Commission ready to dig in search for riot victims

Thursday, January 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Archaeologists plan to begin digging in February to determine if a downtown cemetery holds a mass grave from the 1921 destruction of Tulsa's black business district. The finalization of paperwork between the city and the Tulsa Race Riot Commission cleared the way Wednesday for the excavation at the city's Oaklawn Cemetery. "If our excavations reveal this to be a grave but not that of race riot victims, we will immediately cease our work and backfill the unit," state archaeologist Bob Brooks said in a letter approved by city officials. "We should be able to determine this before actually encountering any human remains."

Brooks said his team will dig a 3-by-6 foot trench using shovels and trowels. Archaeologists will be looking for multiple bodies, bodies without caskets or other indicators of impromptu burials tied to the riot, he said. No remains will be exhumed. "We'll only work to the point of identifying to my satisfaction" that the site holds riot victims, Brooks said. Any further analysis of remains "will be up to the commission, the Greenwood community and city of Tulsa," he said.

The 11-member race riot commission has spent more than two years investigating the May 31, 1921, outbreak that turned the Greenwood district to ashes. Historians believe as many as 300 people, mostly blacks, died when white mobs attacked with guns and torches. But what happened remains clouded, partly because of a history of silence in the white community.

The panel, assigned the task of clarifying that picture, faces a Feb. 7 deadline to report back to the state Legislature. It also must make a recommendation on whether restitution should be paid to survivors. Whether the panel's recommendation on reparations will be made by the deadline is unclear because of the search for mass graves and a request by scholars for more time to compile their historical account. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach commission chairman Bob Blackburn by telephone for comment were not successful Tuesday or Wednesday.

"I don't think the Legislature can make a decision on reparations until they know what facts are," said state Rep. Don Ross, whose legislation led to the commission's creation. Ross has filed a new bill seeking to extend the commission until it can complete its report. One historian aiding the commission said he would like to see an extension of six months to a year.

If any riot victims are located in mass graves, Ross said they should be exhumed and buried with dignity in a community memorial. "I am proud of my community. I am proud of my state. The Tulsa race riot was not the only one," he said, noting dozens of other race riots at the time nationwide. "Oklahoma is the only state, Tulsa is the only city that has dared to attempt to reconcile with its horrific past."

Jim East, chief aide to Mayor Susan Savage, said that security will be in place during the dig and access will be controlled. "It's obviously a public cemetery," East said. "... But it's a place where you don't want people out there trampling around on other people's graves. There's a certain amount of decorum and reverence that must be shown."