Tulsa was racially segregated and reeling from a recent lynching when Dick Rowland, a black 19-year-old shoe-shiner, walked to the Drexel Building, which had the only toilet downtown available to black people.
Rowland stepped into an elevator. Sarah Page, a white elevator operator, began to shriek.
"While it is still uncertain as to precisely what happened in the Drexel Building on May 30, 1921, the most common explanation is that Rowland stepped on Page's foot as he entered the elevator, causing her to scream," the Oklahoma Historical Society reported.
This was what caused the Tulsa Race Riot.
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As Hooker sat in the front row at a Coast Guard ceremony in 2015, she watched as President Barack Obama honored her, recounting her life story. He described her as a "tireless voice for justice and equality."
I agree, she is one amazing woman.
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