Local Information: Tulsa
This is a growing resource page about Tulsa, the conference venue, how to get there, and what to do when you arrive.
There are so many reasons to get excited about meeting in Tulsa!
Local Guides
The 2022 Local Arrangements Committee has pooled their extensive local knowledge to help you plan your visit.
You’ll find an insiders’ take on where to eat, as well as a round-up of museums and galleries in Tulsa that are sure to interest folklorists, plus other local points of interest, and essential information about local transportation, groceries, and pharmacies.
Tulsa Regional Tourism has also shared resources to help you get out and about.
See TulsaGo, especially their Beginner’s Guide to Tulsa, for more general visitors’ information, like how to get there and find your way around.
Read Oklahoma Literature to Connect Before You Visit
You don’t have to wait to arrive at the AFS Annual Meeting in Tulsa to start learning more about the traditions and perspectives of the diverse communities who live there. Check out this reading list of Oklahoma literature curated especially for folklorists by Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, faculty mentor for The Red Earth Creative Writing MFA @ Oklahoma City University.
The Hyatt Regency Tulsa Is the 2022 Conference Hotel
Note: The cutoff date (9/20/22) for our guest room reservation link has passed and the Hyatt is currently fully booked for our conference dates.
Please see the Hyatt’s website for general information about the hotel.
The Hyatt Regency Tulsa provides a complimentary shuttle for guests to and from the Tulsa airport; call the hotel or see the front desk to schedule your ride.
Tulsa News Clippings
Share you Tulsa-related news with others! Send us your clippings.
Attractions
- Bea Baker, Matt Carney, Madeleine Dorst, Gary Mason, Zack Reeves, and Madeline Roper, “A Curated Guide to Black-Owned Businesses,” Root
- Jeff Martin, “Tulsa Is in the Midst of a Massive Cultural Renaissance,” Architectural Digest (May 10, 2022)
- “With the opening of the Olson Kundig–designed Bob Dylan Center, the city has cemented itself as a must-see destination for lovers of art and culture”
- Mary Noble, “Black-Owned Business Guide,” TulsaPeople (June 2, 2020)
- “25 Best Things to Do in Tulsa (OK),” The Crazy Tourist
- Jonathan Bernstein, “Why Tulsa May Be the Next Austin,” The Rolling Stone (January 27, 2020)
- 2018 USA Today Best New Attraction Award for Tulsa’s park, “The Gathering Place”
- Karen Heller, “A billionaire’s quirky quest to create a mecca for Bob Dylan fans. In Tulsa, Oklahoma,” The Washington Post (October 12, 2017)
- “The Center of the Universe: An Acoustic Anomaly with a Mysterious Cause,” Atlas Obscura,
Food
- “We Found Tulsa’s Best Pizza Slices,” Tulsa World (December 13, 2019): https://www.tulsaworld.com/gallery/we-found-tulsa-s-best-pizza-slices/collection_1efd06e1-edab-55b7-8ff9-22d43effbbb4.html#1
- Ashley Ellis, “Tulsa Makes PETA’s Top Ten List of Vegan-Friendly Cities,” KTUL News (November 15, 2019): https://ktul.com/news/local/tulsa-makes-top-10-list-of-vegan-friendly-cities
- Liza Weisstuch, “Tulsa is in the Throes of a Dining Renaissance,” The Boston Globe (September 2, 2019): https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2019/09/02/tulsa-throes-dining-renaissance/8ICHWNybDsa3LkKmLK1YIN/story.html
Supreme Court Ruling on Native American Land
- Orion Donovan-Smith, “Inland Northwest tribal leaders, lawyers praise a key Supreme Court decision on tribal sovereignty,” The Spokesman Review (July 9, 2020): https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/jul/09/inland-northwest-tribal-leaders-lawyers-praise-key/
- A.P., “Large Section Of Oklahoma Remains Tribal Land, SCOTUS Rules,” OPB (July 9, 2020): https://www.opb.org/news/article/oklahoma-tribal-land-supreme-court-ruling-jurisdiction/
- Nora McGreevy, “What a New Supreme Court Decision Means for Native American Sovereignty,” Smithsonian Magazine (July 10, 2020): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scotus-rules-much-eastern-oklahoma-native-reservation-180975289/
- Brooklyn Wayland and Nina Golgowski, “Supreme Court Rules Eastern Oklahoma Land is An Indian Reservation,” HuffPost (July 9, 2020): https://www.huffpost.com/entry/supreme-court-tribal-jurisdiction-mcgirt-v-oklahoma_n_5ef3a870c5b643f5b22e92c2
- “Supreme court declares large part of east Oklahoma to be Native American land,” The Guardian (July 10, 2020): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/10/supreme-court-declares-half-of-oklahoma-tulsa-to-be-native-american-land
