John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park

Designated National Literary Landmark

aerial view of literary landmark park with vibrant red, yellow, orange and green trees

John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park was built in 2009 in Tulsa’s Greenwood District to memorialize the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 and to tell the history of African Americans in building Oklahoma.

Local landscape architect R.L. Shears designed what the Jonesplan team considers to be the most successfully designed landscape project the company has ever completed. These accolades are due to superior bed design, soil placement, drainage and irrigation installation, and plant selection that resulted in each plant thriving during the maintenance period.

The formal landscape includes a memorial walk that winds through a hedgerow labyrinth to the Hope Plaza, which features bronze pictorials from the race riot and a 25-foot tall Tower of Reconciliation. The landscape also includes vibrant color-changing deciduous trees, thick vines clinging to steel arbors, various native plantings, plentiful evergreens, and a large sodded lawn.

In 2020, the flourishing park was designated a Literary Landmark and is a somber but beautiful reminder of the worst civic disturbance in American history.

Project Types: Community Spaces, Landmarks

Size: 3.4 Acres

Self-Performance: 100% of Landscape and Irrigation

view from sidewalk looking toward a landscaped bed with flowers and shrubs
aerial view of park with stunning orange, yellow, red and green trees encircling a memorial park
shade structure wrapped in thick vines covering a brick and concrete seating wall
circular sidewalk bordered with beautifully landscaped shrubs and plants
sidewalk surrounded by carefully manicured shrubs, flowers and trees
view from sidewalk bordered by shrubs and flowers looking toward bronze pictorials
circular sidewalk boarded with carefully manicured flowers, shrubs, and trees
distant view of bronze pictorials from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot at John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park
view of bronze pictorials from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot at John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park