JOEL DANIEL PHILLIPS

Sarah Rector (1902-1967) was once known as the “Richest Colored Girl in the World” when oil was discovered on her land in Glenpool, Oklahoma in 1913. Rector’s maternal great-great-grandmother had been enslaved by Creek Indian Chief Opothle Yoholo in Alabama during the first half of the 19th century. Rector’s relatives, after enslavement ended in the tribes in 1866 after treaties with the federal government abolished slavery on tribal lands, continued living among the tribe’s members in Oklahoma.

Around 1906, Rector was allotted 160 acres by the federal government under the Treaty of 1866. Thought to be of inferior quality–rocky, unfit for farming, hardly worth the tax burden–Black Gold was discovered on Rector’s allotment of land garnering the eleven-year old instant wealth. Rector and her family continued living on this land until racial tensions and greed bubbled over, driving the family to move north to Kansas City. There, Rector and family settled and when Rector turned 18 she was able to fully come into her wealth, free of guardianship. Rector soon married the first of her two husbands at the age of 20 and gave birth to three sons.