Biography
Early Life
Loula T. Williams — recorded as Loula Thomas Cotten Williams, with the spellings Lulu, Lola and Cotton also appearing — was born in Tennessee to Thomas and Sallie Cotten, according to the Women of Black Wall Street research project. She was educated at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, and became a teacher.
She married John Wesley Williams, a mechanic who worked with steam engines, and continued teaching. The family moved through Arkansas and Mississippi before settling in Greenwood in the early 1900s. In Tulsa, Loula taught in the Fisher area, while John first worked for a white-owned ice-cream company.
Contributions to Greenwood
Together, Loula and John Williams built a group of businesses that became part of Greenwood's identity, including a confectionery and the Dreamland Theatre. The Tulsa Historical Society catalogs the Dreamland's opening in 1914 at 127 North Greenwood Avenue; the floor above housed Alexander Carr's Alexander Hotel. The theater was more than entertainment — it was a gathering place, and in 1916 it hosted the community meeting at which J. B. Stradford led opposition to Tulsa's residential segregation ordinance.
The Williams family worshiped at Greenwood's First Baptist Church. Loula's work as an owner and manager made her one of the most visible women in Greenwood's business life.
The 1921 Massacre
The Dreamland Theatre was destroyed during the 1921 massacre, along with much of the district the Williams family had helped build.
Loula Williams died in 1927.
What the Record Shows
Her birth year is given as 1879 by one research source and 1880 by the Tulsa Historical Society. The exact dates and place of her death, the family's losses in 1921, and the details of how the family rebuilt afterward still need confirmation from primary records, so they are not stated here.
Historical Legacy
Loula Williams helped build the Dreamland Theatre into one of Greenwood's best-known landmarks — a place of entertainment and community organizing.
Her portrait and Dreamland materials are preserved in the Tulsa Historical Society collection, and Greenwood Rising interprets John and Loula Williams among the district's builders.
