The latest search for the remains of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victims has yielded three more sets containing gunshot wounds, according to investigators. A total of 11 sets of remains were exhumed during the latest excavation in Oaklawn Cemetery. Two of those gunshot victims display evidence of munitions from two different weapons, while the third individual who is a gunshot victim also shows evidence of burning. Searchers are seeking simple wooden caskets, as described in newspaper articles, death certificates, and funeral home records as the type used for burying massacre victims.
The exhumed remains will be sent to Intermountain Forensics in Salt Lake City for DNA and genealogical testing in an effort to identify them. This comes just over a month after the first identification of remains previously exhumed during the search for massacre victims, which were identified as World War I veteran C.L. Daniel from Georgia. There was no sign of gunshot wounds to Daniel, indicating that determining such wounds after many years is challenging if a bullet doesn’t strike bone and passes through the body.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum launched the project in 2018, and the search is now in its fourth phase with a total of 47 remains exhumed. Bynum hopes to see the search for victims continue even after he is no longer in office, emphasizing the importance of bringing closure to the families of those who were murdered and hidden over a century ago. Investigators are mapping the graves to determine if more searches should be conducted based on the data collected so far, which confirms the findings of individuals who fit the profile of massacre victims.
Descendant of massacre survivors, Brenda Nails-Alford, expressed gratitude for Bynum’s efforts in finding victims’ remains and hopes that the search will continue to bring justice and healing to the families and the community. A new committee has been announced to study possible reparations for survivors and descendants of the massacre and for the area of north Tulsa where it occurred. The massacre, which took place over two days in 1921, was a violent episode of racial violence that led to the destruction of a community known as Black Wall Street, resulting in the deaths of as many as 300 Black people, forced internment camps, and the destruction of homes, businesses, schools, and churches.
