Death in a Promised Land, Scott Ellsworth
Death in a Promised Land, Scott Ellsworth
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Death in a Promised Land

Author: Scott Ellsworth

Narrator: Pat Grimes

Unabridged: 3 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/03/2021


Synopsis

Widely believed to be the most extreme incidence of white racial violence against African Americans in modern United States history, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre resulted in the destruction of over one thousand black-owned businesses and homes as well as the murder of between fifty and three hundred black residents. Exhaustively researched and critically acclaimed, Death in a Promised Land is the definitive account of the Tulsa race riot and its aftermath, in which much of the history of the destruction and violence was covered up. It is the compelling story of racial ideologies, southwestern politics, incendiary journalism, and an embattled black community’s struggle to hold onto its land and freedom. More than just the chronicle of one of the nation’s most devastating racial pogroms, this critically acclaimed study of American race relations is, above all, a gripping story of terror and lawlessness and of courage, heroism, and human perseverance.

About Scott Ellsworth

Scott Ellsworth received his Ph.D. from Duke University and currently teaches history at the University of Michigan. He served as the chief historian on the Tulsa Race Riot Commission (1999–2000) and is chair of the committee leading the effort to identify the unmarked graves of victims of the 1921 riot for the upcoming 2021 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial.

About Pat Grimes

Pat Grimes is an experienced voice actor. When not recording, he can be found writing, playing guitar, singing, traveling, or doting on his small dog, Charlie. Born in Los Angeles, he now makes his home in Ypsilanti, Michigan.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Katie on January 17, 2020

Things I learned in history class as a student in Oklahoma: how to fold a paper map; the first governor of Oklahoma was an eccentric man who preferred to work in a log cabin. What I should have learned in history class as a student in Oklahoma: the Osage murders; the Tulsa Race Riot. This should be......more

Goodreads review by L.A. on April 12, 2021

The importance of this slim volume of history far exceeds its page count. With an introduction by noted historian John Hope Franklin and based on many interviews and much archival research, native Tulsan and scholar Scott Ellsworth chronicles the factors that led to the Tulsa Riot of 1921, the event......more

Goodreads review by Vaishali on March 17, 2022

Shocking account of Black Wall Street, one of America's most prosperous communities in 1921 and target of the worst race riot in U.S. history. Of the 5 books I’ve read on the topic, this one is the slimmest volume. It’s also the first book written on the massacre, and the one subsequent authors cite......more

Goodreads review by Alyssa on January 08, 2020

Should be required reading for all Oklahoma high school students - I know it’s more useful than Cold Sassy Tree or The Old Man and the Sea, and would easily pair with To Kill a Mockingbird.......more

Goodreads review by anna on April 25, 2025

death in a promised land (sick title btw) offers a brief overview of the tulsa riot itself and instead focuses more heavily on the before and after: the socioeconomic situation in the city & the racist incidents from prior years that allowed it to happen, and the (also racist) reaction of the white......more


Quotes

Ellsworth has treated this complex and emotional story with great care and sensitivity. . . . This volume will no doubt merit the rare distinction of having considerable value to general readers and specialists alike.