January 1921
The Tulsa massacre was the most extreme but not unique example of prosperous Black business districts being destroyed by white mobs. Similar attacks occurred in Rosewood FL (1923), Johnstown PA (1923), and Springfield OH (1921). Even where outright destruction did not occur, Black business districts were systematically excluded from commercial expansion, denied business licenses, denied banking services, and blocked from contracting with governments. The targeting of Black economic success for destruction was a pattern that expressed white resentment of Black prosperity as a specific threat to the racial order.
Harry Pace founded Black Swan Records in New York in 1921, the first Black-owned record company to achieve major commercial success. Named for opera singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield ('The Black Swan'), the label recorded Ethel Waters, Alberta Hunter, and other Black artists who faced exclusion from white-owned labels. Black Swan represented an attempt to build Black economic institutions in the cultural sphere and to ensure Black artists retained more control over their recordings. It was driven out of business by 1924 when larger white labels began targeting the 'race records' market.
Events
- 1921Pattern of Destroying Prosperous Black Business Districts Across Multiple Cities
The Tulsa massacre was the most extreme but not unique example of prosperous Black business districts being destroyed by white mobs. Similar attacks occurred in Rosewood FL (1923), Johnstown PA (1923), and Springfield OH (1921). Even where outright destruction did not occur, Black business districts were systematically excluded from commercial expansion, denied business licenses, denied banking services, and blocked from contracting with governments. The targeting of Black economic success for destruction was a pattern that expressed white resentment of Black prosperity as a specific threat to the racial order.
- January 26, 1921Henry Lowry Burned Alive Before 500 Spectators, Arkansas
Henry Lowry, a Black sharecropper in Arkansas, was accused of killing a white planter and his daughter after a wage dispute. He was captured in Texas and returned to Arkansas. On January 26, 1921, a mob of 500–600 white spectators gathered to watch him be tortured and burned alive. Lowry was forced to dig his own grave before being chained to a log and burned slowly. The NAACP documented the event in detail. No perpetrators were prosecuted. The event was reported nationally by the Black press.
- 1921Harry Pace Founds Black Swan Records, First Black-Owned Major Record Label
Harry Pace founded Black Swan Records in New York in 1921, the first Black-owned record company to achieve major commercial success. Named for opera singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield ('The Black Swan'), the label recorded Ethel Waters, Alberta Hunter, and other Black artists who faced exclusion from white-owned labels. Black Swan represented an attempt to build Black economic institutions in the cultural sphere and to ensure Black artists retained more control over their recordings. It was driven out of business by 1924 when larger white labels began targeting the 'race records' market.
- 1921Continued Lynchings in Georgia Throughout the 1920s
Georgia recorded 16 lynchings between 1920 and 1929, the highest of any state in the decade, continuing a pattern of racial terror that had claimed over 500 Georgia victims since Reconstruction. Notable cases included the 1921 lynching of John Henry Williams, who was burned alive in Jasper County before a large crowd after being accused of killing a white farmer in a dispute over wages. Georgia governors throughout the period declined to prosecute mob members. The state had no state anti-lynching law and actively obstructed federal investigations. The Klan's political power in Georgia peaked in this period.
- 1921Beaumont, Chester, and Other Northern Race Riots Target Black Communities
Beyond the Tulsa massacre, numerous other incidents of white mob violence against Black communities occurred throughout the 1920s. In Springfield, Ohio (1921), Johnstown, Pennsylvania (1923), and elsewhere, Black communities were attacked following alleged criminal incidents. These Northern riots demonstrated that racial terror was not exclusively a Southern phenomenon. Black residents were typically blamed for 'causing' violence by their presence or alleged crimes, while white perpetrators faced no legal consequences. The pattern reinforced Black political organizing in the North around demands for legal protections.