dedicated to his research. The amount of people he contacted, the number of locations he went to, the piles upon piles of books and articles he must have been through really show in this book – this is someone who definitely knows what their talking about. His dissertation topic is much more interesting than mine, I have to say.
Having said that, I really would have loved some more personal accounts (or more of the good stuff as I like to put it). The highlights of this book were Ellsworth's recounting of specific personal stories of people who had either seen the massacre first-hand or heard about it from relatives. I was less enthralled by all the technicalities surrounding the excavations and digging up of the sites, even though this was arguably the whole purpose of the book.
With that in mind, Ellsworth's reflection at the end was a very clever way to round off the book. I do love me a non-fiction book that really drives its purpose home at the end, and Ellsworth did just that: "Long-standing institutions are coming under brand-new scrutiny, histories are being challenged and reexamined, statues are toppling. Moreover, those whose voices have long been kept from being heard are claiming their rightful places at the table, while others are waiting in the wings." Accountability – that's what he wants, and this ending makes that clear: "The once secret tragedy is hidden no more."
I think this is an excellent book for those wishing to learn more (or start learning) about the Tulsa Race Massacre. Its first few chapters are outstanding in drawing you in – I just wish it had sustained that throughout. As I said before, more of the good stuff, please.
"And while we can't take credit for the accomplishments of previous generations, we can learn from their mistakes."
Scott Ellsworth's 'The Ground Breaking' is a thorough exploration of the worst single incident of racial violence in American history, the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. For almost a century, the whereabouts of the victims' bodies have been unknown...until now.
As part of a Life Writing module I'm taking for my undergraduate Sociology degree, we were required to read the first 50-odd pages for a seminar and I just couldn't possibly leave it at that. So, £10.99 later, here I am having purchased and read the book in its entirety.
First of all, high praise has to go to that prologue – its ambiguity was excellent in drawing me in and I'm sure it's probably quite attractive for those who might not be so keen on non-fiction. It reads like a gripping murder-mystery novel, starting off with the all important question: Where are the bodies? Being a non-fiction, I could quite easily have looked up the conclusion, but because of its engaging start, I felt like I had to read this like a fiction, completely spoiler-less.
I had absolutely no idea what the Tulsa Race Massacre was and I think that speaks volume. Ellsworth does a brilliant job in exposing how this event just got completely swept under the rug: "The less said about the riot, the better. And that's just what happened." It was even shocking to find that for such a long period of time, people dubbed the event the "race riot" – some felt that the term implied guilt on both sides when, in actual fact, it was completely obvious which side was to blame. But as we see today, scapegoating usually sees African Americans disproportionately put under the spotlight.
I have to admire Ellsworth and his team's resilience throughout this book. The amount of barriers they had to face (including an entire pandemic) during their search for the bodies would have forced anyone else to give up on the spot. Ellsworth was particularly admirable for how many years he dedicated to his research. The amount of people he contacted, the number of locations he went to, the piles upon piles of books and articles he must have been through really show in this book – this is someone who definitely knows what their talking about. His dissertation topic is much more interesting than mine, I have to say.
Having said that, I really would have loved some more personal accounts (or more of the good stuff as I like to put it). The highlights of this book were Ellsworth's recounting of specific personal stories of people who had either seen the massacre first-hand or heard about it from relatives. I was less enthralled by all the technicalities surrounding the excavations and digging up of the sites, even though this was arguably the whole purpose of the book.
With that in mind, Ellsworth's reflection at the end was a very clever way to round off the book. I do love me a non-fiction book that really drives its purpose home at the end, and Ellsworth did just that: "Long-standing institutions are coming under brand-new scrutiny, histories are being challenged and reexamined, statues are toppling. Moreover, those whose voices have long been kept from being heard are claiming their rightful places at the table, while others are waiting in the wings." Accountability – that's what he wants, and this ending makes that clear: "The once secret tragedy is hidden no more."
I think this is an excellent book for those wishing to learn more (or start learning) about the Tulsa Race Massacre. Its first few chapters are outstanding in drawing you in – I just wish it had sustained that throughout. As I said before, more of the good stuff, please.
