OU Librarians Ask Library Of Congress To Update Listing For Tulsa Race Massacre

A group of OU librarians asked the Library of Congress to change the subject heading for the Tulsa Race Massacre.

In the Library of Congress, it is listed under “Tulsa Race Riot.” The commission appointed by the state legislature to investigate the massacre stopped calling it a ‘riot’ in 2018.

The coalition, formed by librarians and archivists across divisions in the OU libraries, researched the current usage of terms across multiple disciplines and mediums, and compiled historical precedents for similar changes.

"Leading the change to reflect current usage and understanding of what happened in Tulsa in 1921 is important because what we call things matters," Bailey Hoffner, metadata and collections management archivist for OU Libraries said.

To read more, visit the OU Libraries website here.