W. Tate Brady

Wyatt Tate Brady

Wyatt Tate Brady (January 20, 1870 – August 29, 1925) was an American merchant, politician, and a founder of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Early life

Brady was born in Forest City, Missouri, in 1870. His family moved to Nevada, Missouri when he was 12, where he eventually took a job at a shoe store. Here, he was the victim of a robbery. In 1890, at the age of 20, Brady headed for Creek Nation, Indian Territory, to seek his fortune in the as-yet-unfounded Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1895, Brady married Rachel Davis, who was part Cherokee. After the marriage, Brady was adopted into the Cherokee tribe and became a strong advocate for their tribal claims against Washington. Together they had two daughters and two sons. ^[1]

Activities in Tulsa history

On January 18, 1898, Brady and other prominent businessmen signed the charter to incorporate Tulsa, thereby making it a city. Following the 1901 discovery of the Red Fork oil field, Brady built the Brady Hotel in 1903, hoping to take advantage of the oil boom by providing a hotel for oil executives and other traveling businessmen. It also served as a meeting ground for the Democratic Party. Active in politics, he was named to the Democratic National Committee in 1907,^[1] and backed anti-Klan candidate Jack Walton in 1922 gubernatorial election.

Brady was known for hiring black people to work in his hotels and other businesses. Mabel B. Little, a survivor of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921^[2] and once employed by Brady, writes in her book Fire on Mount Zion: My Life and History as a Black Woman in America: "Another man, Mr. Tate Brady had good feelings for black people. He hired several black boys as porters. But he told them up front, "Listen, boys: I'm gonna train you so you can get your own businesses someday."^[3]

Brady was identified as one of the organizers behind the Tulsa Outrage of 1917, in which members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) were tarred and feathered by the black-robed Knights of Liberty, a short-lived group associated with the Ku Klux Klan.^[4] All 17 members of the IWW identified Brady as the man who applied the tar and feathers.^[5]

On November 6, 1917, Brady physically assaulted the owner of the Hotel Fox, E.L. Fox in broad daylight.^[6]

Brady served as a night watchman during the 1921 Tulsa race riots. An article in the Tulsa Daily World stated "Tate Brady, proprietor of the Brady hotel, who was a member of white men on guard duty along North Main street all night, said he counted the bodies of five negroes. One negro was dragged behind an automobile, with a rope about his neck, throughout the business district."^[7]

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. Beno Hall, as it was known, was located at 503 N. Main St. According to Tulsa County land records, that parcel of land was then owned by Rachel Brady, Brady's wife.

Supporting a 1923 military tribunal, Brady stated that he, like his father before him, was a member of the Klan. He stated that he had quit the Klan because he was a Democrat and would not be told how to vote.^[8] Brady supported anti-Klan gubernatorial candidate Jack Walton who "engaged in an out-and-out war with the Ku Klux Klan".^[9]

Brady Mansion

Brady, who was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, built a mansion known as "Arlington" that was patterned after the ancestral home of the Lee family in Virginia.^[1] The Brady Mansion still stands at 620 North Denver Avenue in Tulsa.

Death

Brady committed suicide on August 29, 1925, by shooting himself in the temple. He was said to be despondent over the death of his oldest son, John Davis Brady who was killed in a car accident in spring 1925 while studying law at the University of Virginia.^[1]

Legacy

Brady was commemorated for his part in the founding of Tulsa by the names of Brady Street and Brady Heights.

A controversy arose in 2013 over the appropriateness of naming a street for Brady, because of his membership in the KKK. On August 15, 2013, following months of debate, the Tulsa City Council voted 7–1 to change the street name to MB Brady Street, honoring Mathew B. Brady rather than Tate Brady. Mathew Brady was a famed Civil War photographer, but had no ties to Tulsa or Oklahoma. The Brady Arts District, the Brady Historical District, Brady Heights, and Brady Theater were not affected by the change, as they are named after the nearby street.^[10]

References