January 7, 2022
I found this book at the library and thought it was going to be primarily about the Tulsa massacre itself, but it turns out to be more about the aftermath of the massacre and the debates over reparations. The 3 stars, therefore, is partially just because I didn’t know what I was getting into.
If you’re looking for a more detailed account of the massacre (as I am), I would recommend looking into Ellsworth’s previous book, Death in a Promised Land. I plan on doing so as well.
This book did include a lot of interesting information on the massacre, the city of Tulsa in general, and the process of how the massacre slowly came into the public eye. The challenging search for justice was also thought-provoking. Understanding how to seek justice for the past is so tricky, and I pray for our government leaders as they seek to navigate those issues well. I thank God, though, that we are ultimately not the judges, but rather He is. We can trust that He will judge perfectly.
If you’re looking for a more detailed account of the massacre (as I am), I would recommend looking into Ellsworth’s previous book, Death in a Promised Land. I plan on doing so as well.
This book did include a lot of interesting information on the massacre, the city of Tulsa in general, and the process of how the massacre slowly came into the public eye. The challenging search for justice was also thought-provoking. Understanding how to seek justice for the past is so tricky, and I pray for our government leaders as they seek to navigate those issues well. I thank God, though, that we are ultimately not the judges, but rather He is. We can trust that He will judge perfectly.
February 1, 2022
Part history of the Tulsa massacre, part historical detective story, this book is a well-written story. It's not dry, very approachable.
Ellsworth only dedicates a chapter on the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and then moves on to how he and others uncovered the event that white Tulsans had wiped away.
This event was erased in history by most people. How did they do it? Not taking down a statue, but it was done by a community that hid photos, ripped out newspaper articles in the archives, "lose" records, and built a culture among people that you don't talk about it. These kinds of actions erase history.
Ellsworth only dedicates a chapter on the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and then moves on to how he and others uncovered the event that white Tulsans had wiped away.
This event was erased in history by most people. How did they do it? Not taking down a statue, but it was done by a community that hid photos, ripped out newspaper articles in the archives, "lose" records, and built a culture among people that you don't talk about it. These kinds of actions erase history.
June 10, 2021
Last year, Tulsa was put on the map by two things: the premiere of HBO's "Watchmen" series and the decision by the Trump campaign to hold a rally in the city of Tulsa on Juneteenth (the unofficial holiday marking the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, in 1865). Tulsa had been the site of a brutal, bloody massacre in 1921, almost a hundred years prior, and "Watchmen" helped spread the word about the long-buried event while the Trump rally was rightly seen as a racist dog-whistle to his fervent white nationalist base. Now, a century after the massacre, comes this book as not only a look at the events of 1921, but the events ever since, including how the city of Tulsa and the state of Oklahoma kept the Tulsa Race Riot/Massacre of 1921 out of the collective memory of the city, the state, and the nation.
"The Ground Breaking" by Scott Ellsworth serves not just as an overview of the incident itself in 1921, when white rioters tore through the affluent and largely self-sufficient Greenwood section of Tulsa ("Black Wall Street") but also at the subsequent century of lies, obfuscation, and denial perpetuated by those in Tulsa who had very good reasons to cover up the crime committed over the Memorial Day weekend that year. Ellsworth, a local Tulsa native who went on to write one of the first major scholarly accounts of the massacre in 1982, mixes his own personal history of uncovering the massacre and its survivors with accounts of those who lived through the event but also those who became gradually aware of the crime over the years and who strove to bring Tulsa to account for it (a process that is still ongoing, as the current debate of reparations nationwide is also being argued on a local level in Tulsa, as a way to honor the families of those who died and those who survived the massacre, many of whom are no longer with us). Ellsworth also highlights the efforts to uncover mass graves of the uncounted victims, for there is literally no agreed-upon death toll for the massacre and no agreement over where the bodies would be at (many locations are suggested, and forensic scientists are currently hard at work trying to uncover any remains from that event). All in all, he argues that the efforts to honor the dead are essential, a service that Tulsa (and the nation at large) owes to the victims of what may very well be the worst racial massacre on American soil in our long, inglorious history of racial unrest and violence.
