BIOGRAPHY

Lessie Randle was born in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, USA, on 10 November 1914, to parents George Washington Benningfield and Katie May. She had had three sisters and one brother. Her parents were farmers, originally from Texas. They grew corn, peas, and various other crops. On the farm, she helped by feeding the chickens, bringing in kindling to start the fire, and assisting her mother in the kitchen. During this time, she learned a great deal about cooking. She attended school in her early years in Grayson, Oklahoma. The family later moved to Tulsa, where she graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1937. After high school, Lessie took some extension courses at Langston University and began working to help support her family. With younger sisters at home, she saw an opportunity to help her mother care for the family. She held various jobs, including domestic work, babysitting, and later worked for a time at the library.

At the age of six, she witnessed the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921. She recalled people coming to their home and forcing them out. Her family walked toward Mohawk Park, and along the way, soldiers arrived in a bus and picked them up. They were taken to the fairgrounds, where she thought they might have spent the night. She had been with her grandmother when it happened, while her parents were still at their home in the country. The next morning, after the turmoil had settled, her father hitched up his wagon and team in Bixby. Upon hearing about the massacre, he and her mother rode into Tulsa in the wagon to check on the family.

In the early 1940s, Lessie married Warner Randle, who was soon called to serve in the Army during World War II. He worked at the Oklahoma Steel Casting Company, at the steel mill. Together, they raised five children and a niece, bringing up three boys and three girls in all. In 1980, Randle lost her home in the Greenwood district when the City of Tulsa seized it as part of their urban renewal project.

When asked about the secret to her longevity, she attributed it to hard work and clean living. She added that she always went to bed on time and never drank.

RECOGNITION

Her age has not been validated.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Oral History Interview with Lessie Randle” – Oklahoma State University, 2015

* “Lessie Benningfield Randle, “Mother Randle”” – Justice For Greenwood

* “Lessie Benningfield Randle, Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, turns 110” – TAG24, 10 November 2024

GALLERY