The ConflictThe elevator incident wasn't as bad as the newspaper made it out to be. What happened in the elevator between Dick Rowland and Sarah Page is unclear, but many speculations have been made.
Dr. Charles Hughes is an assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University, and he specializes in African American history.
Rumors of a lynching had gathered a mob of whites to the courthouse. The sheriff tried to protect Rowland, saying he had everything under control. African Americans in Greenwood were gathered by J. B. Stradford, going to help protect Rowland. The first time the sheriff sent them away, then as the mob got bigger, they came back. A white man approached an African American man, demanding his gun. They struggled over it, and a shot was fired. Before the sheriff could do a thing about it, the riot had started.
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"Adjutant General Barret, who arrived on the scene Wednesday morning, and who had first hand information as to what really happened, states in terse terms the situation: ONE HYSTERICAL WOMAN, AN IMPUDENT NEGRO AND A YELLOW JOURNAL IS THE CAUSE OF IT ALL." - The Black Dispatch, June 10, 1921 |