Oaklawn Cemetery

After the massacre in Tulsa spanning from May 31 to June 1, 1921, many Black victims were buried without grave markers, often in mass graves. The lack of closure for descendants and the Black community in Tulsa has had long-lasting, irreparable effects. In 2018, the City of Tulsa announced plans to investigate sites of potential mass graves from the massacre, including in Oaklawn Cemetery. Contributors to the effort include a Public Oversight Committee, historians, archaeologists, and forensic anthropologists. As of June 25, 2021, 19 bodies found in mass graves have been exhumed from Oaklawn Cemetery and are being analyzed for clues to their identities.

Historians estimate that over 300 Black Americans were murdered in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. In the aftermath of the violence and the devastation of Greenwood, thousands of Black residents were being detained in the Convention Center, the baseball field, and elsewhere, and were unable to participate in immediate cleanup efforts. The evidence suggests that many Black victims of the massacre were buried without grave markers, including in mass graves. Their families, loved ones, and descendants were denied the opportunity to lay them to rest.

The lack of closure for descendants and the Black community in Tulsa has had long-lasting effects. In 1997, the Tulsa Race Riot Commission recommended reparations for survivors and their descendants, but the city did not comply. A potential mass grave was found in 1999 in Oaklawn Cemetery at the urging of the Commission, but the courts did not approve exhumation. Finally, in 2018, the City of Tulsa announced plans to investigate sites of potential mass graves, including in Oaklawn Cemetery. These efforts coincided with the lead-up to the centennial commemoration of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. A Public Oversight Committee was created, which includes historians, archaeologists, forensic anthropologists, descendants of victims of the massacre, and leaders in Tulsa’s Black community. 

The State of Oklahoma Archaeological Survey used ground penetrating radar to identify two areas with anomalies consistent with mass graves. In July and October 2020, archaeologists began digging in Oaklawn Cemetery. One of the areas near Potters’ Field, known as the Original 18, contained coffins. Potters’ Field was an area in the southwest corner of Oaklawn Cemetery set aside for the city’s poorer residents, and has fewer headstones. The finding was consistent with one historical account, in which a survivor of the 1921 massacre recalls, “my relative was made at gunpoint to deliver six coffins to a low spot in Oaklawn.” Further excavation began in Spring 2021. As of June 25, 2021, 19 bodies found in a mass grave had been exhumed from Oaklawn Cemetery and are being analyzed for clues to their identities. At least one set of remains shows evidence of gunshot wounds. A final forensic report will be made in July 2021, and the remains will be interned in Oaklawn Cemetery.

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Brown, D. (2021, June). “Generations Lost.” National Geographic, pp. 62-81.

City of Tulsa. (2021, May 24). A Century Later: Tulsa's Search for 1921 Race Massacre Graves [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjfdk_o7dQI

City of Tulsa. (2021). 1921 Graves Investigation. https://www.cityoftulsa.org/1921graves

Guide to 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Oral History Collection. (2004-2007). National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/sova_nmaahc.a2014.240

Tulsa World. (2021, June 25). 19 sets of remains exhumed from mass grave at Oaklawn Cemetery [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL3nWbySwPg 

Simons, M. (2021, June 18). Human remains are carried through Oaklawn Cemetery on June 18 [Photograph] Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/06/26/tulsa-massacre-body-found-bullet/