William Cleburn Phillips (1901 - 1991)

Born 1 Dec 1901 in Granite, Greer Co., Oklahoma, USA

Husband of Annavee Elaine (Reeves) Phillips — married 29 Jan 1955 in Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States

Died 10 Dec 1991 at age 90 in Leonard, Tulsa Co., Oklahoma, USA

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Biography

William Phillips was an Oklahoman.

William Cleburn “Choc” Phillips was born in 1901 in Granite, Oklahoma. He was the son of Macon T. and Millie Lee Anderson Phillips. He went by the name Choc, as he had Choctaw ancestry. His Choctaw Indian blood was from his mother Millie who was one-forth Choctaw. The family never received head rights because Millie and Macon were traveling back and forth between southern Oklahoma and northern Texas and missed the Dawes rolls registration. He was counted on the census with them, and younger siblings, in Beckham and Tulsa Counties in 1910 and 1920.^[1]

He married Nora Long, who was in vaudeville shows, and at one time he managed vaudeville shows. After vaudeville he joined the Tulsa Police Department. Choc, as a singer, formed the Tulsa Police Quartet that traveled the country.

He became the President of the Fraternal Order of Police and started the police retirement program that was a model for police departments across the country. He also started the school crossing guard program and a bicycle training program for school children. In 1938 he was a founding member of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), which would later be known as the Barbershop Quartet Society that was formed in Tulsa.

He met his wife, Elaine,^[2] after WWII. She was later a member of the Sweet Adelines, female quartet singing society. They had 2 children, Larry Paul, and Susan Carol.

After retiring from the Tulsa Police Department, he became a cattle rancher and continued ranching until his death on 10 December 1991.^[3][4]

Choc Phillips and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
His experience at 19 years old in Tulsa at the beginning of the Tulsa Race Riot, from his manuscript called “Murder in the Streets,” cited in the Report by the Oklahoma Commission to study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921:

He and a couple of his friends were in downtown Tulsa, on the evening of May 31st, close to the courthouse when they saw a group of black men coming up the street in the dark. They followed the group up to the steps of the courthouse where they were met by the Tulsa County Sheriff. The men were there to forcibly remove a black man from jail that had been accused of raping or molesting a white woman. He said the sheriff explained to the men that the charges against the man were being dropped but he could not release him until a judge signed his release in the morning. The men seemed to be satisfied with that and began to leave walking away from the courthouse when they were met by another group of black men going toward courthouse with the same intentions. The entire group returned to the courthouse steps where the sheriff began again to try to get the men to disburse and go home. As the group was standing in the street, someone fired a shot from a gun. At that occurrence, the race riot of 1921 was born.^[5]

The next day, according to the Report by the Oklahoma Commission to study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, citing Choc and others:

In other white neighborhoods across Tulsa, a different kind of activity was taking place, particularly during the first hours following midnight. As word of what some would later call the "Negro uprising" began to spread across the white community, groups of armed whites began to gather at hastily-arranged meeting places, to discuss what to do next.

White rioters began setting black homes and businesses on fire around midnight, largely along Archer Street. There were atrocities as well. One elderly African-American couple, it was later reported, was shot in the back of the head by whites as they knelt in prayer inside their home (Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society).

For "Choc" Phillips and his other young companions, word of this activity came while they were sitting in an all-night restaurant. "Everybody", they were told, "go to Fifteenth and Boulder". Phillips wrote:

Many people were drifting out of the restaurant so we decided to go along and see what happened at the meeting place. Driving south on Boulder we realized that many trucks and automobiles were headed for the same location, and near Fifteenth Street people had abandoned their vehicles because the streets and intersections were filled to capacity. We left the car more than a block away and began walking toward the crowded intersection. There were already three or four hundred people there and more arriving when we walked up.

Once there, a man stood up on top of a touring car and announced, "We have decided to go out to Second and Lewis Streets and join the crowd that is meeting there."

Returning to their automobiles, Phillips and his companions blended in with the long line of cars headed east. He later estimated, the crowd that had gathered was about six-hundred strong. Once again, men stood up on top of cars and began shouting instructions to the crowd. "Men," one man announced, "we are going in at daylight." Another man declared that they would be having, right then and there, an ammunition exchange. "If any of you have more ammunition than you need, or if what you have doesn't fit your gun, sing out," he said. "Be ready at daybreak," another man insisted, claiming that meetings like this were taking place all over town. "Nothing can stop us," he added, "for there will be thousands of others going in at the same time."^[6]

There is a display in the new museum named Greenwood Rising in Tulsa commemorating the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre featuring Choc Phillips' original manuscript on the details of the riot, the typewriter he used to type the manuscript, a photo of him, and his biography.^[7]

Choc Phillips manuscripts in Greenwood Rising Museum

Murder In The Streets

by William C. "Choc" Phillips

William C. “Choc” Phillips’ book Murder In The Streets is available now. Phillips was not able to get his manuscripts published when they were completed in the 1980s, but sixty years later the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is no longer a hidden part of history. His book is now viewed as a marvelous account of what really happened, and it will go down in history as the most factual eye witness book about the massacre. This book is a must read for educating people about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Overview of Murder In The Streets

The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre occurred over two days, May 30 and June 1, 1921, when a white mob destroyed the African American section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as the Greenwood District. As a result, more than 1,250 homes and businesses were destroyed, thirty-five square blocks of Tulsa leveled, and hundreds of innocent people were injured or dead.

