Greenwood Rising Museum Celebrates One Year In Operation

Aug. 4 marks one year since Greenwood Rising Black Wall Street History Center opened to the public.

Starting this weekend, the center will close through August as it prepares for its second year of operations.

The center told News On 6 that 64,000 visitors from all over have stopped by.

For the next month, the building will go through maintenance and exhibit updates for its next phase of educational programming.

Greenwood Rising Black Wall Street History Center takes visitors back to when the Greenwood District was booming. It also goes back to when there were chaos and killings during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Visitors like Greg Campbell from Texas are moved. "I thought it was awesome,” said Campbell. “Right now, I am a mix of emotions with all that I saw. I definitely want to come back and visit."

Since the building opened to the public on Aug. 4, 2021, many students, local and international leaders, authors and even entertainers like Tito Jackson from the Jackson Five have come to learn.

Caley Burnside is a docent, guiding visitors and answering questions.

"When people come through here, it changes them, it motivates them, and it makes me hopeful seeing that people actually want to change and they don't want to continue the cycles of racism and systemic violence and so on and so forth," explained Burnside.

The center said it has more than a dozen employees and has plans to hire more.

The center's popularity is an economic boost for Tulsa, especially for black-owned businesses, like Black Wall Street T-Shirts & Souvenirs, working to revitalize Black Wall Street.

"There has definitely been a positive buzz about the museum,” said Cyndii Cosper, manager at Black Wall Street T-Shirts & Souvenirs. “People are always excited to come and see, you know, the museum that tells the history down here."

Aug. 5 is the last day to visit for free before the center is closed for updates. When it reopens Sept. 1, tickets will cost $15 for adults.