OKLAHOMA CITY — One set of human remains, and perhaps a second, have been found in a Tulsa cemetery where investigators are searching for victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Oklahoma state archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck said Tuesday.


What You Need To Know

  • One confirmed set of human remains and a possible second have been found at a cemetery linked to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

  • It is not yet known if the remains, which were found in a wooden coffin, are of a victim of the massacre

  • Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said efforts will be made to contact the descendents of the victims who are identified 

  • The Tulsa Race Massacre took place between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when white Tulsa residents took the streets armed with weapons and slaughtered Black residents

“We do have one confirmed individual and the possibility of a second” body found, Stackelbeck said. “We are still in the process of analyzing those remains to the best of our ability. ... We don’t have a whole lot of details,” Stackelbeck said.

Excavation work began Monday at two locations in a Tulsa cemetery for victims of the race massacre nearly 100 years ago that left hundreds dead and decimated an area that was once a cultural and economic mecca for African Americans.

The confirmed human remains were found little more than 3 feet (90 centimeters) underground in an area known as the “Original 18,” where funeral home records show massacre victims are buried.

It is not yet known if the remains, which were found in a wooden coffin, are of a victim of the massacre, Stackelbeck said.

“We are still analyzing what has come out of the ground at this point in time and so no, unfortunately we have not been able to assess the trauma at this point in time, or potential trauma,” that would indicate the person was among the massacre victims, Stackelbeck added.

After an examination of the remains, they will be returned to the coffin and reburied.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, who first proposed looking for victims of the violence in 2018 and later budgeted $100,000 to fund it after previous searches failed to find victims has said efforts will be made to find any descendants of the victims who are identified.

Oaklawn Cemetery in north Tulsa, where a search for remains of victims ended without success in July and where the excavation resumed Monday, is near the Greenwood District where the massacre took place.

Between May 31 and June 1, 1921, white Tulsa residents took the streets armed with weapons — many of which were provided by city officials — and slaughtered Black residents. 

The massacre, which is still often referred to as the worst incident of racial violence in America’s history, saw 35 square blocks destroyed, hundreds of people injured and thousands more left homeless. The mobs also destroyed Black Wall Street, which at the time was a thriving business district and one of the wealthiest Black neighborhoods in the country. 

The violence began after a 19-year-old Black man was accused of sexually harassing a white woman. 

The massacre — which happened two years after what is known as the “Red Summer,” when hundreds of African Americans died at the hands of white mobs in violence around the U.S. —- has been depicted in recent HBO shows “Watchmen” and “Lovecraft County.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.