The Center for Public Secrets is a sub-cultural institution that explores the hidden and neglected history of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and beyond.
Alias: James Jones and "Diamond Dick" Rowland
by Randy Hopkins
More than 100 years after the Tulsa Race Massacre, the central character known as “Diamond Dick” Rowland remains a mystery. Accused of assaulting a white teenage orphan, “Diamond Dick’s” brief appearance in the Tulsa Tribune triggered a race war. Afterwards, Rowland disappeared from history as quickly as he arrived. Now, thanks to Rowland’s former classmates at Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington High School — Race Massacre survivors themselves — it is possible to dissipate the mystery and to discover what Rowland did when finally released from jail.
We believe that the situation in the city of Tulsa is one of national and international relevance. Throughout Tulsa's history, there have been moments where the city serves as a crossroads to all that is America– and to all that America represents. The story of Tulsa encapsulates something both beautiful and destructive. Many times, the details of the stories that shape Tulsa are hidden just beneath the surface, ready to be exposed.

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