This is a powerful, illuminating, and infuriating book. The story of the Tulsa Massacre needs to be told over and over, and the city of Tulsa needs to have accountability for what happened so long ago (and for events that occurred more recently, like the murder of Terence Crutcher only a few years ago). But the nation at large should also have to account for its history of racial violence perpetuated against non-white minorities, and part of that accounting means uncovering the truth of events both far off (seemingly, anyway) and in events fresh in the national memory. The murder of George Floyd helped galvanize a nation in the grips of a worldwide pandemic and arguably helped topple a racist administration more interested in photo-ops of toughness than in actual racial justice. But the process is still ongoing, and as "The Ground Breaking" reminds us, there is no statute of limitations on responsibility and accountability.
"The Ground Breaking" by Scott Ellsworth serves not just as an overview of the incident itself in 1921, when white rioters tore through the affluent and largely self-sufficient Greenwood section of Tulsa ("Black Wall Street") but also at the subsequent century of lies, obfuscation, and denial perpetuated by those in Tulsa who had very good reasons to cover up the crime committed over the Memorial Day weekend that year. Ellsworth, a local Tulsa native who went on to write one of the first major scholarly accounts of the massacre in 1982, mixes his own personal history of uncovering the massacre and its survivors with accounts of those who lived through the event but also those who became gradually aware of the crime over the years and who strove to bring Tulsa to account for it (a process that is still ongoing, as the current debate of reparations nationwide is also being argued on a local level in Tulsa, as a way to honor the families of those who died and those who survived the massacre, many of whom are no longer with us). Ellsworth also highlights the efforts to uncover mass graves of the uncounted victims, for there is literally no agreed-upon death toll for the massacre and no agreement over where the bodies would be at (many locations are suggested, and forensic scientists are currently hard at work trying to uncover any remains from that event). All in all, he argues that the efforts to honor the dead are essential, a service that Tulsa (and the nation at large) owes to the victims of what may very well be the worst racial massacre on American soil in our long, inglorious history of racial unrest and violence.
This is a powerful, illuminating, and infuriating book. The story of the Tulsa Massacre needs to be told over and over, and the city of Tulsa needs to have accountability for what happened so long ago (and for events that occurred more recently, like the murder of Terence Crutcher only a few years ago). But the nation at large should also have to account for its history of racial violence perpetuated against non-white minorities, and part of that accounting means uncovering the truth of events both far off (seemingly, anyway) and in events fresh in the national memory. The murder of George Floyd helped galvanize a nation in the grips of a worldwide pandemic and arguably helped topple a racist administration more interested in photo-ops of toughness than in actual racial justice. But the process is still ongoing, and as "The Ground Breaking" reminds us, there is no statute of limitations on responsibility and accountability.
April 8, 2024
Definitely a recommended read.
This book looks into the Tulsa Race Massacre that happened on 31st May through to the 1st June 1921.
While the author Scott Ellsworth does go into some detail in the beginning of this book of what happened, the lead up to it, and the general thoughts and beliefs of mostly White people and their thoughts, behaviours, and attitudes to Black people and other people of colour, it covers mostly what happened next.
It goes without saying that there are some graphic depictions of how Black people were murdered especially in the beginning of the book, but these depictions are not done to glorify, but to lay the facts. This is what White people did to Black people.
There are photos in this book which show the aftermath, and all this happened in the space of 24 hours!
It's not that different to seeing towns and cities in WWII that were blitzed.
Ellis goes mostly into how the Massacre was hidden away and not spoken about, until people started getting curious, and how that curiosity opened up to discovery of what happened and how, by doing so, revealed some very deep wounds within society and how people fought for recognition and remembrance.
From page 285 to 308, is a long list of resources, further reading, and articles that Ellis used in the making of this book to provide further context, alternative perspectives, and conversations about the Massacre.
This book looks into the Tulsa Race Massacre that happened on 31st May through to the 1st June 1921.
While the author Scott Ellsworth does go into some detail in the beginning of this book of what happened, the lead up to it, and the general thoughts and beliefs of mostly White people and their thoughts, behaviours, and attitudes to Black people and other people of colour, it covers mostly what happened next.
