Search for Victims of 1921 Tulsa Massacre Continues

News February 5, 2020

(Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Tulsa Massacre 1921
(Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

TULSA, OKLAHOMA—KMBZ Radio reports that Oklahoma officials plan to investigate an anomaly consistent with a mass grave that was detected during a geophysical survey of a Tulsa cemetery. The team members think the pit may hold the remains of African Americans killed in 1921, when white mobs set fire to commercial buildings and homes in Tulsa’s prosperous Greenwood neighborhood, which was also known as “Black Wall Street.” As many as 300 people are thought to have died in the massacre. State archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck explained that the data from the geophysical survey suggests that a large hole with straight sides had been dug on the site, but it cannot reveal the presence of human remains. Test excavations are necessary to determine if people were buried in the pit, and if they were buried in coffins. The information will help city officials to plan appropriate recovery efforts, she added. For more, go to "A Sight Which Can Never Be Forgotten: The Tulsa Race Riot."

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