Editing Tulsa race massacre (section)

===Search for mass graves===
The Tulsa Race Massacre Commission arranged for archaeological, non-invasive [[Survey (archaeology)|ground surveys]] of [[Newblock Park]], Oaklawn Cemetery, and Booker T. Washington Cemetery, which were identified as possible locations for [[mass grave]]s of black victims of the violence. [[Oral history|Oral histories]], other sources and timing suggested that whites would have buried blacks at the first two locations; black people were said to have buried black victims at the third location after the riot was over. The people who were buried at Washington Cemetery, which is reserved for black people, were probably thought to be those victims who had died of their wounds after the riot had ended, since it was the most distant suspected burial location from downtown.

Investigations of the three potential mass grave sites were performed in 1997 and 1998. Even though the total area of all three of these locations could not be surveyed, preliminary data suggested that they contained no mass graves. In 1999, an eyewitness who had seen whites burying black victims at Oaklawn Cemetery was found. A team investigated the potential area with more equipment. In the end, searches for mass graves were made with the aid of technology that included [[ground-penetrating radar]], followed by [[Core sample|core sampling]].<ref name="ExpertsReport">{{cite news |url=https://www.tulsaworld.com/archive/tulsa-race-riot-experts-provide-findings-to-panel/article_1c4a2597-e0f5-5081-a2d0-1854e72a49db.html |title=Tulsa Race Riot: Experts provide findings to panel |newspaper=Tulsa World |publisher=Randy Ktehbiel, Tulsa World, December 6, 2000 |access-date=February 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217215120/https://www.tulsaworld.com/archive/tulsa-race-riot-experts-provide-findings-to-panel/article_1c4a2597-e0f5-5081-a2d0-1854e72a49db.html |archive-date=February 17, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> The experts' report, presented to the Commission in December 2000, could not substantiate claims of mass graves in Oaklawn Cemetery, Washington Cemetery, or Newblock Park.<ref name="ExpertsReport" /> A promising spot in Washington Cemetery had turned out to be a layer of clay, and another promising spot in Newblock Park had turned out to be an old basement.<ref name="ExpertsReport" /> The suggestion that the bodies had been burned in the city [[Incineration|incinerator]] was also considered unfeasible and discounted, given the incinerator's capacity and logistical considerations.<ref name="ExpertsReport" />

In preparation for the 100th anniversary of the massacre, state archaeologists, using ground-penetrating radar, probed Oaklawn Cemetery for "long-rumored" mass graves.<ref>{{cite news |title=They was killing black people |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |first=DeNeen L. |last=Brown |date=September 28, 2018 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/09/28/feature/they-was-killing-black-people/ |access-date=October 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009085734/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/09/28/feature/they-was-killing-black-people/ |archive-date=October 9, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Mayor [[G. T. Bynum]] calls it "a murder investigation".<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |title=Tulsa searches for graves from 1921 race massacre that left hundreds of black people dead |first=DeNeen L. |last=Brown |date=October 8, 2019 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/10/08/tulsa-searches-mass-graves-race-massacre-that-left-hundreds-black-people-dead/ |access-date=October 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009132014/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/10/08/tulsa-searches-mass-graves-race-massacre-that-left-hundreds-black-people-dead/ |archive-date=October 9, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> After input from the public, officials from the Oklahoma Archeological Survey used three subsurface scanning techniques to survey Newblock Park, Oaklawn Cemetery, and an area known as The Canes along the [[Arkansas River]].<ref name="Search">{{cite news |last1=Canfield |first1=Kevin |title=1921 Tulsa Race Massacre graves investigation oversight committee to meet Monday |url=https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/government-and-politics/tulsa-race-massacre-graves-investigation-oversight-committee-to-meet-monday/article_876d63a2-7cd8-5d5a-8afd-4e23a68c8f5f.html |work=Tulsa World |date=February 2, 2020 |access-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302195833/https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/government-and-politics/tulsa-race-massacre-graves-investigation-oversight-committee-to-meet-monday/article_876d63a2-7cd8-5d5a-8afd-4e23a68c8f5f.html |archive-date=March 2, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Oklahoma Archeological Survey subsequently announced that they were discontinuing search efforts at Newblock Park after not finding any evidence of graves.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tulsa Race Massacre graves committee meets again tonight |url=https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/tulsa-race-massacre-graves-committee-meets-again-tonight/article_8d939dd0-9942-5a2b-979d-ba412d0248d3.html |work=Tulsa World |date=March 2, 2020 |access-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302195831/https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/tulsa-race-massacre-graves-committee-meets-again-tonight/article_8d939dd0-9942-5a2b-979d-ba412d0248d3.html |archive-date=March 2, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> On December 17, 2019, the team of [[Forensic archaeology|forensic archaeologists]] announced that they had found anomalies consistent with that of human-dug pits beneath the ground at Oaklawn Cemetery and the ground where the [[Interstate 244]] bridge crosses the Arkansas River. They announced that the anomalies are likely candidates for mass graves, but further radar surveys and physical excavations of the sites are needed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Deneen L. |title=In Tulsa, an investigation finds possible evidence of mass graves from 1921 race massacre |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/12/16/tulsa-moves-closer-learning-if-there-are-mass-graves-race-massacre/ |access-date=December 17, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=December 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217022327/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/12/16/tulsa-moves-closer-learning-if-there-are-mass-graves-race-massacre/ |archive-date=December 17, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Researchers secured permission to perform "limited excavations" from the city and as a result, they will be able to determine what the contents of these sites are, beginning in April 2020, and while they do not expect to dig up any human remains, they asserted that if they find any human remains in the course of their excavations, they will treat them with the proper respect.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tulsa-plans-to-dig-for-suspected-mass-graves-from-a-1921-race-massacre/ar-BBZCrew |title=Tulsa plans to dig for suspected mass graves from a 1921 race massacre |first=DeNeen |last=Brown |date=February 4, 2020 |access-date=February 4, 2020 |work=[[MSN]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204050652/http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tulsa-plans-to-dig-for-suspected-mass-graves-from-a-1921-race-massacre/ar-BBZCrew |archive-date=February 4, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> An initial dig at a suspected area of the Oaklawn Cemetery in July 2020 found no human remains.<ref>{{cite news |first=DeNeen L. |last=Brown |date=July 22, 2020 |title=Tulsa's first dig for suspected mass graves from 1921 massacre of black people finds no human remains |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/22/tulsa-dig-mass-graves-race-massacre-no-bodies/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724092901/https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/22/tulsa-dig-mass-graves-race-massacre-no-bodies/?outputType=amp |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |access-date=October 6, 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en}}{{cbignore }}</ref>

