PO Box 54309 I have some important news to share with all of America: those images are not Sarah Rector. Du Bois to become concerned about her welfare. Oil Made Pickaninny Rich blared a headline in The Washington Post, which described Rector in 1914 as an orphan, crude, Black and uneducated, yet worth more than $4,000,000.. Enter your email address to follow this site and receive news sent to your email. One of his slaves was Mollie, Sarah Rectors great-grandmother. Ive heard so much of Ms. Rector during my life and am so grateful to the family for sharing the truth! Who is the richest black actor in the world? It is important to hear from those directly concerned, rather than base research solely on archival material like newspaper clippings. No one took the time to teach her how to spend the money or how to invest it, Brown said. Thats the way she would put it. (Museum officials did not respond to a request for comment for this story.). It went on to claim that her parents were ignorant.. He focused on real estate development and his car dealership at 18th and Vine. In 1914, an African American journal, The Chicago Defender, began to take an interest in Rector, just as rumors began to fly that she was a white immigrant who was being kept in poverty. Sarahs cut per day was $300. She married her second husband, William Crawford, and lived a relatively quiet life. Sarah Rector wasnt living near Taft, or in Tuskegee, Bolden concluded. Entrepreneurs Summit The Smithsonian can count on it, she said: Shell be back in touch. Sarahs luck hit in part because of her ancestry and the way in which land allotments for Native Americans- and their freedmen slaves- occurred in Oklahoma. Currently, no one has yet claimed trillionaire status, although some of the worlds richest individuals may only be a few years away from this milestone. His petition was denied because of certain restrictions placed on the land, so he was required to continue paying the taxes. They drive by the abandoned Rector Mansion, boarded up and falling into disrepair, wishing that they could find a way to buy it back and bring it to its former glory. Brown returned the images to the envelope. Many Freedmen eked out a living raising corn, cotton and other common crops. The most important part of this saga is the simple fact that her family got lost within the tabloids tabloids worldwide that painted a picture of a poor little black girl from Oklahoma who slept on dirt floors, struck it rich, was taken advantage of and lived frivolously. What happened to Sarah Rectors money? [16], Rector died on July 22, 1967, at the age of 65. Soon, the wells, which would come to number in the dozens, were pumping 2,500 gallons a day, with about $300 a day a 12.5 percent cut flowing Sarahs way, Bolden writes. Selena Hill is the Digital Editor at Black Enterprise and an award-winning multi-media journalist. Brown, then a grade-schooler living in a two-bedroom house with three siblings, her parents and her grandmother, marveled but didnt dare ask questions. Du Bois himself got involved, hoping to verify this story and rectify any injustice done to Sarah. [4] In June of that year, a special agent for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), James C. Waters Jr., sent a memo to Du Bois regarding her situation. But it definitely isnt her.. Sarah Ferguson says the late Queen was her 'total idol' and 'put you at ease straightaway' - and admits when her corgis 'bark at nothing' she 'believes it's the monarch passing by' Around 1906, Rector and her two siblings, Rebecca and Joe Jr., were each allotted 160 acres by the federal government, Bolden writes. [4], Rector was already a millionaire by the time she had turned 18 in 1920. Oprah Winfrey. Sarah wound up marrying a former college football player she met in Kansas City. WebShe recalls once during the Hotel California tour when Henley flew her in a cranberry-colored jet to the Omni in Atlanta to watch the show. Of course, there was a trick in this Act, and black children were simply granted the worst parts of the land; generally rocky and infertile soil so the good allotments could be granted to white settlers and distinctive members of the Indian tribe as it had been agreed upon. Shes Not Madeleine: Scotland Yard Refutes Julias Allegations of Being Madeleine McCann. Sarah is buried in a peaceful parcel of land known as Blackjack Cemetery back home in Oklahoma where she was born. The devastation of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Even after Sarah and Becky left for Alabama for better schooling, the newspapers reported that they were living in a tent. The entire frontage of 12th St. from Euclid to Garfield was bought by Rector money and rented out to people for additional income. The richest kid in the world is Prince George Alexander Louis who is worth approximately $1 billion dollars as of today. It has appeared on the cover of an award-winning book about Rector, on the Facebook page of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, and elsewhere. The fallacies kept cropping up and, worst of all, that pesky photo. Sarah Rector was born in 1902 near the all-black town of Taft, located in the eastern portion of Oklahoma, in what was then Indian Territory. Sarah Rector, also known as Sarah Rector Campbell and Sarah Campbell Crawford, (March 3, 1902 July 22, 1967)[1] was a Creek Freedwoman and oil magnate once known as the "Richest Colored Girl in the World".