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GREENWOOD Dist. — On Wednesday, Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and forensic scientists announced that the DNA extractions from six bodies exhumed at Oaklawn Cemetery are viable enough to be matched with living relatives. The city is working to determine if they are victims from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Since the launching of the mass graves investigation in 2018, city officials working with Oklahoma archeologists and Intermountain Forensics have exhumed a few dozen bodies from Oaklawn Cemetery that may belong to massacre victims.
The most recent discovery means that the city is now trying to connect the six viable genetic markers with possible living relatives to determine if they are indeed massacre victims.
City seeks DNA from Black relatives despite lack of transparency
Researchers have to be sure the bodies don’t belong to victims of the Spanish flu, which ravaged communities just a few years before the massacre. So, they’re asking potential relatives to submit their DNA for analysis, despite warnings from the Justice for Greenwood legal team that DNA submissions invade privacy and could be used to criminalize people.
“From the onset of this investigation, we convened some of the greatest minds in America to help us move the needle on a more than century old event,” Mayor Bynum said. “There isn’t a single genealogical investigation of this magnitude in the United States that has gotten this far, and yet, we are still in the beginning stages of this process. There is a lot more investigative work that is happening, and with the public’s help, we are eager to enter the next phase of this process.”
While the city’s efforts are unprecedented, the way in which city leaders have limited transparency around the process has created a wall of distrust among Black residents, the same residents the city needs help from to identify the deceased souls.
The findings also come as the City of Tulsa continues to ask the courts to dismiss a lawsuit seeking justice for the three living survivors of the century-old city-sanctioned racial domestic terror attack.
Six viable genetic genealogy profiles from DNA sequencing
The team at Intermountain Forensics used DNA sequencing to create genetic genealogy profiles for six of the 22 bodies currently being studied. The team is in the process of reaching out to people who hold the following surnames, but they’re also asking potential relatives to come forward to help them identify the remains.
Burial 1
- Surnames of Interest: No specific surname identified, yet – Genealogy team will reach out to potential DNA relatives
- Area(s): North Carolina
- About the burial: Female from 2021 exhumation, with additional DNA gathered in 2022 exhumation. Burial was in a matching casket to Burial 13 with an “At Rest” plaque found. No apparent gunshot wound or trauma was present.
Burial 3
- Surnames/Location of Interest #1: Scott, Huntley, Daniel, Meriwether, Sims, Bohannon
- Area(s): Coweta County, Georgia, and surrounding counties
- Surnames/Location of Interest #2: Benjamin, Willis
- Area(s): Austin County, Texas
- About the burial: Male from 2021 exhumation, with additional DNA gathered in 2022 exhumation. Burial was in a plain wooden casket and no apparent gunshot wound or trauma was present.
Burial 13
- Surnames/Locations of Interest #1: Maggett
- Area(s): Leflore County,Mississippi
- Surnames/Locations of Interest #2: Strong, McGee
- Area(s): Union Parish, Louisiana, and Texas
- Surnames/Locations of Interest #3: Still
- Area(s): Oklahoma during Indian Territory designation
- About the burial: Female from 2021 exhumation, with additional DNA gathered in 2022 exhumation. Burial was in a matching casket to Burial 1 with an “At Rest” plaque found. No apparent gunshot wound or trauma was present.
Burial 15
- Surnames/Locations of Interest #1: Holden, Larrimore
- Area(s): Sabine Parish, Louisiana
- Surnames/Locations of Interest #2: Luckett, Mayre
- Area(s): Rapides Parish, Louisiana
- About the burial: Male from 2021 exhumation, with additional DNA gathered in 2022 exhumation. Burial was in a plain wooden casket and no apparent gunshot wound or trauma was present.
Burial 17
- Surnames/Locations of Interest: Smith, Davis, Rentie
- Area(s): Alabama, Texas, and Oklahoma during Indian Territory designation and early 1900s
- About the burial: Male from 2021 exhumation. Burial was in a plain wooden casket and no apparent gunshot wound or trauma was present.
Burial 41
- Potential Last Name(s): No specific surname identified, yet – Genealogy team will reach out to DNA relatives
- Area(s): N/A
- About the burial: Male from 2022 exhumation. Burial was in a plain wooden casket and no apparent gunshot wound or trauma was present.
How to get in touch
If you believe you are a relative of the six identified remains or a different potential massacre victim, you can submit information online by clicking the “Provide Information” button at www.tulsa1921dna.org or by emailing the forensics team at idteam@tulsa1921dna.org.
If you don’t feel comfortable submitting your DNA for analysis but still believe you are a relative, you can reach out the Justice For Greenwood team by visiting their website.
Moving forward, Tulsa has received a $1 million Department of Justice Emmett Till Grant that will help allow the city to continue funding exhumation of potential Massacre victims. Other areas that researchers have identified as possible 1921 mass graves include Canes and NewBlock Park. Researchers have recommended the city begin gathering initial soil samples from those areas.