On October 21, 2020, a forensic team said that it had unearthed 11 coffins in Oaklawn Cemetery; records and research suggested that as many as 18 victims would be found. The forensic team will need to do more work in order to determine if the coffins contain the remains of massacre victims. As stated by Kary Stackelbeck, a state archaeologist, the remains will not be moved until they can be properly exhumed because their deterioration needs to be prevented. She also stated that the site where the remains were discovered "constitutes a mass grave.... We have a high degree of confidence that this is one of the locations we were looking for. But we have to remain cautious because we have not done anything to expose the human remains beyond those that have been encountered."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/us/tulsa-massacre-coffins-grave.html |title=Mass Grave Unearthed in Tulsa During Search for Massacre Victims |first=Ben |last=Fenwick |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 22, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mudd |first=Cassidy |date=October 21, 2020 |title=Mass grave found during search for 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victims |url=https://ktul.com/news/local/mass-grave-confirmed-at-oaklawn-cemetery |access-date=October 27, 2020 |publisher=KTUL }}</ref> The team planned to exhume the remains in June 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 26, 2021 |title=Tulsa massacre: The search for victims, 100 years on |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57244863 |access-date=May 27, 2021 }}</ref> Forensic anthropologist [[Phoebe Stubblefield]] later planned to analyze the remains in order to determine if they are the remains of people who were killed in the 1921 massacre. In June 2021, after scientists resumed work at the site, 35 coffins were recovered from the mass grave. The remains of 19 people were taken to an on-site science lab. Officials stated that they have completed a preliminary analysis of nine of those human remains.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/06/26/tulsa-massacre-body-found-bullet/ |title=Scientists excavating Tulsa Race Massacre site unearth skeleton with bullet wounds |newspaper=The Washington Post |last=Brown |first=DeNeen L. |date=June 26, 2021 |access-date=July 30, 2021 }}</ref>

Stackelbeck announced in September 2023 a completed survey identified 59 gravesites, 57 of which were previously undiscovered. Seven sets of remains were recovered, each found in simple wooden boxes.<ref>{{cite news |title=7 sets of remains exhumed, 59 graves found after latest search for remains of the Tulsa Race Massacre victims |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tulsa-race-massacre-victims-seven-sets-remains-exhumed/ |access-date=October 1, 2023 |work=www.cbsnews.com |date=September 30, 2023 }}</ref> [[C. L. Daniel]] was the first victim identified in July 2024 from the remains exhumed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Burch |first1=Audra D. S. |title=The Search for Tulsa Massacre Victims Finally Reveals a Name |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/12/us/tulsa-massacre-victim-identified.html |access-date=July 13, 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 12, 2024 }}</ref> He was a World War I veteran from Georgia who was a resident of Utah.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kemp |first=Adam |date=July 12, 2024 |title=A World War I veteran is the 1st Tulsa Race Massacre victim to be identified in city's yearslong investigation |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/a-world-war-i-veteran-is-the-1st-tulsa-race-massacre-victim-to-be-identified-in-citys-yearslong-investigation |access-date=August 6, 2024 |website=PBS News |language=en-us }}</ref> By August 3, 2024, remains believed to be two additional victims of the riot were found.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 3, 2024 |title=Third set of remains found with gunshot wound in search for 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre graves, state official says |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tulsa-race-massacre-third-set-of-remains-found/ |access-date=August 6, 2024 |website=CBS News |language=en-US }}</ref> By August 16, 2024, the remains of eleven riot victims had been recovered from Oaklawn Cemetery<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 17, 2024 |title=search-finds-3-more-tulsa-race-massacre-victims-with-gun-wounds |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/search-finds-3-more-tulsa-race-massacre-victims-with-gun-wounds/7746519.html |access-date=August 17, 2024 |website=VOA News |language=en-US }}</ref>