Viola Ford Fletcher, oldest survivor of Tulsa Race Massacre, dies at age 111

By Kiki Intarasuwan, CBS News

Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died at the age of 111, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols announced Monday.

“Today, our city mourns the loss of Mother Viola Fletcher – a survivor of one of the darkest chapters in our city’s history. Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose,” Nichols said on social media.

“Mother Fletcher carried 111 years of truth, resilience, and grace and was a reminder of how far we’ve come and how far we must still go,” he said. “She never stopped advocating for justice for the survivors and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and I hope we all can carry forward her legacy with the courage and conviction she modeled every day of her life.”

Fletcher, a grandmother of six who had been living in North Texas, told CBS News in a 2021 interview that she thought about the massacre every day.

“It will be something I’ll never forget,” she said.

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The Tulsa Race Massacre has become one of the most infamous racist events of the Jim Crow Era.

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