Encore: Tulsa Race Massacre | The Powder Keg | 2

American History Tellers

Wondery

History, Education For Kids, Kids & Family, Society & Culture

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2021

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As Black teenager Dick Rowland sat in a jail cell at the Tulsa courthouse, news of his arrest flew through the town. Egged on by rumors about his alleged rape of white teenager Sarah Page, a white mob bent on a lynching Rowland began assembling outside the courthouse. By that evening, the crowd had swelled to thousands.

Meanwhile, some young African American veterans of the recent world war were determined to defend Rowland, with their lives if necessary. When they arrived at the courthouse Tuesday night, they found themselves thrust into a situation far more volatile than they were prepared for.

This episode originally aired in 2019.

Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/historytellers.

Support us by supporting our sponsors!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music,
0:05.6	download the app today.
0:09.0	Imagine its early evening on Tuesday, May 31, 1921.
0:23.3	It's hot here on the top floor of the Tulsa County Courthouse, but the metal bars of Dick
0:27.4	Roland's jail cell door are cool in your hands as you swing at shot.
0:31.3	You pull a heavy key ring from your pocket, flip through it and finding the right key, lock
0:35.4	the teenager in the cell.
0:37.7	Something in his terrified eyes gets to you.
0:39.7	You okay?
0:40.7	You didn't eat.
0:42.7	I guess.
0:44.5	I didn't do anything, Sheriff.
0:46.9	When can I get out of here?
0:48.5	I don't know, boy.
0:50.0	You just hang on tight tonight.
0:51.4	No telling what'll happen in court, but you're safe up here that you would be out there.
0:56.1	As you turn to leave, you nod at one of the young guards position your buy.
1:00.4	You step into the creaky elevator and head down to your office.
1:03.9	Your head is pounding and the muscles in your neck are so tight they feel like they could
1:07.6	snap.
1:08.6	You rub your temples hoping to relieve the tension.
1:11.6	The elevator rumbles down slowly, but you hear someone yelling before the door is even open.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.