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The CfPS Library
The library houses community journalism that explores the hidden, neglected, and misunderstood histories of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and beyond.
Explore feature stories, videos, and short essays from CfPS founder, Lee Roy Chapman.
Read longform stories about Tulsa's Greenwood neighborhood and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Learn about Tulsa's unique position at the nexus of the Mvskoke, Cherokee, and Osage nations.
Explore stories about the hidden, neglected and misunderstood history of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Birthday of the Klan: The Tulsa Outrage of 1917
On November 10, 1917, a birth announcement for the “Modern Ku Klux Klan” appeared in a front-page headline of the Tulsa Daily World.
Randy Hopkins
Aug 22, 202366 min read
The Plot to Kill "Diamond Dick Rowland" and the Tulsa Race Massacre - Part Three
May 31, 1921 Tulsa police officials “feared the explosive combination of forces” resulting from the news of Diamond Dick Rowland’s arrest.
Randy Hopkins
Aug 22, 202323 min read
The Plot to Kill "Diamond Dick Rowland" and the Tulsa Race Massacre - Part Two
Claiming them to be dens of iniquity, the police had long cast a suspicious eye on negro rooming houses. The Rowland family ran a large one.
Randy Hopkins
Aug 22, 202328 min read
The Plot to Kill "Diamond Dick Rowland" & The Tulsa Race Massacre - Part One
On Tuesday afternoon, May 31, 1921, a newspaper article titled “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl In an Elevator” hit the streets of downtown Tu
Randy Hopkins
Aug 22, 202334 min read
Echo of History: The City of Tulsa’s Mass Graves Debacle
On the morning of July 30, 2021, an iron fence and locked gates divided two groups of Tulsans at the City-owned Oaklawn Cemetery.
Randy Hopkins
Aug 22, 202329 min read
Mask of Atonement: The Plan to Rebuild the Homes of Greenwood
The Greenwood rebuilding “plan” was a major feature of the second full day of national news coverage of the then-called Tulsa Race Riot.
Randy Hopkins
Aug 22, 20239 min read
Recovering History: The Freeing of Dick Roland
There's no listing for this prisoner during June or July. This supports claims that Roland was removed from the jail soon after his arrival.
Randy Hopkins
Aug 22, 202315 min read
"Move The Negroes Out" The Destruction of the Historically Black Neighborhood in Sand Springs, OK
This Area A, the Southside Addition, was created as a segregated place of residency by the town founder in 1911.
John Neal
Aug 22, 202318 min read
Alias: James Jones and "Diamond Dick" Rowland
Learn about James Jones, better known as "Diamond Dick" Rowland, the teenager at the center of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Randy Hopkins
Aug 21, 202310 min read
J.B. Stradford: Carnage Without Death
by Steve Gerkin J.B. Stradford We will never understand. How could we allow the racial brutality of slavery, the lynching of Blacks as...
Steve Gerkin
Aug 21, 202314 min read
The Dons of Tulsa’s Ku Klux Klan: Exposing the Leaders Behind the Secret Brotherhood
By Steve Gerkin - The Tulsa Klan parades through downtown Tulsa, August 1922. Some things don’t add up. Some things seem incongruous. How...
Steve Gerkin
Jul 7, 20239 min read
The Notorious Sarah Page
By Randy Hopkins - Sarah Beaver (third from left) would eventually become Sarah Page, a central figure in the Tulsa Race Massacre of...
Randy Hopkins
Jul 6, 202315 min read
Beno Hall: Tulsa’s Ku Klux Klan Klubhouse
By Steve Gerkin - Beno Hall, Tulsa's Klan Headquarters at 501 N Main St. in Tulsa Think of a hall. Well, there's a pool hall, city hall,...
Steve Gerkin
Jul 6, 202310 min read
The Case for April Wilkens' Life
by Colleen McCarty Esq. – April Wilkins is serving life in prison in Oklahoma, despite maintaining her innocence and compelling evidence...
Colleen McCarty Esq.
Jul 6, 20236 min read
Introducing: OAKLAWN
A Documentary Film from the Center for Public Secrets and Well-Told “OAKLAWN” tells the story behind the investigation into the search...
Stuart Hetherwood
Jun 30, 20232 min read
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