Uncovering Racial Injustice: The Archaeology of the Tulsa Race Riot (Massacre) of 1921

On May 30, 1921 a Black adolescent was falsely accused of raping a White woman in downtown Tulsa, and the aftermath of that false accusation destroyed a thriving African American community and left potentially hundreds dead.  The events that transpired as a direct result are known as the Tulsa Race Riot (or Massacre) of 1921.  A piece of American history that had been ignored for decades has only recently received the deserved attention and investigation required to fully understand what happened, and forensic archaeologists are at the forefront of this investigation.  This blog post will detail the events of the Tulsa Race Riot (or Massacre) of 1921, the early investigations and why they stalled, what the current investigations have yielded, and potential areas of future inquiry.

 

A white woman working in downtown Tulsa accused a Black adolescent of raping her.  While the charges were dropped a month later and the reality was that either their interaction was purely accidental or a lover’s quarrel the implications were devastating.  While the Black adolescent was being arraigned a White mob marched down to the courthouse with the intentions of lynching the accused.  A group of Black World War I veterans intervened, and in the scuffle between the White mob and Black veterans a white man was shot.  The white community sought vengeance.  On the evening and throughout the night of May 31, 1921 a White mob grew to include members of the Tulsa police, Oklahoma National Guard, and members of the Ku Klux Klan, who together systematically razed the area of Greenwood, also referred to as “Black Wall Street”.  According to official records less than 40 people died that night, but historians estimate as many as 300 people lost their lives.  Black businesses and residences were destroyed, never to be rebuilt because insurance companies denied claims and refused pay outs.  Over 10,000 residents were displaced and housed in temporary interment camps.  When they were released they were informed that their dead had already been buried, denying them the opportunity to know the full loss of life and where their loved ones were buried. 

 

The events of that evening were hardly ever spoken of again.  White people were either ashamed or worried about having to face the real judicial consequences of their actions, which never came, and Black survivors feared that speaking out would lead to more bloodshed.  It was not until 1982 when Dr. Scott Ellsworth published a book on the Tulsa Race Riot (or Massacre) of 1921 that people began to take notice.  It took several more decades before the Oklahoma Legislature took action and ratified the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Commission in 1997.   The Tulsa Race Riot Commission is an independent group of civil servants, activists, descendants of survivors, and leaders tasked with decided how best to move forward with the investigation into the Tulsa Race Riot (or Massacre) of 1921.

 

 A year later the first of two initial geophysical surveys were undertaken in hopes of locating any evidence of the mass graves associated with the Tulsa Race Riot (or Massacre) of 1921.  Geophysical surveys are noninvasive archaeological survey techniques that use a variety of technologies to scan the surface and subsurface of soil to locate any soil anomalies, typically associated with man made interventions.  These are optimal in locating sites quickly and efficiently, when conditions are appropriate.  Unfortunately, while both initial surveys did provide strong evidence for where the mass grave sites may be located the Tulsa Race Riot Commission opted not to move forward with formal excavations at that time.

 

It was not until October 2018 that Tulsa mayor G.T. Bynum reignited the call for further investigations into the location of the mass graves that the archaeological investigation was renewed.  New geophysical surveys had to be completed due to the loss of notes from the previous investigations, and in 2019 the Oklahoma Archaeological survey conducted surveys at three sites: Oaklawn Cemetery, The Canes, and Newblock Park.  These locations were chosen due to historical and oral historical evidence.  Portions of Oaklawn Cemetery continued to yield strong evidence of potential mass graves, and The Canes, which could not be previously surveyed, also yielded some evidence.  Newblock Park was ruled out a second time as a mass grave burial site.  The Tulsa Race Riot Commission voted in favor of archaeological excavations occurring, and they were originally scheduled for April 2020.  They were delayed until July 2020 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. 

 

Initial excavations turned up no evidence of mass graves.  Undeterred, the archaeological team moved on to a section of Oaklawn Cemetery where two known victims were buried and completed test excavations there.  They chose this location based on historical evidence that strongly supported this as a mass grave burial site.  As of mid-June 2021 total of 30 interments/coffins have been reported as a result.  The archaeological team suspects that more burials will be discovered as the excavations continue.

 

While these investigations are ongoing there are already proposals for future avenues of investigation, which would involve forensic anthropologists and ancient DNA analysis.  Forensic anthropologists are already on the scene examining the remains to determine what can be learned from them, particularly in reference to any evidence that these interred individuals are victims of the Tulsa Race Riot (or Massacre) of 1921.  It has been suggested that if available that DNA samples be collected and tested against descendants to determine who was interred and to appropriately reunite the victims with living relatives.  This is fraught with ethical issues for several reasons: first, the question of who and how the DNA analyses would take place is paramount.  The second issue is the sample of DNA to use for comparison.  It was suggested that the ancestry DNA samples would be the best comparative data sets, but the individuals who voluntarily provided their DNA to those companies did not consent to having their DNA used in this investigation.  If their DNA was to be used without their consent this opens up potential misuse of their DNA in other investigations.  At the current time no decisions concerning ancient DNA analyses have been made, but archaeologists and forensic anthropologists are encouraging that the decision be made by the community members.

 

Ultimately, the historical and archaeological investigations of the Tulsa Race Riot (or Massacre) of 1921 will have a profound historical and legal effects.  The forensic archaeological and anthropological investigations could identify how many victims there really were, clarify how the bodies were disposed of and who may have been responsible for it, and uncover the exact causes of death of the victims.  Uncovering the truth of what really happened during the Tulsa Race Riot (or Massacre) of 1921 is paramount, and while the investigation has been and will continue to be slow this is to ensure accuracy.

 

References

Archaeological Institute of America. (2003, September 16). The Tulsa Race Riot . Archaeology Magazine.

Brown, D. L. (2020, October 26). Coffins unearthed as the search for victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre continues. National Geographic.

Gannon, M. I. (2020, May 22). Unearthing the True Toll of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Retrieved from Sapiens: https://www.sapiens.org/news/tulsa-race-massacre/

Hammerstedt, S. W., & Regnier, A. L. (2019). Searching ForGravesFrom the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: Geophysical Survey of Oaklawn Cemetery, The Canes,and Newblock Park. Norman, OK: Oklahoma Archeological Survey Research Series 5.

No Author. (2021, June 4). Additional Burials Found at Mass Grave Site in Tulsa. Archaeology Magazine.

Thompson, H. (2021, May 27). To find answers about the 1921 race massacre, Tulsa digs up its painful past. Science News.

Witten, A., Brooks, R., & Fenner, T. (2001). The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921: A geophysical study to locate a mass grave. The Leading Edge, 20(6), 655–660.