TULSA, Oklahoma — Viola Ford Fletcher, one of the last living witnesses to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, died Monday at 111, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols confirmed .

Her death marks the near end of a link to one of the most devastating episodes of racial violence in U.S. history, the Associated Press reported .

The Washington Post said Fletcher, known affectionately as “Mother Fletcher,” was just 7 years old when a white mob rampaged through the Greenwood district of Tulsa, then a thriving Black community often referred to as “Black Wall Street.” She later recounted memories of fire-and-destruction, bodies in the streets and smoke that filled the air.

Nichols said the city is grieving the death of Fletcher, calling her a symbol of survival and strength from one of Tulsa’s most painfu

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