Biography
About This Card
The Moors Card Company roster for the Black Wall Street deck names this figure as Laura Stradford and describes her as the wife of hotelier and attorney J. B. Stradford. The sources reviewed for this page do not confirm either point: none identifies a wife of J. B. Stradford named Laura, and none places a woman named Laura Stradford in Greenwood in 1921.
What the Record Shows
Published accounts document two wives of J. B. Stradford. According to his descendant Tucker C. Toole's memoir-based account, his first wife, Bertie Wiley, met him while he studied in Ohio, lived with him in Kentucky, Indiana and Coffeyville, Kansas, and died in Coffeyville. By December 1908 he was married to Augusta Stradford, who was arrested with him that month after the couple refused segregated railroad accommodations, and who was interned with him during the 1921 massacre. Bertie and Augusta are distinct people and should not be merged into one, and neither is recorded under the name Laura.
The Name in Modern Accounts
A similar name does appear in present-day accounts of this history. Laurel Stradford is identified in 2020 reporting as a great-granddaughter of J. B. Stradford and was among the descendants named as plaintiffs in that year's lawsuit seeking redress for the massacre; her name also appears in photograph credits accompanying accounts of his life. She is a modern descendant, not a woman living in Greenwood in 1921, and the sources cited here do not say whether the roster name refers to her.
How This Page Treats the Name
Because the historical person behind the roster name has not been identified, this page assigns no birth date, death date, marriage or life events to Laura Stradford, and does not treat her as either of J. B. Stradford's documented wives. The documented details above belong to Bertie Wiley and Augusta Stradford.
Historical Legacy
No achievements are attributed to the name Laura Stradford, because the historical person behind it has not been identified.
The documented record shows that Augusta Stradford was arrested with J. B. Stradford in December 1908 after the couple refused segregated railroad accommodations, and that she was interned with him during the 1921 massacre.