It goes without saying that there are some graphic depictions of how Black people were murdered especially in the beginning of the book, but these depictions are not done to glorify, but to lay the facts. This is what White people did to Black people.
There are photos in this book which show the aftermath, and all this happened in the space of 24 hours!
It's not that different to seeing towns and cities in WWII that were blitzed.
Ellis goes mostly into how the Massacre was hidden away and not spoken about, until people started getting curious, and how that curiosity opened up to discovery of what happened and how, by doing so, revealed some very deep wounds within society and how people fought for recognition and remembrance.
From page 285 to 308, is a long list of resources, further reading, and articles that Ellis used in the making of this book to provide further context, alternative perspectives, and conversations about the Massacre.
Read
June 2, 2021Historian James Ellsworth brings us the story of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, which he describes in vivid detail. He tells the story of how thousands of people were killed. In this book, Ellsworth details the events leading up to the riots, including the discovery of mass graves believed to contain victims, and he debunks rumors that a Black teenager was the intended target of the violence. On May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland, a shoe shiner at a white-owned business, was heading to a designated “colored” restroom at the Drexel Building; minutes after he left, Sarah Page, the 17-year-old white elevator operator there, screamed. The reason was never determined, Dick was blamed, Sarah declined to press charges, and the matter seemed to be settled, but it wasn’t. The Groundbreaking is a true-life thriller, both of which combine to make this book feel like a true crime story. It’s also filled with fascinating anecdotes about how individuals helped and tried to stop Scott Ellsworth. Thank you, Dutton Books, for the gifted copy.
January 19, 2022
This absolutely broke my heart. Scott and the team are absolute legends for really bringing this disgrace to light despite the kickback.
February 1, 2022
This was excellent. Informative and engagingly written as well. That pairing shouldn't be as rare as it is!
March 28, 2022
An honest account of the 1921 Tulsa massacre of Black Wall Street and the cover up that it even happened. This is the most thorough account of the 1921 massacre that I have read.
March 20, 2024
had to write an paper on it so it’s being counted towards my reading goal 🫡
August 15, 2021
This is a book about secrets, and public history, and how the two mesh.
Scott Ellsworth tells the tale of what happened after the Tulsa massacre. Yes, that's what it's called now -- grappling with the truth of it has changed the original terminology -- race riot -- to something more closely approximating what happened in Greenwood, sometimes known as Black Wall Street, on May 31 and June 1, 1921.
Ellsworth deals with the horrific events of those days in about 20 pages. He paints with broad strokes the outlines of the action, the who/what/where, mostly, without going into very much finer detail of the personal losses of residents and business owners. The book kicks into gear in covering the aftermath of the horrors, beginning with the "loss" of records of National Guard and police activities in the massacre, continuing with the literal ripping out of newspaper stories before the pages could be microfilmed by the WPA during the Depression, and finally telling the tale of how Ellsworth helped survivors and relatives find the remains of murdered family members in unmarked graves.
The recounting of these processes is intensely interesting, and the people whom Ellsworth introduces are engaging, but the importance of this book at this time is what I can't stop thinking about. Now, when the US is divided (like we needed another excuse for division) over how to handle the nation's past, is exactly the time when people who don't think we should discuss the reality of race relations in the country because it might hurt little Bobby or Susie's fee-fees desperately need to read this. And not just because of the account of the Greenwood massacre and its deliberate cover-up by whites (who, incidentally, were never held to account by the criminal justice system in any way whatsoever), but because of the back stories of so many of the Black people whose families were living in and around Greenwood when it was destroyed -- "my father was killed by night riders so we moved out of Alabama to Oklahoma," "my dad was a police officer and was set up by the Klan," just for a couple of examples. PEOPLE WERE ALREADY FLEEING MURDER AND INJUSTICE. And they probably thought they'd found a home, if not a haven, only to see that there was no place in the country where Black people could be successful and happy without being targeted by white people who believed down to their very bones that Black folks didn't deserve that. So much for respectability politics -- sure, make the money, live the respectable churchgoing life, own the business, buy the home, acquire the trappings of a middle-class life. None of it matters when the Master Race decides to gun up and put you in your place. Which may just be a mass grave.