[2][3]. Although the image can be traced to the 1915 issue of the The American magazine, a now-defunct White-owned publication, Brown insists it is not her aunt. She had been born into poverty as a member of the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma in 1902, and received, as did every member of the Nation, a plot of undesirable land in the territory when it was made a state in 1907. Still, after being declared white, Sarah Rector was fully accepted into the elite circles of Oklahoma. But her relatives say those images are fake. Joe wasnt in the best of health, but when a friend from back home named Jim Manuel was serving time in the penitentiary, he contacted Joe and claimed to have property in Mexico that had been found to have oil on it. By this point, Sarah was the second oldest of six children, her parents welcoming Alfred, Lillie and little Rosie by 1913. As a result, hundreds of black children, or Creek Freedmen minors, were each granted 160 acres of land as Indian Territory integrated with Oklahoma Territory to form the State of Oklahoma in 1907. Just over a century ago, headlines spilled across America and the world and are misrepresentations (along with the photos) of what really happened to Sarah Rector, her money and her family. We cant prove with absolute certainty to everybody that its not her, Brown said, because there are no childhood photos that exist for comparison. At that point, she left Tuskegee and, with her entire family, moved to Kansas City, Missouri. When Fleetwoods second marriage to Boyd broke down in 1978, he leaped into a new relationship with Nicks close friend Sara Recor. By the time she turned 18, Rector was worth an estimated $1 million, or about $11 million today. When his people were forced west of the Mississippi by the U.S. government, the chief took his enslaved workers with him. Walker, achieving that distinction as a teenager. Its this legacy that Brown saw herself paying tribute to about 12 years ago when she began with the help of her sisters and partner, Karen Riffle, to document Sarah Rectors life. Likely in order to escape scrutiny and not wanting to be the target of some greedy partys act, Sarahs family secretly slipped away and moved north to Kansas City by 1917. Mama Rose, as her family called her, was in charge of Sarahs money until she was able to get control at the age of 20. Sarah was born on March 3, 1902. Were from a generation where you dont spread family business, said Brown, a very fit-looking 72-year-old with a short afro seated in the lobby of the Hampton Inn in Bowie, Md. Around the same time, two children of Freedmen whose allotments had spouted oil were murdered by dynamite as they slept. This is Sarah Rector, she said. Claim #2: China is a Good Faith Peacemaker . It was an article in a respectable black newspaper called the Chicago Defender that turned their worlds upside down. Pastor Imitates Jesus Christ and Tries to Fast for 40 Days; He Passed of Malnutrition, Shelley, Woolf, and Maas: Three Feminist Writers that Turned Pain into Masterpieces. BLACK ENTERPRISE is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Jeff Bezos is the founder of both Amazon, the worlds largest retailer, and Blue Origin. She is also the founder and co-host of "Be Heard Talk," a political podcast that adds a sprinkle of trap music, Beyonce, and flavor to unseasoned news. In November 1921, Fred Rector, Sarahs uncle, alleged that Rector was dissipating her fortune and asked that G.C. Parker, a white man of Muskogee, be appointed as guardian. In March 1922, another application was filed against her that sought a guardian to oversee her estate. Details of the life of the person: Sarah Rector was born in 1902 in Oklahoma in Indian Territory. Then, in the fall of 1913, an independent driller struck liquid gold on Sarah Rectors land, bringing the family royalties of $300 per day, about $8,000 today. 