City Of Tulsa To Hold Private Interment Ceremony For Remains Exhumed During 1921 Graves Investigation

The City of Tulsa says it will rebury 19 bodies this week that were found in a mass grave at Oaklawn Cemetery.

The remains were exhumed this summer as part of the 1921 Graves Investigation.

City leaders said the Public Oversight Committee will hold a short, private ceremony just before the bodies are put back in the ground Friday morning.

The city said Oaklawn Cemetery will be closed Wednesday through Friday for the interment.

Leaders said archaeologists completed phase one of the investigation last month, which included onsite excavation and fieldwork. The second phase, onsite forensic analysis, wrapped up two weeks ago.

Archaeologists still have not determined if the mass grave is connected to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, but said they found gunshot wounds on one body.

Experts are still working to identify the remains.

Leaders expect to share more information from the excavation analysis in the coming months.