Otis Clark (February 13, 1903 – May 21, 2012) was one of the last survivors of the May 31, 1921,

Tulsa race massacre The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long massacre that took place between May 31 – June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deput ...

, considered to be the worst racial massacre in

American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

. He later worked as a Hollywood

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

for movie stars

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

, and

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

. Clark's wife lived at the Crawford residence working as the cook for Joan Crawford.

Early life

Born in 1903, Clark grew up in a segregated

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

as a drugstore delivery boy. He was raised in the Greenwood side of town (which was black) and could not enter stores in the predominantly-white downtown area. In the late afternoon on May 30, 1921, a black teenager, Dick Rowland, used the elevator in the Drexel building in downtown Tulsa. As Rowland exited the elevator, an employee of Renberg's clothing store heard what was thought to be a scream. The clerk reached the conclusion that Sarah Page, the white elevator operator, had been assaulted. Newspaper headlines supported the account, causing a race riot to occur in Tulsa on May 31, 1921.

Tulsa race massacre

Clark was 18 years old when the Tulsa massacre occurred and saw many people die. Clark remembered trying to get a car to help victims of the massacre when gunfire came his way. Clark ran for his life while people were shooting at him. His family home was burned to the ground and he believed his stepfather was killed during the massacre, as he was never seen again. During the 18-hour siege white people destroyed 30 blocks of a thriving African-American residential and business community known as the "Black Wall Street," leaving 38 known dead and 200+ missing (a figure estimated by the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

) and 10,000 homeless. Shortly thereafter, at age 19, Clark fled Tulsa on a train bound for California to look for his biological father. He survived 20 days in a California jail for bootlegging and selling illegal whiskey. He wound up getting married and finding employment in Hollywood as a butler. Based on a spiritual dream to become a preacher doing the work of God, Clark later became an itinerant evangelist traveling the United States and the world on behalf of the

Church of God In Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly Bl ...

. Officially ordained as a minister in 1946, Clark was the oldest living practising evangelist at age 109, and remained in good health until his death. A documentary was later made entitled ''Before They Die'' telling the story of Clark and the massacre as they occurred in 1921. At 109 years old, 'Dad' Clark (as he was called) was the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa massacre at the time of his death.

Health and death

Clark was 109 when he died in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. Clark was noted to have been in excellent health, up until his death, having not used medication, hearing aid, or cane when walking. Clark was also noted to have been active, having traveled to

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

for a three-week mission trip when he was 104, and visiting Canada in January 2012. Clark was reportedly preparing for a mission trip to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in 2013.

References

External links

Voices of Oklahoma interview with Otis Clark.
First person interview conducted on November 23, 2009, with Otis Clark. *The 700 Clu
"Keeping Up With Otis Clark"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Otis 1903 births 2012 deaths American centenarians American evangelists People from Tulsa, Oklahoma American butlers African-American centenarians Tulsa race massacre Men centenarians