Art Focus Oklahoma Spring 2021

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CAPTURING THE LIGHT FOR TOMORROW: The Photography of Don Thompson by B. L. Eikner

Don Thompson, Baltimore Barbershop, 1970, Silver Gelatin

Capturing the light, the shadow, the reflection, the stillness, the emotions seen, and unseen was the mission of the saddened heart, the strained focus of the eye through the Rolleiflex Medium Format and finger on the shutter button for photographer Don Thompson in the

Greenwood District in 1970. The images must last a lifetime. The Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma was founded in 1901 by O. W. Gurley. Booker T. Washington visited this community in 1905 and was impressed

with its hotels, restaurants, and many other businesses. He named it the Negro Wall Street, which since has been known as the Black Wall Street. This community was destroyed, and hundreds of citizens killed by deputized white terrorists and city officials on May 31, 1921 and June 1, 1921 based (continued to page 18)

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