The Pathway of Hope ribbon is officially cut by local officials, artists and event organizers. The path roughly follows what had been Cameron Street until construction of the Inner Dispersal Loop.
Michael Noble Jr. photos, Tulsa World
Eventgoers walk on the newly opened Pathway of Hope on Friday. The path creates a shortcut between two key landmarks in the historic Greenwood District.
Michael Noble Jr., Tulsa World
Eventgoers walk on the newly opened Pathway of Hope in Tulsa. The path creates a shortcut between two key landmarks in the historic Greenwood District.
Rebuilt after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, downtown’s Greenwood District suffered a second wave of destruction a few decades later.
City leaders at the time called it urban renewal, tearing down historic buildings to make way for highways and new developments.
“We call it ‘urban removal,’” state Sen. Kevin Matthews said Friday.
Construction of Tulsa’s Inner Dispersal Loop in the 1960s cut a devastating path through Greenwood, which in some ways had grown bigger and more prosperous in mid-century than it was even in the heyday of Black Wall Street in the 1910s.
“The highway was an obstacle,” Matthews said. “It was an eyesore.”
Discussions began nearly a decade ago to somehow find a way to turn the IDL into an asset for Greenwood. And late Friday afternoon, Matthews joined a few hundred other people to take the first walk down the new Pathway of Hope.
Wedged between Interstate 244 and ONEOK Field, the 10-foot-wide path begins below the Greenwood Avenue overpass and ends at John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, turning what would have been an arduous walk around the ballpark into a simple three-minute stroll.
Along the way, pedestrians will see various artistic photos, plaques and inspirational quotes. Basically, the $5 million project used the highway’s retention wall as a canvas, and turned the right-of-way into a shortcut between two of the district’s most important landmarks.
The path roughly follows what used to be Cameron Street, where a lot of Black-owned businesses stood until first the Race Massacre and then the highway destroyed them, said Reuben Gant, who grew up in Tulsa before playing in the NFL in the 1970s. After his football career, Gant became one of the most tireless advocates for reinvigorating Greenwood.
“I would mention Greenwood and people would get a perplexed look on their face,” Gant said. “I knew we had to change that.”
Downtown revitalization has helped bring crowds back to Greenwood, Gant said. And the Race Massacre centennial commemorations have obviously brought tremendous attention to the district. But the Pathway of Hope directly addresses one of the district’s biggest drawbacks — the highway itself.
“What we’re trying to do is come up with a solution to how to put Greenwood back together,” Gant said.
The pathway’s name offers a double meaning — hope in a better future but also Hope as in John Hope Franklin, a prominent African-American historian who was an early advocate for preserving the history of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Franklin’s father was a Tulsa attorney who became instrumental in defending the rights of survivors’ to rebuild the district.
Cutting the ceremonial ribbon Friday, local civil rights activist Julius Pegues also received the first Greenwood Icon plaque, several of which will eventually be placed along the pathway.
After graduating from Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington High School in 1953, Pegues helped desegregate NCAA basketball by playing for the University of Pittsburgh. And in 2007, he founded the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, which manages the Greenwood District’s Reconciliation Park and organizes the annual John Hope Franklin Symposium.
“This has been a long journey,” Pegues told hundreds of people at Reconciliation Park after being the first to walk along the Pathway of Hope. “Looking out over this crowd, I know that work has not been in vain.”
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Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee meeting
The Pathway of Hope ribbon is officially cut by local officials, artists and event organizers. The path roughly follows what had been Cameron Street until construction of the Inner Dispersal Loop.
Eventgoers walk on the newly opened Pathway of Hope on Friday. The path creates a shortcut between two key landmarks in the historic Greenwood District.
Eventgoers walk on the newly opened Pathway of Hope in Tulsa. The path creates a shortcut between two key landmarks in the historic Greenwood District.