Death of Tulsa Race Massacre Survivor Olivia Hooker-- Part 6: Education and the Commission

Olivia Juliet Hooker was born in Muscogee, Oklahoma, on February 12, 1915, and was one of five children.  She graduated from Ohio State University in 1937, then taught elementary school in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1947, she received a master's degree in psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University.  In 1961, she earned a doctorate from the University of Rochester.

In 1997, she worked on the Tulsa Race Riot Commission, which investigated the massacre and issued a report in 2001 "detailing for the first time  the extent of the city and state government's involvement in the riot and the cover up that followed and the total lack of remedy available in the courts at the time," according to a congressional report.