Tulsa Race Massacre: Search for victims begins again

Ten days after announcing the first identification from the Tulsa Race Massacre graves investigation, another dig is underway.

The fourth excavation at Oaklawn Cemetery started on June 22. The first victim was identified as C.L. Daniel of Georgia on July 12.

WATCH when Mayor GT Bynum announced the discovery:

Teams are eager to get back to work, even if it means the latest excavation is beginning in the middle of July.

“It speaks to the level of personal commitment that the research team has—they didn’t want to wait,” said Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum.

Bynum said they know of 18 victims buried at Oaklawn and possibly more. The latest excavation “blocks,” as they are called, are new. They are located between two already dug areas and in the southwest corner of the cemetery.

• Previous coverage >>> Fourth set of remains found as part of the 1921 graves investigation

“We are hoping to encounter additional individuals that are going to fit our profile for mass victims,” said State Archaeologist Dr. Kari Stackelbeck.
Teams will search for specific small, wooden caskets to potentially exhume for on-site forensic tests.

“I’ve learned so much as we have gone along about what it takes to do this work—the hard work,” said Brenda Nails-Alford, a race massacre victim descendant. “I’m totally grateful.”

• GALLERY: RESEARCHERS WORK ON SECOND TEST EXCAVATION IN 1921 TULSA RACE MASSACRE GRAVES INVESTIGATION

Bynum said cooperation from the public is crucial, even outside of Oklahoma, as massacre descendants could be all over the world by now.
He implores the public to peruse the list of collected surnames and contact the City of Tulsa to help them identify the victims.

“This generation of Tulsans can’t go back in time 100 years and do what the city should have done in 1921 and 1922, but we can do the right thing now,” said Bynum.

Small teams will begin initial digging this week.

Next week, searching will ramp up when more experts return to Tulsa, including Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Phoebe Stubblefield of Florida. She has been co-leading this effort from the beginning.

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