Details At A Glance:
What To Expect:
What if some of what Tulsans think they know about their own history isn’t quite right?
That’s the question at the center of an upcoming community conversation hosted by All Souls Unitarian Church, bringing together three prominent historians to examine myths surrounding the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Ku Klux Klan, and Tulsa’s rise as the “Magic City.”
The event, “Magic City Myths: Tulsa, the Klan, and the Massacre,” will feature Carlos Moreno, Russell Cobb, and Aaron Schoenfeldt—each bringing a different lens to the city’s past, from journalism and public history to anthropology and memory studies.
Rather than a traditional lecture, the program is designed as an interactive “mythbusting” session, encouraging attendees to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and engage directly with historians.
“History is messy and complicated,” Carlos Moreno said. “But that complexity is exactly what helps us better understand where we are today.”
The discussion will be moderated by historian and All Souls program minister, Rev. Dr. Nicole Kirk, whose work focuses on how communities interpret and live with their histories.
The event is part of All Souls’ Justice Jam series, which reflects the church’s broader mission to engage in meaningful conversations around justice, truth, and community healing.
The program takes place Sunday, April 19, with lunch at 12:30 p.m. and the discussion beginning at 1:00 p.m. in Emerson Hall at All Souls Unitarian Church. Space is limited and registration is required at allsouls.me/justicejam.
Meet the Panel
Carlos Moreno is the community affairs analyst for the Recovery Services division of Family & Children's Services, working with educators, advocates, and mental health providers dedicated to helping people disentangle themselves from the criminal legal system. Carlos also works as a local historian & journalist in Tulsa, and is the author of two books: The Victory of Greenwood and A Kids Book about the Tulsa Race Massacre. He was selected by national urban-affairs magazine, Next City as part of its 2014 Vanguard Class and in 2015, he was certified by IDEO and +Acumen, in the practice of Human-Centered Design. Carlos earned a Bachelor of Arts in Administrative Leadership in 2017 and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree with a focus on civic technology in 2020 from the University of Oklahoma. He serves on the board of Tri City Collective, Urban Coders Guild, and the World Stage Theatre Company.
Russell Cobb is a fourth-generation Tulsan and a writer, media producer, and professor at the University of Alberta. His latest book, Ghosts of Crook County: An Oil Fortune, a Phantom Child, and the Fight for Indigenous Land (Beacon Press, 2024), was selected as one of the best books of 2024 by Publishers Weekly and was a finalist for the David J. Weber Book Award. His book The Great Oklahoma Swindle: Race, Religion, and Lies in America’s Weirdest State (Bison Books) won a Director’s Special Merit Award from the Oklahoma Department of Libraries in 2021. His current project charts the rise and fall of Tulsa as the Oil Capital of the World against a backdrop of land fraud, racial tension, and a family history of four generations of Tulsa men named Russell Cobb.
Aaron Schoenfeldt is the Duane H King Postdoctoral Fellow in the University of Tulsa’s Helmerich Center for American Research. Aaron holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Northwestern University as well as a Master of Arts degree in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago. His dissertation, Victims Without Perpetrators: The Making of White Innocence in the Wake of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, explores the contemporary silences around the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the politics of remembering racial violence. Aaron is deeply committed to Tulsa history and to using public humanities as a tool for helping communities confront difficult pasts. His research and teaching interests are in U.S. race relations, monuments/memorials, material culture, sports, and gift-exchange.
Nicole Kirk will be moderating the session. She holds the Rev. Dr. J. Frank and Alice Schulman Chair of Unitarian Universalist History at Meadville Lombard Theological School, where she has served on the faculty since 2012. A historian of American religious history, her work explores the religion in unexpected places. She earned her Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary, brings more than eight years of parish ministry experience to her scholarship and teaching, and currently serves as Program Minister for Social Justice (part-time) at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her publications include Wanamaker's Temple: The Business of Religion in an Iconic Department Store (NYU Press, 2018; paperback 2023) and a forthcoming book, Circus Day: Religion, Mobility, and the American Railroad Circus.
What's a Justice Jam?
All Souls Justice Jams explore themes related to justice with a special guest speaker over a catered lunch with vegan and gluten-free options available. Registration is highly encouraged.
Lunch & Registration
Sliding scale lunch includes your choice of $5/$10/$15 per person with preregistration, or $15 per person at the door without prior registration.
Register today at allsouls.me/justicejam.
Lunch is served in Emerson Hall at 12:30 PM with the presentation beginning promptly at 1:00 PM.
