Smithsonian Events - One Time

The Museum is excited to again work with Victor Luckerson to present his new publication, Built from the Fire. Luckerson weaves together archival research of the historic Greenwood community of Tulsa, Oklahoma with the family narrative of the Goodwin family. In this riveting book, Luckerson discusses how J.H. Goodwin left Mississippi for Tulsa in 1913 and survived the massacre on May 31, 1921. Mr. Goodwin remained in Tulsa to help other survivors overcome obstacles to reestablish the area as a rich wellspring of Black culture and business. Mr. Goodwin’s fighting spirit lives on in his great-granddaughter Regina Goodwin, the only Black woman in Oklahoma’s House of Representatives. During his talk, Luckerson will connect Mr. Goodwin’s work with the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing work of current Black residents of Tulsa, where residents and supporters are uncovering mass graves of the riot’s victims and amplifying the legacy of the massacre within broader American history. The conversation will be moderated by John Franklin, Program Manager Emeritus at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.