The Joplin, Missouri Tornado

 On May 22, 2011, 5:34PM, an EF5 tornado touched down in Joplin, Missouri with winds in excess of 200 mph. The path of destruction was nearly one mile wide, and left a path of total destruction 13 miles long. 161 lives were lost. Over 18,000 trees were destroyed. 8,000 buildings were leveled. Cost to recover was over a billion dollars. Volunteers in the aftermath numbered over 100,000.

During my drive from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Cleveland, Ohio, my route went through Joplin. I stopped to visit the memorial dedicated to the lives lost, damage done, and the 126,804 registered volunteers who assisted the citizens of Joplin recover from their catastrophic loss.

Greenwood Rising, Black Wall St History Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

In 1905, an oilman discovered the Glenn Pool, which was the richest small oil field in the world, located near the small village of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Creek Indians exiled to Oklahoma became millionaires overnight. The find attracted entrepreneurs, merchants, and tradesmen, both Black and White. Tulsa grew rapidly and became quite wealthy. The area of Tulsa known as Greenwood became the primary area for African American settlement. It was a city within a city.

Segregation was rampant, so determined leaders of Greenwood had the vision of a thriving and growing community with numerous professionals including doctors, lawyers, theaters, and high-end merchants. It was Booker T. Washington who coined the term Black Wall Street.

As Greenwood became self-sufficient and wealthy, animosity and outright jealousy from the larger white community were lurking just beneath the surface. This is a time when throughout the United States that animosity was rising everywhere. The Ku Klux Klan was reaching the height of its power, and destruction and lynching were commonplace.

Tulsa was a tinderbox, waiting for the spark that would ignite it. That spark came on May 31, 1921. The Tulsa Tribune published a story entitled Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in an Elevator. Gangs of white men organized with guns and torches, headed for Greenwood. The devastation was complete, even with incendiaries dropped from airplanes. It was an all-out massacre.

The Black Wall St. History Center captures this history, as best as a museum can. The walls are adorned with photographs taken before and after the massacre. Visitors can sit in barbershop chairs in a Greenwood barbershop and engage with holograms of barbers that appear to be administering a haircut. The three barbers chat amongst themselves about their lives and the community. There are numerous other engaging exhibits.

Here are some of the statistics presented:

    Dead: 50 to 300 people

    Injured: Over 800

    Displaced residents: 6,000 to 10,000

    Detained under armed guard: About 6,000

    Homelessness: About 10,000

    Area destroyed: 35 city blocks

    Homes and businesses burned: 1,200 to 1,400

    Businesses, churches, schools and a hospital destroyed or

        looted: 190 to 400

Plaques in the memory of those who lost their lives in 1921

Homeward Bound - by way of New York and Tulsa, Oklahoma

As our journey nears the end, we went our separate ways at the Northwest Arkansas National Airport. Jessica and Erica were taken away on the Great Silver Bird and three hours later landed at LaGuardia Airport. Eric got back in the car and three hours later arrived in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

    A lifetime ago, Rick and I lived in the same boarding house in Madison, Wisconsin, home to the University of Wisconsin. We made lots of good trouble during our shared time in Madison. Rick is a highly creative guy who has been actively pursued music, writing, photography and more. He is a master gardener, managing his 1.5-acre patch in the middle of Tulsa. You can read Rick's story here.

    This large property has its own story, being a tiny residual of the 64-thousand-acre Perryman Ranch. Benjamin Perryman voluntarily moved from his Alabama home and relocated to Indian Territory in Oklahoma around 1828, ahead of the 1830 federal Indian Removal (Trail of Tears.) The Perryman family is widely considered Tulsa's founding family. Below are pictures Rick took in his garden. You can find many more at his website here.

Rick has written several books and has a long history as a musician. You can check out his books here. Over 50 years ago, Rick played bass in a band based in Macon, Georgia. A sampling of their original music can be found here. Rick is center-left playing the bass on the website photo.

Crystal Bridges Museum, Bentonville, Arkansas

Alice Walton, daughter of Sam Walton who created Walmart, founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The museum opened on November 11, 2011 as a nonprofit charitable organization. The Walton Family Foundation provided $800 million for the project. A $20 million gift from Walmart was given to support free admission.

The architectural masterpiece blends into the 120-acre ravine and the surrounding streams, lakes, and is incorporated into the native trees of the surrounding Ozark forest. The museum consists of eight interconnected pavilions, including suspension bridges, covering approximately 200,000 square feet.

We spent one full day exploring the museum, not nearly enough time. Rather than listing facts and figures, what follows is a sampling of the artwork that we saw.

