Tulsa Riot committee picks chairman

(Tulsa-AP) -- An American Airlines engineer will chair a committee tasked to design a memorial for those killed or injured in the 1921 Tulsa race riot.

The committee chose Julius Pegues today. The group until November 30th, 2001, to choose a design for the proposed memorial to the riot that destroyed most of the predominantly black Greenwood District.

The panel was authorized last spring in the same legislation that extended the work of the Tulsa riot commission.

The committee expects to begin the project with $150,000.

Tulsa state Representative Don Ross wants to spend $5 million, the same amount the state spent on the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Ross said he envisions a memorial and museum devoted to American black history.