1906). Along with the oil, the checks began flowing, as if by magic, to the Rectors, who, illiterate and barely scraping by, knew little about managing money. An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of Muskogee County. About In October 1913, Rector received royalties of $11,567. Upon graduation, she attended the Institute. But things didnt work out for them In 1930, they divorced, and four years later Sarah got married for a second time. Masthead. She threw lavish parties and entertained celebrities such as Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Did Joe and Rose Rector move the family to Kansas City to escape the violent fate that befell too many oil-rich Natives and Freedmen? Sales Partnership Solutions Sarah Rector became an extremely famous personality all over the country and some places in the world. Rectors spending was legendary, and she routinely drove around town in one of her expensive vehicles. Unfortunately, Rector lost a majority of her wealth during The Great Depression and moved out of her mansion on 12th Street to 2440 Brooklyn Avenue. It became known as the Rector Mansion, Bolden told the New York Amsterdam News. Rectors spending was legendary, and she routinely drove around town in one of her expensive vehicles. At the height of her wealth, Sarah owned Rector Mansion, a large stone house on East 12th Street in Kansas City, and the entire block surrounding it. Her parents were African American members of the Muscogee Creek Nation. Oh my goodness! In 1913, however, her fortunes changed when wildcat oil driller B. HEAD BACK TO THE BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM HOMEPAGE, Age AintWhat?! Newspaper articles about Sarah Rector spread throughout America and were filled with the casual racism of the era. Which Teeth Are Normally Considered Anodontia? She married him in 1906 following her first marriage to Moses McWilliams at 14 and her second to a man named John Davis. Mollie McQueen, Sarahs paternal great-great-grandmother, was enslaved by Creek Chief Opothleyahola in Alabama. Each member of the Rector family received a 160-acre allotment of rocky, unproductive land deemed unsuitable for farming. Had the U.S. government known at the time what flowed beneath Sarahs rocky acres, they likely would have reconsidered. This was a burden that became so great that Joseph attempted to sell Sarahs land, but was blocked from doing so by state law, which forbade the sale of lands belonging to minors. W.E.B. Even as tens of thousands of Native Americans were forcibly relocated northwest to Indian Territory from 1831 to 1850 in the genocidal journey known as The Trail of Tears, the tribes largely sided with the Confederate states during the Civil War. Very interesting thank you. Strapped for cash, Rectors father leased his daughters parcel to a major oil company in February 1911 to help him pay the $30 annual property tax. Subscribe to Newsletter [11], As news of Rector's wealth spread worldwide, she began to receive requests for loans, money gifts, and marriage proposals, despite the fact that she was only 12 years old. In 1913, an independent driller, B.B. They divorced in 1930 and Rector remarried in 1934. Consider Little Sarah Rector, Unkempt, Illiterate, 12-year-old child, Half Negro, Half Creek Indian, read a 1918 article published in the Enid (Oklahoma) Events, managing two errors in the opening lines. Like most other dealings the government had with Indigenous Americans, it was not entirely honest. W.E.B. Registry of Corporate Directors. It wasnt until Brown was in her late teens after Rector died in 1967 at the age of 65 that Brown realized Aunt Sister had indeed been rich. In September 1913, The Kansas City Star local newspaper published the headline, Millions to a Negro Girl Sarah Rector, 10-Year Old, Has Income of $300 A Day From Oil, reports Face 2 Face Africa. At that point, she left Tuskegee and, with her entire family, moved to Kansas City, Missouri. In 1913, 11-year-old Sarah Rector became the richest Black girl in America, almost by accident. But unbeknownst to anyone else at the time, Sarahs land had a wealth of oil sitting just below the surface. Diane Euston writes a regular history column regarding the Kansas City area on her blog The New Santa Fe Trailer. [3] Rector and her family relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, and settled in a large stone American foursquare home located at 2000 East 12th Street that still stands today. Joe ended up quite satisfied when he was able to lease Sarahs land to an oil company where he received a bonus of $160. Sarah married her first husband, Kenneth Campbell, in 1920. DuBois. Her maternal great-great-grandmother had been enslaved by Creek Chief Opothle Yoholo in Alabama during the first half of the 19th century, according to Tonya Bolden, author of Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America published in 2014. Sarah and Kenneth had three sons, but in 1930 the marriage ended in divorce. They had a lavish life and were part of the elite of the time. This home-place was a stately stone house. Washington also intervened to help the Rector family. increase font size, Honor Black History Month by learning the rags to riches story of Sarah Rector. When Sarahs popularity grew, her parents were forced to give up their guardianship status to a white man named T.J. Porter. Privacy Policy We have things we would like to share with everyone., Today, their history is kept alive by relentless Rector women making sure their story from now on is told right.. 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