- Laurel Wamsley, “Supreme Court Rules that About Half of Oklahoma is Native American Land,” NPR (July 9, 2020): https://www.npr.org/2020/07/09/889562040/supreme-court-rules-that-about-half-of-oklahoma-is-indian-land
Tulsa Race Massacre
- Deneen L. Brown, “Tensions Erupt in Tulsa as City Commemorates 1921 Race Massacre,” Washington Post (May 30, 2021): https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/05/29/tulsa-race-massacre-centennial-reparations-tensions/
- Victor Luckerson, “The Women Who Preserved the Story of the Tulsa Race Massacre,” The New Yorker (May 28, 2021): https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/the-women-who-preserved-the-story-of-the-tulsa-race-massacre
- Gregory B. Fairchild, “100 years after the Tulsa Race Massacre, lessons from my grandfather,” The Conversation (May 25, 2021): https://theconversation.com/100-years-after-the-tulsa-race-massacre-lessons-from-my-grandfather-161391
- Debbie Elliott and Marisa Peñaloza, “A Century After The Race Massacre, Tulsa Confronts Its Bloody Past” NPR (May 24, 2021): https://www.npr.org/2021/05/24/998683497/a-century-after-the-race-massacre-tulsa-confronts-its-bloody-past
- Megan Gannon, “Unearthing the True Toll of the Tulsa Race Massacre,” Atlas Obscura (June 1, 2020): https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-true-toll-of-the-tulsa-race-massacre
- “Tulsa World editorial: Zarrow fund to commemorate race massacre victims is ‘what racial justice looks like,'” Tulsa World (June 24, 2020): https://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/editorials/tulsa-world-editorial-zarrow-fund-to-commemorate-race-massacre-victims-is-what-racial-justice-looks/article_5f8f4241-5eea-5a09-9152-dfcc16c05470.html
- Maggie Astor, “What to Know About the Tulsa Greenwood Massacre,” The New York Times (June 20, 2020): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/20/us/tulsa-greenwood-massacre.html
- Abby Phillip and Kate Sullivan, “Descendants of Tulsa’s 1921 race massacre seek justice as the nation confronts a racist past,” CNN (June 18, 2020): https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/06/18/politics/tulsa-massacre-1921/index.html
- Scott Pelley, “Greenwood, 1921: One of the Worst Race Massacres in American History,” CBS News (June 14, 2020): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greenwood-massacre-tulsa-oklahoma-1921-race-riot-60-minutes-2020-06-14/
- Michael Wikerson, “The Tulsa Lynchings of 1921: A Hidden Story,” Barrister Studios (May 31, 2000): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb6_BDDvQ2Y
- DeNeen L. Brown, ” A White Republican Mayor Seeks the Truth about Tulsa’s Race Massacre a Century Ago,” The Washington Post (March 13, 2020): https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/03/13/tulsa-mayor-bynum-mass-graves/
- Debra Adams Simmons, “Should a Horrible Past be Exhumed?” National Geographic Newsletter (February 10, 2020): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/newsletters/history/2020/02/should-horrible-past-exhumed-february-10/
- Russell Cobb, “Shifting Collective Memory in Tulsa,” The New York Times (February 11, 2020): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/opinion/tulsa-race-massacre.html
- Jennifer Vineyard, “‘Watchmen’ Opened With the Tulsa Race Riot, Here’s What to Read About It,” The New York Times (Oct. 21, 2019): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/arts/television/watchmen-tulsa-race-riot.html
- Allison Keyes, “A Long-Lost Manuscript Contains a Searing Eyewitness Account of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921,” Smithsonian Magazine (May 27, 2016): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-lost-manuscript-contains-searing-eyewitness-account-tulsa-race-massacre-1921-180959251/
Other Community News and Issues
- Janell Ross, “How Tulsa, Oklahoma, mirrored a fractured nation during Trump’s rally,” NBC News (June 23, 2020): https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/how-tulsa-oklahoma-mirrored-fractured-nation-during-trump-s-rally-n1231943
- Victor Luckerson, “How a City Fought Runaway Capitalism and Won,” The New York Times (November 15, 2019): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/opinion/sunday/tulsa-dollar-stores.html
- Patricia Leigh Brown, “Transforming Tulsa, Starting with a Park,” The New York Times (August 10, 2018): https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/arts/design/tulsa-park-gathering-place.html