Viola Ford Fletcher, one of last survivors of Tulsa race massacre, dies aged 111

Viola Ford Fletcher, who as one of the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre in Oklahoma spent her later years seeking justice for the deadly attack by a white mob on the thriving Black community where she lived as a child, has died. She was 111.

Her grandson Ike Howard said on Monday that she died surrounded by family at a Tulsa hospital. Sustained by a strong faith, she raised three children, worked as a welder in a shipyard during the second world war and spent decades caring for families as a housekeeper.

Tulsa’s mayor, Monroe Nichols , said the city was mourning her loss. “Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose,” he said in a statement. ‘Let the world know’: elderly survivors of the Tulsa race mas