Smitherman, A.J. (Andrew Jackson)

Impact on the world

Used his newspaper to call out lynchings and civil rights violations across Oklahoma, personally intervening in such events, and urged Black World War I veterans in Tulsa to defend their community, a stance that contributed to his being falsely blamed for inciting the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Life & background

After his family relocated to Indian Territory in the 1890s, Smitherman founded the Tulsa Star, a Black newspaper based in Greenwood that regularly informed African American readers of their legal rights and reported on instances of racial violence and discrimination, with Smitherman personally intervening at lynching sites on multiple occasions. He called for Black men in Tulsa, including many World War I veterans, to defend their community against mob violence, and was subsequently blamed for helping incite the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Sources

1. HISTORY.com (9 Entrepreneurs Who Helped Build Tulsa's Black Wall Street); Library of Congress (Headlines & Heroes)