Rosie the Riveter

Norman Rockwell

note the sandwich and Mein Kamph under her right foot

Tobacco Sorters

Thomas Hart Benton

Bring me all of your dreams,

You dreamers

Bring me all of your

Heart melodies

That I may wrap them

In a blue cloud-cloth

Away from the too rough fingers

Of the world

LANGSTON HUGHES, FROM "THE DREAM KEEPER"

Maman

Louise Bourgeois

over 30 feet tall, nearly 12 tons

Our Town

Kerry James Marshall

Purple/Amber Sliced Descending Form

Harvey K. Littleton

Basket of Resillience

Kelly Church

woven with black ash and Michigan-sourced copper

Enassamishhinjijweian

(hope of good things to come)

Tom Uttech

Caged Horn

William Morris

Glowing Balls Infinity Room

Yayoi Kusama

Mountain Landscape

Agnes F. Northrop, designer

Tiffany Studios, manufacturer

Time

Max Ferguson

Untitled (Lidded Sphere)

Ralph Bacerra

We the People

Nari Ward

(shoe strings)

Flying Backbone

Georgia O'Keeffe

Blast Furnaces

Elsie Driggs

Pewter Blue Basket

Dale Chihuly

Alice Walton

Founder of the Crystal Bridges

Museum of American Art

The Marshals Museum, Fort Smith, Arkansas

Our road trip activities and travel time impede my ability to provide as much detail to my entries in the blog as much as I would  like. Therefore I am creating abbreviated placeholders with the intent of finishing them later. This is one of those placeholders. Since the museum was on the way as we drove from Little Rock to Bentonville, we decided to make the stop.

The Federal Marshals Service came into existence in 1789. Their primary function is to serve as the enforcement arm of the federal  judiciary. They function in the background, mostly unknown to most Americans. The Marshals played a key role enforcing desegregation of the schools.

Until I get back to this entry, you can find out more here.

Ruby Ridges escorted by US Marshals, 1960

Memphis, Tennessee

 

Memphis is a historical city located far west in the state of Tennessee, and on the east coast of the Mississippi River across from the state of Arkansas. Elvis Presley was known as the King of Rock 'n Roll, and was deeply connected to the city of Memphis. He spent much of his time at Sun Studio and his 23-room mansion, Graceland.

B.B. King got his start in Memphis as a DJ and musician. He was known as the Beale Street Blues Boy, subsequently shortened to B.B.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis.

Looking east down Beale Street

We stayed at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis.

The current Peabody Hotel first opened its doors in 1925. An early version opened in 1869. Although segregated, Louis Armstrong did perform at the Peabody in 1931. Of note, he dedicated the song I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You to the Memphis Police Department after his arrest one night earlier for the audacity of sitting next to his manager's white wife on a charter bus. Many celebrities have frequented the hotel dating back to Confederate leaders in the hotel's early version.

The hotel remained segregated until its close in 1973 due to financial hardship. After a $25 million major renovation, it reopened integrated in 1981. In addition to its landmark status, it is known for its parading ducks which swim in the fountain in the lobby during the day and march on a red carpet to the elevator which takes them to their night home on the roof.

The duck theme has carried over to manic marketing in the extensive lobby of this luxury hotel. Everything from T-shirts, sweat shirts, $150 canes, rubber duckies, hats, decoys, pillows, and even wine have taken on the duck theme. You will NOT find duck on any of the menus of the fine restaurants at the hotel.

Our view and the hotel photographer view

Ducks showed up everywhere, except on the restaurant menu.

The National Civil Rights Museum is located across the street from the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot while standing on the balcony on April 4, 1968. Dr. King was in Memphis to support the Sanitation Workers' strike. James Earl Ray pleaded guilty and served a lifetime sentence, although he did recant his guilty plea, and stated that "Raoul" involved James in a conspiracy. Federal authorities at the time could find no credible evidence that Raoul existed.

The Lorraine Motel, where the assassination occurred, is now the location of the National Civil Rights Museum. We spent our second day in Memphis at this museum, which is located both at the Lorraine Motel and in a building directly across the street. You can learn much more about the museum here.

The Museum traces the civil rights movement from 1619 at the beginning of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (which lasted 366 years) through contemporary times. Though the emotion of being in the preserved Room 306 where Dr. King spent his last night, and seeing the exterior balcony where he took his last breath, can be overwhelming, the National Civil Rights Museum is well worth a visit. 

The Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike of 1968 ended in victory for the striking employees and their union, AFSCME Local 1733. An agreement was reached on April 16, 1968, after federal mediation led by Undersecretary of Labor James Reynolds following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We ended our day visiting the I Am A Man Plaza which pays tribute to the members of the pivotal 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike.

I AM A MAN Plaza

Birmingham

 Our road trip activities and travel time impede my ability to provide as much detail to my entries in the blog as much as I would  like. Therefore I am creating abbreviated placeholders with the intent of finishing them later. This is one of those placeholders.

On September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church as Sunday services were about to begin. The congregation was knocked to the ground. Four young girls in the basement died. The investigation by the FBI was put to a stop by J. Edgar Hoover. It would take years before the perpetrators were brought to justice with life imprisonment.

Do not forget their names:

Addie Mae Collins

Denise McNair

Carole Robertson

Cynthia Wesley

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is located on the block across the street from the church and across the street from the statues of the little girls. This was another highlight of our travel. I plan to write more about it later.

The Legacy Museum, Montgomery, Alabama

 There is simply not enough time for our road trip activities while keeping the blog up to date. Therefore I am creating abbreviated placeholders with the intent of finishing them later.

The Legacy Museum consists of multiple sites in Montgomery connected by shuttle buses that run every 15 minutes. The main site is the Museum building. The may by the most poignant part of our Civil Rights trip.

I had taken a few pictures at the sculpture garden before I realized that photography was not allowed. I am planning to add additional images later.

Rosa Parks was arrested for sitting in the Whites only section of a City of Montgomery bus when no seat was available in the back of the bus. 7053 was the booking number at the time of her arrest.