Anyhow, this was a much-needed look at what might be possible, when a large and influential enough group of people decides that it's time to do the right thing (or at least part of the right thing, because restitution and reparations for all that was lost are still a thorny subject for the I-wasn't-even-born-yet crowd). It's an in-depth look at how historians operate and at how history is written -- or re-written. And I should probably add that, if you're more worried about Bobby and Susie's tears than you are about the truth, keep that to yourself, because I'm not interested in the opinions of people who are part of the problem.
Scott Ellsworth tells the tale of what happened after the Tulsa massacre. Yes, that's what it's called now -- grappling with the truth of it has changed the original terminology -- race riot -- to something more closely approximating what happened in Greenwood, sometimes known as Black Wall Street, on May 31 and June 1, 1921.
Ellsworth deals with the horrific events of those days in about 20 pages. He paints with broad strokes the outlines of the action, the who/what/where, mostly, without going into very much finer detail of the personal losses of residents and business owners. The book kicks into gear in covering the aftermath of the horrors, beginning with the "loss" of records of National Guard and police activities in the massacre, continuing with the literal ripping out of newspaper stories before the pages could be microfilmed by the WPA during the Depression, and finally telling the tale of how Ellsworth helped survivors and relatives find the remains of murdered family members in unmarked graves.
The recounting of these processes is intensely interesting, and the people whom Ellsworth introduces are engaging, but the importance of this book at this time is what I can't stop thinking about. Now, when the US is divided (like we needed another excuse for division) over how to handle the nation's past, is exactly the time when people who don't think we should discuss the reality of race relations in the country because it might hurt little Bobby or Susie's fee-fees desperately need to read this. And not just because of the account of the Greenwood massacre and its deliberate cover-up by whites (who, incidentally, were never held to account by the criminal justice system in any way whatsoever), but because of the back stories of so many of the Black people whose families were living in and around Greenwood when it was destroyed -- "my father was killed by night riders so we moved out of Alabama to Oklahoma," "my dad was a police officer and was set up by the Klan," just for a couple of examples. PEOPLE WERE ALREADY FLEEING MURDER AND INJUSTICE. And they probably thought they'd found a home, if not a haven, only to see that there was no place in the country where Black people could be successful and happy without being targeted by white people who believed down to their very bones that Black folks didn't deserve that. So much for respectability politics -- sure, make the money, live the respectable churchgoing life, own the business, buy the home, acquire the trappings of a middle-class life. None of it matters when the Master Race decides to gun up and put you in your place. Which may just be a mass grave.
Anyhow, this was a much-needed look at what might be possible, when a large and influential enough group of people decides that it's time to do the right thing (or at least part of the right thing, because restitution and reparations for all that was lost are still a thorny subject for the I-wasn't-even-born-yet crowd). It's an in-depth look at how historians operate and at how history is written -- or re-written. And I should probably add that, if you're more worried about Bobby and Susie's tears than you are about the truth, keep that to yourself, because I'm not interested in the opinions of people who are part of the problem.
December 21, 2021
The title of Chapter 12 says it best: Reminding a City of Her Sins
In the 100 years since the night of May 31, 1921, the words used to describe events that occurred in the Tulsa, Oklahoma business district known as Greenwood or "Black Wall Street," have changed: from riot, mob, uprising, race riot, race war, disaster, and pogrom to what is now commonly referred to as a race massacre.
Scott Ellsworth, historian and lecturer at the University of Michigan, first wrote about the massacre that lasted less than twenty-four hours for his senior thesis when he was at Reed College in the late 1970s. That paper turned into a book, Death in a Promised Land; it was the first comprehensive history ever published and is filled with images taken before and after the fires and with first-hand accounts of the racial tensions that existed in the 1920s.
In The Ground Breaking, Ellsworth digs even deeper into the days and months surrounding the massacre, bringing to light efforts government, law, and newspaper officials took immediately following—and have taken in the years since—to change the story and in some cases, to remove it from their files and the public's memory. He's currently helping lead efforts to locate the unmarked graves of the victims, a number that continues to be unknown but could be in the hundreds.
