A World War I veteran was the first victim of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, which destroyed a section of the city commonly known as “Black Wall Street,” to have been identified by a forensics team from several mass graves, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Intermountain Forensics used DNA from the descendants of C.L. Daniel’s brothers to identify the remains, according to The AP.
“This is one family who gets to give a member of their family that they lost a proper burial, after not knowing where they were for over a century,” said Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, the outlet reported.
Today, because of the efforts of so many, I can announce that we have identified the first 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victim since we began our search for them five years ago.
From the very beginning, at the forefront of this search have been the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race… pic.twitter.com/ip63Qz4v0u
— G.T. Bynum (@gtbynum) July 12, 2024
Researchers unearthed more than 120 graves and collected DNA from about 30 people’s remains, according to the outlet. Daniel is the first Tulsa Race Massacre victim to be identified.
Investigators were reportedly able to identify Daniel after finding a letter sent in 1936 from an attorney representing his mother.
The researchers, however, could not pinpoint Daniel’s cause of death. “We didn’t see any sign of gunshot wounds, but if the bullet doesn’t hit bone or isn’t retained within the body, how would we detect it?” said forensic anthropologist Phoebe Stubblefield. (RELATED: 107-Year-Old Testifies Before Congress Over 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre)
The Tulsa Race Massacre occurred June 1, 1921, when a white mob descended upon the Greenwood District, an area populated predominantly by black Americans, the outlet reported. The violence was reportedly triggered by an accusation of assault against a young black man, which inflamed racial tensions.
The tragedy has been commemorated for over 100 years. Some of the survivors of the attack are seeking reparations from Oklahoma’s government, according to the AP.
