What Was the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921? (What Was?)

by Caleb Gayle (Author) Tim Foley (Illustrator)

What Was the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921? (What Was?)
Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Series: What Was?

Learn how envy and racism led to the tragic destruction of the thriving Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in this thought-provoking addition to the New York Times bestselling What Was? series!

Before May 31, 1921, the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a flourishing neighborhood of 10,000 Black residents. There, Black families found success and community. They ran their own businesses, including barbershops, clothing stores, jewelers, restaurants, movie theatres, and more. There also were Black doctors, dentists, and lawyers to serve the neighborhood. Then, in one weekend, all of this was lost. A racist mob tore through the streets, burning everything to the ground and killing scores of innocent residents. Learn about what led to one of the worst moments of racial violence in America's history in this nonfiction book for young readers.

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Caleb Gayle
Caleb Gayle is an award-winning journalist and historian who writes about race and identity. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Guernica, and other publications. He has an adult trade book with Riverhead called We Refuse To Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power that was published in 2022.

Tim Foley is a freelance illustrator whose work has been featured in several Who HQ titles including What Is the AIDS Crisis?, What Was the Harlem Renaissance?, Where Is Hollywood?, and Who Was Edgar Allan Poe? He currently lives and works in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his wife and his pet dog and cat.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9780593521700
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Penguin Workshop
Publication date
April 25, 2023
Series
What Was?
BISAC categories
JNF018010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JNF053140 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Prejudice & Racism
JNF025210 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | United States/20th Century
Library of Congress categories
History
African Americans
20th century
Race relations
Riots
Oklahoma
Racism
Tulsa
Tulsa (Okla.)
Greenwood (Tulsa, Okla.)
Tulsa Race Massacre, Tulsa, Okla., 1921

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