What is known is that on May 31, 1921, a nineteen-year-old black man was arrested after he was seen running away from a building he'd entered to use the restroom. No charges are filed but within hours, there's talk of a lynching and by evening, more than three hundred white Tulsans have gathered outside the courthouse; later that night, the number grows to two thousand. A group of African American WWI veterans head to the courthouse to help the sheriff defend the young black man. Both groups are armed and shots are fired. The next day, Greenwood is burned to the ground, Black Tulsans are rounded up, and graves are dug. There are a few months of relief efforts but Greenwood would never be the same.
Ellsworth grew up in Tulsa in the 1960s. He notes that he first became aware of the riot, at age 12, while reading microfilmed newspapers at the local library but that he knew "virtually nothing about the tumultuous events" when he left for college in 1972. That, to me, is as strong a statement as anything and begs readers to reflect: How do we address the evil within our histories and what does justice look like?
Note: I encourage you to also read Death in a Promised Land—the photos make as strong a statement as the words.
In the 100 years since the night of May 31, 1921, the words used to describe events that occurred in the Tulsa, Oklahoma business district known as Greenwood or "Black Wall Street," have changed: from riot, mob, uprising, race riot, race war, disaster, and pogrom to what is now commonly referred to as a race massacre.
Scott Ellsworth, historian and lecturer at the University of Michigan, first wrote about the massacre that lasted less than twenty-four hours for his senior thesis when he was at Reed College in the late 1970s. That paper turned into a book, Death in a Promised Land; it was the first comprehensive history ever published and is filled with images taken before and after the fires and with first-hand accounts of the racial tensions that existed in the 1920s.
In The Ground Breaking, Ellsworth digs even deeper into the days and months surrounding the massacre, bringing to light efforts government, law, and newspaper officials took immediately following—and have taken in the years since—to change the story and in some cases, to remove it from their files and the public's memory. He's currently helping lead efforts to locate the unmarked graves of the victims, a number that continues to be unknown but could be in the hundreds.
What is known is that on May 31, 1921, a nineteen-year-old black man was arrested after he was seen running away from a building he'd entered to use the restroom. No charges are filed but within hours, there's talk of a lynching and by evening, more than three hundred white Tulsans have gathered outside the courthouse; later that night, the number grows to two thousand. A group of African American WWI veterans head to the courthouse to help the sheriff defend the young black man. Both groups are armed and shots are fired. The next day, Greenwood is burned to the ground, Black Tulsans are rounded up, and graves are dug. There are a few months of relief efforts but Greenwood would never be the same.
Ellsworth grew up in Tulsa in the 1960s. He notes that he first became aware of the riot, at age 12, while reading microfilmed newspapers at the local library but that he knew "virtually nothing about the tumultuous events" when he left for college in 1972. That, to me, is as strong a statement as anything and begs readers to reflect: How do we address the evil within our histories and what does justice look like?
Note: I encourage you to also read Death in a Promised Land—the photos make as strong a statement as the words.
October 30, 2020
The available sample chapters deftly, and fully illustrate the power punch Ellsworth offers here!
Crucially important history, delivered in a narrative tone allowing you to vividly imagine it all in technicolor. I felt like I held my breath for the 20 some pages that detailed Greenswood's horrific, and buried history. Its powerful account duly offers a modern view to how, what, and why we should learn from it all, by reflecting on now versus then with transparent understanding.
Dr. Scott Ellsworth is a Tulsa local, returning to record the full story of the mass graves being unearthed, by request of the Mayor. I was enveloped from the start; aware of what I was about to read, I couldn't look away as it's as harrowing as it is empowering.
Reading of the massacre, then following the timeline after to learn how others like Nancy and Robert Feldman, Don Ross, and Ed Wheeler have embarked to pierce the veil of silence. They all share why now more than ever it's vital we learn, listen, and bring about change for the suppressed.
I cannot wait to read more as it comes to light!
Partial galley borrowed from the publisher.
Crucially important history, delivered in a narrative tone allowing you to vividly imagine it all in technicolor. I felt like I held my breath for the 20 some pages that detailed Greenswood's horrific, and buried history. Its powerful account duly offers a modern view to how, what, and why we should learn from it all, by reflecting on now versus then with transparent understanding.
