Wyatt Tate Brady (January 20, 1870 – August 29, 1925) was an American merchant, politician, former

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

member, and a founder of

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

Early life

Wyatt Tate Brady was born in Forrest City, Missouri on January 20, 1870. In 1890, he moved to

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

as a shoe salesman and opened the town's first mercantile store. On April 10, 1895, Brady married Rachel Davis, a member of a prominent

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

family. After the marriage, Brady became a citizen of the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

and became a strong advocate for their claims against the United States.

Founding Tulsa

In 1896, Brady and other prominent businessmen signed the charter to officially incorporate Tulsa in

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

. Following the 1901 discovery of the Red Fork oil field, Brady began construction on the Brady Hotel in 1902. The hotel opened in 1903, taking advantage of the oil boom by providing a hotel for oil executives. The 1905 discovery of the

Glenn Pool The discovery of the Glenn Pool Oil Reserve in 1905 brought the first major oil pipelines into Oklahoma, and instigated the first large scale oil boom in the state. Located near what was—at the time—the small town of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the res ...

further boosted the hotels popularity. It also served as a meeting ground for the Democratic Party. In March 1905, Brady traveled the country on a train with about 100 civic leaders, a band, and

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

to promote the city of

. After statehood, he was named to the Democratic National Committee in 1907. He supported many early Governors such as

Charles N. Haskell Charles Nathaniel Haskell (March 13, 1860 – July 5, 1933) was an American lawyer, oilman, and politician who was the first governor of Oklahoma. As a delegate to Oklahoma's constitutional convention in 1906, he played a crucial role in draftin ...

and

Robert L. Williams Robert Lee Williams (December 20, 1868 – April 10, 1948) was an American lawyer, judge, and the third governor of Oklahoma. Williams played a role in the drafting of the Oklahoma Constitution and served as the first Oklahoma Supreme Court chie ...

Tulsa Outrage

In the lead up to the Tulsa Outrage, Brady served as a member of the Tulsa

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

. On November 6, 1917, Brady physically assaulted the owner of the Hotel Fox, E. L. Fox, for renting to the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

. According to eyewitness accounts conducted by L.A. Brown of the

National Civil Liberties Bureau The National Civil Liberties Bureau (NCLB) was an American civil rights organization founded in 1917, dedicated to opposing World War I, and specifically focusing on assisting conscientious objectors. The National Civil Liberties Bureau was the re ...

, Brady led a Knights of Liberty attack against IWW members during on November 9, 1917 and personally whipped them. The next day, the ''Tulsa Daily World'' announces that the "Modern Ku Klux Klan" had come into being.

Tulsa race massacre of 1921

Brady served as a night watchman during the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. He reportedly witnessed "five dead negroes" with one being dragged behind an automobile, with a rope about his neck, throughout the business district. After the massacre, Brady was appointed to the Tulsa Real Estate Exchange Commission which was tasked with assessing the property damage from the massacre. The commission planned to expand railroads in the area to segregate white and black parts of town writing "We further believe that the two races being divided by an industrial section will draw more distinctive lines between them and thereby eliminate the intermingling of the lower elements of the two races." The commission's plans were halted by the

Supreme Court of Oklahoma The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma.

Ku Klux Klan activities

In 1918, Brady helped bring the

Sons of Confederate Veterans The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) is an American neo-Confederate nonprofit organization of male descendants of Confederate soldiers that commemorates these ancestors, funds and dedicates monuments to them, and promotes the pseudohisto ...

28th Annual Reunion to Tulsa, with

Nathan Bedford Forrest II Nathan Bedford Forrest II (August 1871 – March 11, 1931) was an American businessman who served as the 19th Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans from 1919 to 1921, and as the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia. For ...

serving as the keynote speaker. In 1923, the Klan, established as the Tulsa Benevolent Society, paid $200,000 for the construction of a large "Klavern" or gathering hall that could seat 3,000 members. It was finished as Beno Hall on land owned by Brady. At a 1923 military tribunal, Brady stated that he, like his father before him, had been a member of the Klan but he had quit the Klan in 1922.

