Explore Oklahoma’s Historic All-Black Districts and Towns

February is Black History Month, and Oklahoma has a storied history with All-Black towns across the state and All-Black districts in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. A way Oklahomans can recognize Black History Month is to learn about the state's history by visiting Oklahoma's historic All-Black districts and towns.

According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, All-Black towns grew in Oklahoma/Indian Territory after the Civil War "when the former slaves of the Five Tribes settled together for mutual protection and economic security." Both the Native Americans and African Americans "created cohesive, prosperous farming communities that could support businesses, schools, and churches, eventually forming towns." Eventually, more African Americans migrated to Oklahoma as a "promised land" and after Oklahoma officially became a state in 1907, "many All-Black communities sprouted and flourished in the rich topsoil of the new territory."

Within the All-Black communities, people were able to live free from "brutality and prejudice" that plagued many racially mixed communities across the Midwest and South. African Americans started All-Black communities and towns for many reasons, ranging from escaping prejudice to the desire for a cohesive way of living. Pioneering historian of Blacks in Oklahoma, Arthur Tolson, stated that many African Americans during the development of these communities turned to "ideologies of economic advancement, self-help, and racial solidarity."

The Oklahoma Historical Society has recorded 27 All-Black towns that were established in Indian Territory and when Oklahoma became a state. Today, the following historic All-Black towns are still in existence: Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Red Bird, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee and Vernon.

Visit historic All-Black districts in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Even though Oklahoma had several All-Black towns, some even still established today, the state's biggest cities were also home to historic All-Black districts. Two of the districts, one in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa, can still be visited today.

Although they're not technically towns, Oklahoma City and Tulsa are home to historic All-Black districts and can be visited today. Oklahoma City is home to the Deep Deuce District which was the hub of black culture in Oklahoma City. After the 1889 Land Run, it became home to the warehouse workers from Bricktown and then grew into the home of blues and jazz musicians in the 1940s and '50s. Oklahoma's first black doctor and hotelier owned property and operated businesses in Deep Deuce.

@bigtre_918 Did y’all know Martin Luther King tried to be a pastor here in OKC? Step into the vibrant past of OKC’s Deep Deuce District—a place where Black culture, jazz, and history thrived in the early 20th century. Discover the heartbeat of Oklahoma’s Black excellence, from legendary jazz clubs to powerful stories of resilience. Ready to walk through history? You’ll never see OKC the same way again!#creatorsearchinsights #DeepDeuceOKC #BlackHistoryMatters #OKCHistory #CulturalHeritage #JazzLegacy #HiddenHistory ♬ original sound - Big Tre’

Tulsa is home Greenwood District where the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre occurred.

The Greenwood District in Tulsa was known as "Black Wall Street." The district developed in the early 1900s due to "rigid segregation" in Tulsa and paved the way for the district to become a "nationally renowned Black entrepreneurial center." African Americans transformed Greenwood into a "vibrant, vital, self-contained economy." The district had everything people needed and wanted, like nightclubs, hotels, restaurants, stores, doctor offices, lawyer offices and more.

But in 1921, one of the most horrific, violent racial acts in American history occurred in Greenwood. Tulsa's underlying social and economic tensions came to a head as a violent white mod descended upon the district, burned 35 blocks and killed 300 black citizens. This eraser of black prosperity later became known as the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Greenwood Rising is a history center located in Tulsa's historic Greenwood District that people can visit and learn about the history of Greenwood before and after the Tulsa Race Massacre.