There have been numerous books and news articles written about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Most of the first-person accounts were given by African Americans; however, William C. "Choc" Phillips was part white and part Native American and an eyewitness to one of the most violent episodes in the history of the United States.

A teenager and high school student at the time of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Phillips was present when the violence ignited in front of the Tulsa Courthouse and throughout the destruction that followed.

Phillips and a group of high school friends traveled the streets of Tulsa during the night of May 30 and the day on June 1. At times they were trying to get a better view of what was happening and at times trying to escape the lawlessness. They saw people murdered, buildings torched, and people treated as less than human.

The incident left a lasting impression on Phillips, and over the years, he researched and wrote his account of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. He read most of the news accounts of the time and, in later years, interviewed other eyewitnesses of the devastation. Phillips attempted to make sense of what had happened and give a balanced report of the event.

Phillips was never able to get his manuscript published when it was completed in the 1980s. Despite the death and destruction, after the passing of sixty years, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre was not a well-known event on a national level. It was as if people wanted to pretend the violence never happened or, at the very least, forget about it.

In 2021 Greenwood Rising opened in Tulsa to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and, more importantly, to educate the public. Officials with Greenwood Rising thought William C. "Choc" Phillips' account was important enough to create a display that showcases the original manuscript and the typewriter that produced it.

Sources

1. ↑
   • "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ML7R-TZ8 : accessed 6 November 2020), William C Phillips in household of Macon T Phillips, Poarch, Beckham, Oklahoma, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 13, sheet 19B, family 21, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1243; FHL microfilm 1,375,256.

   Macon T Phillips Head Male 28 Texas

   Millie D Phillips Wife Female 29 Texas

   William C Phillips Son Male 9 Oklahoma

   Oscar S Phillips Son Male 6 Oklahoma

   Marvin L Phillips Son Male 4 Oklahoma

   Tina O Phillips Daughter Female 1 Oklahoma

   • "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJM5-NL6 : accessed 6 November 2020), Cleburne Phillips in household of Macon T Phillips, Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States; citing ED 248, sheet 15A, line 27, family 215, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1487; FHL microfilm 1,821,487.

   Macon T Phillips Head Male 37 Texas

   Millie Phillips Wife Female 38 Texas

   Cleburne Phillips Son Male 18 Oklahoma

   Oscar Phillips Son Male 16 Oklahoma

   Marvin Phillips Son Male 13 Oklahoma

   Ozella Phillips Daughter Female 11 Oklahoma

   Wesley Phillips Son Male 8 Oklahoma

   Ruby Phillips Daughter Female 6 Oklahoma

   Harold Phillips Son Male 3 Oklahoma

2. ↑ "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995." Database with images. FamilySearch. "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPX-46BZ : 23 March 2020), William C Phillips and Annavee Elaine Arter, 29 Jan 1955; citing Oklahoma, various county courthouses, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm.
3. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V37Y-P4S : 19 May 2014), W C Phillips, Dec 1991; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National T...
4. ↑ "BillionGraves Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QGKB-35NY : 3 January 2018), William C. Phillips, died 1991; citing BillionGraves (http://www.billiongraves.com : 2012), Burial at Floral Haven Memorial Gardens, Broken Arrow, ...
5. ↑ William “Choc” Phillips, “Murder in the Streets,” unpublished memoir of the 1921 Tulsa race riot.
6. ↑ William C. "Choc" Phillips, "Murder in the Streets," cited as footnote #136 in Dr. Scott Ellsworth, Tulsa Race Riot at Tulsa Race Riot - A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921

   See also sections cited as footnotes #107, 111, 115, 116, 134, 135, 143, 146-148,161, 169 and 193.

7. ↑ Larry Phillips, son of Choc Phillips

• https://tulsahistory.org/learn/online-exhibits/the-tulsa-race-riot/

• https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murder-in-the-streets-william-c-phillips/1140324644

• Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 [W-TXT#1] ...... was a white teenager named William “Choc” Phillips, who later became a well-known Tulsa police officer. http://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/1921-Tulsa.race.riot.htm

• https://archive.org/stream/ReportOnTulsaRaceRiotOf1921/TulsaRaceRiot1921_djvu.txt

• https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/tulsa-race-massacre-weeks-after-opening-mount-zion-was-burned-down-faith-and-perseverance-rebuilt/article_6f639a65-76f0-5191-9b2f-3eabcf96947f.html

• https://www.greenwoodrising.org/