DALLAS, TX.- The racially fueled 1921 massacre in Tulsa remains the worst in American history. In a matter of hours, the once-prosperous Greenwood district, known locally as “Black Wall Street,” was reduced to ashes, leaving 300 or more dead, forcing between 6,000 and 10,000 residents to relocate and doing immeasurable damage to homes, businesses and property. Oklahoma officials declared martial law as part of the effort to restore order.
More than a century later, a Broadside Announcing Martial Law During the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre will serve as a solemn reminder of the events when it is sold in Heritage’s April 25-26 Americana & Political Signature® Auction.
The horrific events are believed to have been in response to an alleged — more than likely accidental — interaction between a Black man and a white woman in an elevator. Sensationalized newspaper reports fueled racial tensions, triggering a violent response from both Black and white communities in Tulsa, which at the time was deeply segregated. On the night of May 31, the night of the alleged interaction, white citizens drove into Greenwood and began indiscriminately killing Black residents, looting homes and businesses. Death estimates ranged from 300 to 800, with thousands left homeless.
“This broadside is enormously important because it represents tangible proof of the worst act of racially fueled domestic violence in this country’s history,” says Ray Farina, Historical Consignment Director at Heritage Auctions. “It also serves to officially acknowledge state government’s role in the widespread systemic failures that allowed such an atrocity to occur.”
City officials not only obstructed rebuilding efforts but also imposed restrictive zoning laws, which ensured that Greenwood never would recover fully. Legal efforts over subsequent decades failed, leaving survivors and their descendants without restitution. The Justice Department has produced an official account of the massacre, confirming that the attack on Greenwood was a deliberate, organized assault.
“More than 100 years after the fact, justice has not been served,” says Farina. “Rather than protecting Black residents, the martial law declared in this broadside disarmed Greenwood’s survivors, many of whom had attempted to defend their homes and businesses.
“Three lawsuits filed between 2021 and 2024 by the last living survivors (now deceased) of those who died in the massacre, were dismissed in court. To date there have been no reparations for damages from loss of life or property, and nobody has ever been found guilty or been held accountable for their role in the massacre. Only recently has a Federal government commission to investigate the massacre released a scathing report of their findings. The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 remains a sober reminder of what can happen when racial prejudice and intolerance are allowed to go unchecked. We must never forget what happened there so we may never allow it to happen again.”
One recent discovery that will cross the block in this auction is one of just two known examples of a Cass & Butler: Fabulous Jugate Ribbon advocating for the 1848 Democratic candidates. Titled “Genl. Cass For President. Genl. Butler For Vice President” and captioned “Democracy,” it features an eagle labeled “Vigilance” that is flanked by the names of prior presidents and a riband that declares “The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved.” The other known example surfaced decades ago and likely is tightly held in a private collection, making this a prime opportunity to make this ribbon a collection centerpiece.
Also in the auction is a selection of porcelain enamel New York City street signs that trumpet some of the Big Apple’s most well-known addresses, including New Street and Exchange Place; the New York Stock Exchange is on the north side of Exchange Place between New and Broad. Others in the auction include, but are not limited to Cortland and Church Streets, West 34th Street and 7th Avenue, the site of Macy’s flagship store, and 50th Street and Park Avenue, near the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel — at the time of construction the largest and tallest hotel in the world, frequented by celebrities like Douglas McArthur, Herbert Hoover, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe.
The auction includes a George Washington: “Pater Patriae” Inaugural Button that is the only button in the series with a portrait of the first president, depicting a half-length bust of Washington in his military uniform, wearing a tricorn hat, inscribed “General Washington Pater Patriae.” Heritage Auctions experts are aware of just four known examples, including the one offered in this auction.
Serious collectors always show interest in political campaign buttons like the Harding & Coolidge: Extremely Rare and Important 1¼-inch Jugatethat is included in this auction. This design is known as one of the two most familiar designs for the jugates of the opposing Cox-Roosevelt ticket, even though it didn’t make its debut in 1920. In 1912, the company produced a small number of one-day-event Roosevelt-Johnson jugates which first featured this design. Among 1920 issues, this version is significantly rarer than the 7/8-inch version, with perhaps as few as a half dozen known examples.
One bidder will end up with what is perhaps the only copy of a Colonial America: Important 1746 Recruitment Broadside for the Invasion of Canada. Acting upon a letter from the Duke of Newcastle with authorization from King George II, Massachusetts residents are asked to raise 3,000 volunteers “… to attempt the immediate reduction of Canada.” British and colonial volunteers were offered an array of inducements, including a 30-pound bounty (roughly equal to a soldier's yearly pay), a monetary allowance for arms and clothing if lack of time made them difficult to acquire, “a good blanket and a bed for every two men.” In addition: “… they shall be entitled to a share of the Booty that shall be taken from the Enemy, and shall be sent back to their several habitations, when this Service shall be over, unless any of them shall desire to settle elsewhere.” A previous claim that the Huntington Library owned an example has proven inaccurate.
Also in play in this auction is perhaps the best known example of a custom engraved Bulwer Mine: Souvenir Silver and Gold Ingot with a Storied Past. The value of $47.50 for this weight indicates a high presence of gold in the alloy, and an X-ray fluorescence test indicates a purity mix of around 44.5% gold and 54.3% silver, with traces of copper and lead. Philip Deidesheimer was a German-born mining engineer who emigrated to the United States in 1852 and worked the California gold fields before being hired as a technical advisor by W. F. Babcock, a trustee of the Ophir Mine, part of the Comstock Lode in Nevada. While there, he invented a system of tunnel supports which came to be known as “square set timbering,” an invention he declined to patent. He designed and supervised mine construction at the Hope Mill in Montana and at the Young America Mine in Sierra City, California, where his 20% stake made him a rich man. His invention was the basis for a 1959 episode of the television show Bonanza titled, appropriately, “The Philip Deidesheimer Story.”
Other top lots in the auction include, but are not limited to:
• A WWII: Silk Map Used by Captain Robert A. Lewis, Co-Pilot of the Enola Gay on the Hiroshima Bombing Mission
• A Wilmer Stultz and Amelia Earhart: Flight of the “Friendship” Gold Award Medal and Signed Dinner Program
• An Abraham Lincoln: Baseball Theme Currier & Ives Cartoon
• A Harding & Coolidge: Spectacular 1920 Jugate Parade Badge with 1-3/4-inch Celluloid Button
