Olivia Hooker, Tulsa Race Riot Survivor, Dies At 103 | NPR Olivia Hooker was one of the last surviving witnesses of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, and was the first African-American woman to join the U.S. Coast Guard.

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Cmdr. Zeita Merchant greets Dr. Olivia Hooker during a dedication ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., June 11, 2015. The Dr. Olivia J. Hooker Training Center was named after the first African-American woman in the Coast Guard. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Kelley., Featured Image

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We’re now going to look back at the life of Olivia Hooker. She has died at the age of 103. If you don’t know her name, we’re going to share some of her story and one important chapter in particular. Olivia Hooker witnessed the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

OLIVIA HOOKER: It was May 31, 1921. At first, we saw a bunch of men with those big, pine torches come through the backyard.

MARTIN: Hooker was only 6 years old at the time. The attack on black areas of Tulsa turned into a massacre. She told her story to the Radio Diaries series earlier this year.

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Dr. Olivia Hooker looks over a wall dedicated in her honor during a naming ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., June 11, 2015. U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Kelley.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

HOOKER: I remember our mother put us under the table. She took the longest tablecloth she had to cover four children and told us not to say a word. It was a horrifying thing for a little girl that’s only 6 years old.

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