In the ongoing search for victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, a third set of remains with bullet wounds was recently unearthed at Oaklawn Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The discovery is part of the city’s 1921 Graves Investigation, which aims to identify and connect people today with those who were lost over 100 years ago during the massacre. So far, all three bodies discovered have been found in adult-sized coffins and sent to an on-site osteology lab. The latest body was found near an area known as “Original 18” where 18 Black men believed to be victims of the massacre were buried.
The recent discovery comes shortly after the identification of the first body, confirmed to be that of C.L. Daniel, a World War I U.S. Army Veteran. This marked the first person not listed in the Oklahoma Commission’s 2001 Report on the massacre to be positively identified using DNA from next of kin. The Tulsa Massacre took place in May and June of 1921, when a white mob destroyed over 1,000 homes in the Black neighborhood of Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street.
The city of Tulsa is working towards revitalizing and reckoning with the destruction caused by the massacre, implementing a master plan to ensure that redevelopment benefits Black Tulsans, descendants of the massacre victims, and future generations. The Graves Investigation is ongoing, with four potential sites identified as locations where massacre victims may be found.
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