Coffee with: Raymond Doswell, Ed.D., New Executive Director for Greenwood Rising
Tim Landes Feb 27, 2023 Updated Mar 2, 2023
Raymond Doswell, Ed.D., courtesy of Tim Landes & Tulsa People Magazine
Raymond Doswell, Ed.D., has just moved to Tulsa when he meets for coffee at Chimera Cafe to discuss his new role as executive director for Greenwood Rising.
Previously, Doswell devoted nearly three decades to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, serving as its vice president since 2011. He holds a doctorate in educational administration and leadership from Kansas State University, a master’s degree in historic resources management from the University of California-Riverside and a bachelor’s from Monmouth College.
“I’ve been moved by the fact there’s such interest in this — that the community really wants to embrace this push for greater understanding of this history,” Doswell says. “There seems to be a good deal of support in the community now for Greenwood Rising, and I want to keep that momentum going.”
Doswell began learning the role in mid-December and relocated to Tulsa in early January, replacing interim executive director Phil Armstrong ... I’ve had a ton of meetings, both virtually and in person. We’ve been very aggressive about getting me connected with key stakeholders who already supported the institution and those who have great interest in the supporting institution. There’s just a tremendous amount of interest in folks wanting to connect with the institution and the story, and that’s all I can ask for as a leader coming in, and hopefully just build upon and enhance the good work they’ve already done.
He first learned about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre many years ago, but didn’t understand the gravity of it until recently ... Right before the pandemic in Kansas City, I was a member of a group called the Black History Study Group, and I helped put on public programming for the group and made the race massacre a topic for discussion. We worked with the local branch of the National Archives to show (a History Channel) documentary and had some of our local historians and professors who knew a little bit about it come and talk to the group. And boy, to get into a little bit more of the details, and then the documentary with the rich detail and seeing (Tulsa Race Massacre historian and Greenwood Rising curator) Hannibal B. Johnson for the first time, I can tell you that the intenseness after that film ended was palpable. I felt it. Everyone in the room felt it. We really didn’t have a clue how deep it was, and the conversation was intense afterwards. That stuck with me for a while.
The story stuck with Doswell because it reminded him of his hometown’s own tragic history ... I grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, which went through the same thing in 1917. It was something that we learned a little bit about in school, but we never got super deep into it either, not the blow-by-blow details of what happened. So I understand people here, and in other places, but especially people who are here saying they knew about it, but didn’t really learn about it. That makes the work that’s happening down in Greenwood extremely important.
Through learning about the massacre, Doswell has learned more about the Historic Greenwood District ... Just the fact the Greenwood District even existed (before the massacre) is a miracle, and then the rebirth afterward is amazing. I’m charged with making sure we tell that entire story, making connections to their broader story to our modern times, and our modern history as well, so that it remains relevant for everyone. The way I see it, you’ve got really two pillars of understanding: the creation of generational wealth, especially for people of color, but then also combating to end racial violence. And that’s both, you know, locally, regionally, nationally, worldwide. And so where we can make these connections locally, nationally and internationally, that extends our reach and keeps us relevant as well.