Dr. Scott Ellsworth is a Tulsa local, returning to record the full story of the mass graves being unearthed, by request of the Mayor. I was enveloped from the start; aware of what I was about to read, I couldn't look away as it's as harrowing as it is empowering.
Reading of the massacre, then following the timeline after to learn how others like Nancy and Robert Feldman, Don Ross, and Ed Wheeler have embarked to pierce the veil of silence. They all share why now more than ever it's vital we learn, listen, and bring about change for the suppressed.
I cannot wait to read more as it comes to light!
Partial galley borrowed from the publisher.
June 29, 2021
Who are we? What kind of people are we? A little more than 400 years ago enslaved Africans were brought to the North American continent and the islands of the Caribbean by Europeans who invaded this continent for god and country. But mostly to rob the wealth from this new found, but already occupied, land. Now 400 years later local and state governing bodies are passing laws that forbid the teaching of this history. Who are we to deny this land was forcibly stolen from the indigenous people who’s ancestors had lived here for thousands of years before these foreign invaders set foot on this continent? Who are we to deny that the United States of America was built on the back of enslaved people. The very house where the leader of this country resides was built by enslaved people. What kind of cowardly people can deny the acts of their forebears while they continue to treat surviving indigenous people and the descendants of enslaved people as if they have no legitimate place in the American society. Who are we? Read this book and get a glimpse of our shameful not so distant past. Can white Americans really become not those people?
September 19, 2021
Pretending that horrific events never took place helps no one. Distorting the historical record to the point of destroying evidence of atrocities protects the perpetrators and denies justice to the victims and their descendants.
Scott Ellsworth’s masterful book is an exercise in truth-telling. Focusing on the cover-up of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and the search for mass gravesites, he details impressive detective work undertaken by journalists, historians, forensic anthropologists, and African American community leaders.
Written with empathy for Tulsa’s Black community and with a determination to expose the truth of what happened to Black Wall Street, The Ground Breaking is essential reading for anyone interested in an honest reckoning with the past. As Ellsworth writes, history “is a mirror of both who we are and who we want to be”.
Scott Ellsworth’s masterful book is an exercise in truth-telling. Focusing on the cover-up of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and the search for mass gravesites, he details impressive detective work undertaken by journalists, historians, forensic anthropologists, and African American community leaders.
Written with empathy for Tulsa’s Black community and with a determination to expose the truth of what happened to Black Wall Street, The Ground Breaking is essential reading for anyone interested in an honest reckoning with the past. As Ellsworth writes, history “is a mirror of both who we are and who we want to be”.
March 28, 2022
High recommend. The book is split up into three sections, the first of which recounts the events of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in detail. The author uses the following two sections to explain the complicated unearthing of the buried story, and then the long-awaited search for the victim's bodies. There is more to uncover in this story, even 100 years later.
The author ended with this thoughtful insight:
"For all across America, and, indeed, all across the world, we are living in the Age of Reevaluation. Long-standing institutions are coming under brand-new scrutiny, histories are being challenged and reexamined, statues are toppling. Moreover, those whose voices have long been kept from being heard are claiming their rightful places at the table, while others are waiting in the wings."
The author ended with this thoughtful insight:
"For all across America, and, indeed, all across the world, we are living in the Age of Reevaluation. Long-standing institutions are coming under brand-new scrutiny, histories are being challenged and reexamined, statues are toppling. Moreover, those whose voices have long been kept from being heard are claiming their rightful places at the table, while others are waiting in the wings."
November 4, 2021
“For all across America, and, indeed, all across the world, we are living in the Age of Revelation. Long-standing institutions are coming under brand-new scrutiny, histories are being challenged and re-examined, statues are toppling. Moreover, those whose voices have long been kept from being heard are claiming their rightful places at the table, while others are waiting in the wings. If what has happened in one Middle American city during the past century is any sort of guide, there is a long road ahead of us. It won’t be easy. But it will be necessary. And in some cases, the stories have been there all along.”
More a look at the task of uncovering the history of the Tulsa Race Massacre than an account of the actual event and its causes, but still interesting and important history.
More a look at the task of uncovering the history of the Tulsa Race Massacre than an account of the actual event and its causes, but still interesting and important history.
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