Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer

Viola Ford Fletcher, known as “Mother Fletcher,” the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, passed away Monday at 111, her grandson Ike Howard confirmed.

“She had a beautiful smile on her face,” Howard told CNN. “She loved life, she loved people.”

Fletcher’s testimony and life bore witness to one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in U.S. history, when a white mob destroyed 35 blocks of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, killing and displacing thousands of Black residents.

Her brother, Hughes Van Ellis, also a survivor, died in 2023 at 102. Fletcher spent her life in Tulsa, working as a ship welder during WWII and later as a maid, never receiving reparations for the devastation that left her family impoverished.

Her passing marks the end of a living link to the massacre, but her voice and legacy continue to call for justice.

Lessie Benningfield Randle, 111, is now the only living survivor of the massacre.

Viola Fletcher.

Triumphant.

Gracious.

Courageous.

Thank you.

🖤🩷🖤🩷🖤🩷🖤🩷🖤🩷🖤🩷🖤🩷🖤🩷🖤🩷🖤