True Life Tuesday: Sarah Rector

I love this story. It is a bit of comeuppance for people who committed horrible acts against indigenous communities.

Sarah Rector, who would be know as the richest colored girl in the world, was born on March 3, 1902. He was born near the all-black town of Taft in the Indian territory now Oklahoma. Her parents, Rose McQueen and Joseph Rector, were grandchildren of Creek Indians. Through the Treaty of 1866 Sarah was allotted 159.14 acres of land located in Glenpool, about 60 miles from her home. The soil on her land was considered to be inferior and not suited for farming. Although her family was not destitute the $30 annual tax on the land was a stretch for them. Her father petitioned to be able to sell the land but he was denied due to the restrictions placed on the land. 

In February 1911 Joseph Rector leased the land to Standard Oil Company. In 1913 the company struck oil on the land. Eventually Sarah would receive $300 per day for her land. As news of her bounty spread she was inundated with requests for loans, gifts and even marriage proposals. In 1913 the Oklahoma legislature tried to have her declared as white but were unsuccessful. She was required to have a white caretaker to oversee her affairs. This upset W.E.B. DuBois who established the children's department of the NAACP. In 1914 she was enrolled in the Children's School at Tuskegee with DuBois' help. 

By the age of 18 she was a millionaire and owned stocks, bonds, a boarding house, many businesses and a 2000 acre piece of prime river bottomland. In 1920 she moved her entire family to Kansas City, Missouri. In 1920 she married Kenneth Campbell whom she had 3 sons with. They were divorced in 1930 and in 1934 she married local businessman William Crawford. Sarah enjoyed the benefits of her wealth. She entertained many dignitaries of her day including Count Basie and Duke Ellington. She died on July 22, 1967 and was buried in Blackjack Cemetery in Taft.