Last known survivor of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre celebrates 112th birthday
Lessie Benningfield Randle, known to generations of Tulsans as “Mother Randle” and the last known living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, will celebrate her 112th birthday with family and friends at a private event on Friday, November 6, at All Souls Unitarian Church.
Born November 10, 1914, in Okmulgee County, Mother Randle was a young child in 1921 when a white mob attacked Greenwood, the thriving Black district known as Black Wall Street, killing hundreds of people and burning more than 35 blocks of homes, churches and businesses.
More than a century later, she has carried that memory into the public square. In 2021, she testified before Congress alongside fellow survivors Viola Ford Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis, and she joined them in a lawsuit seeking reparations for the massacre. Since Mother Fletcher’s death in November 2025 at age 111, Mother Randle has been the last known living witness to that day.
“Mother Randle’s family could have chosen anywhere to celebrate her birthday, and they asked us. To sit at the table with her family and sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to a woman who has carried this city’s history for 112 years is an honor we’ll never forget,” said Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar, senior minister of All Souls Unitarian Church.
The event is by invitation only.
Founded in 1921, All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the largest congregation in the Unitarian Universalist Association, a network of over 1,000 churches nationwide. Guided by a mission of Love Beyond Belief, All Souls is a place where people of all faiths, backgrounds, and identities come together to seek truth, practice justice, and create community. Services are held every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., in person and online. Visit allsoulschurch.org to learn more.
All Souls Unitarian Church | 2952 S. Peoria Ave. | 918-743-2363 | www.allsoulschurch.org.
The Gayly online. November 6, 2026 @ 5:12 p.m. CST.