Death and legacy

Brady died by suicide on August 29, 1925, by shooting himself in the temple. He was said to be despondent over the death of his son, John Davis Brady, who was killed in a car accident in the spring of 1925 while studying law at the University of Virginia.

Eponym

Brady was commemorated for his part in the founding of Tulsa with numerous locations named after him in Tulsa including: Brady Hotel (demolished 1975 after fire), Brady Street (renamed M. B. Brady Street in 2013 and Reconciliation Way in 2019), Brady Heights (renamed The Heights in 2021), Brady Theatre (renamed Tulsa Theater in 2019), Brady Mansion (renamed Skyline Mansion in 2016), and the Brady Arts District (renamed Tulsa Arts District in 2017). After journalist

Lee Roy Chapman Lee Roy Chapman (March 31, 1969 – October 8, 2015) was an American public historian, citizen journalist, activist, and artist whose research reshaped contemporary understanding of Tulsa, Oklahoma's racial history. Early life Chapman ...

revealed Brady's Ku Klux Klan membership in the early 2010s, the Tusla City Council voted 7–1 to change Brady Street to MB Brady Street to honor

Mathew Brady Mathew B. Brady ( – January 15, 1896) was an American photographer. Known as one of the earliest and most famous photographers in American history, he is best known for his scenes of the American Civil War, Civil War. He studied under invento ...

, a famed

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

photographer who had no ties to Tulsa or Oklahoma. They also voted to add honorary signs that read "Reconciliation Way" around the Inner Dispersal Loop. Brady built a mansion known as "Arlington" that was patterned after the ancestral home of the

Lee family The Lee family of the United States is a historically significant Virginia and Maryland political family, whose many prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military. The family became prominent in colonial Bri ...

in Virginia. It later became known as Brady Mansion. The mansion was bought by former NFL first-round draft pick and Tulsa native,

Felix Jones Felix Jones Jr. (born May 8, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for the Arkansas Razo ...

, in 2016 and is now known as Skyline Mansion. It can be seen on the cover of '' Fire in Little Africa'', a groundbreaking album released in May 2021 on

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

's sub-label Black Forum. The album consists of original material that was written and recorded by a collective of Oklahoma hip hop artists to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the

Tulsa race massacre The Tulsa race massacre was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as ...

, which W. Tate Brady took part in organizing, and was recorded over a five-day period in March 2020. Studios were set up at the

Greenwood Cultural Center Greenwood is a historic freedom colony in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As one of the most prominent concentrations of African-American businesses in the United States during the early 20th century, it was popularly known as America's "Black Wall Street". I ...

and at the Skyline Mansion. In September 2017, the Brady Arts District Business Association voted to change the name of the district, north of downtown, to the Tulsa Arts District in order to completely sever ties with the street's original namesake. In 2018, the Tulsa City Council voted to rename "Mathew Brady Street" to "Reconciliation Way". On December 6, 2018, the Brady Theater (formerly Tulsa Convention Hall and Tulsa Municipal Theater) announced that it is changing its name to The Tulsa Theater in 2019. In September 2021, Brady Heights voted to rename itself "The Heights."

Monuments

Tate Brady formerly had a star bearing his name outside the

Cain's Ballroom Cain's Ballroom is a historic music venue in Tulsa, Oklahoma that was built in 1924 as a garage for W. Tate Brady's automobiles. Madison W. "Daddy" Cain purchased the building in 1930 and named it Cain's Dance Academy. In 2021, Pollstar ranked ...

(Brady had the original building built as a garage) until 2020 when the owners had the star removed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brady, W Tate 1870 births 1925 suicides 1925 deaths American Ku Klux Klan members Politicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma American politicians who died by suicide Suicides by firearm in Oklahoma People from Holt County, Missouri Oklahoma Democrats People from Nevada, Missouri Tarring and feathering in the United States Members of Sons of Confederate Veterans People involved in the Tulsa race massacre Ku Klux Klan in Oklahoma