Archeologists Back At Oaklawn For Test Excavation Work In 1921 Graves Investigation

A team of archeologists is at Oaklawn Cemetery this week, working to figure out where to dig next in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre graves investigation.

On Thursday the team began what it calls a "test excavation," to try to figure out if there are any human remains in a specific area before doing a larger dig.

Archeologists are back at Oaklawn Cemetery for more excavation work for the first time since November, this time, in the sweltering July heat. The test excavation is only expected to last two days, and help them determine where to go next.

The team is slowly sifting through dirt in an area east of where the attention has been in years past.

"This is important work. This has taken a long time to get this uncovered. And I'm glad that they're moving forward and that they're actually doing something finally,” Jeanell Lieurance said.

Jeanell Lieurance, in town from Kansas City, is watching from the other side of the fence. She said she just learned about the Tulsa Race Massacre in the last few years.

"I grew up in southeast Kansas and we never heard about this. But I don't even think our teachers knew about it,” she said.

While DNA work continues in a Salt Lake City lab, the team on the ground in Tulsa is working to uncover more remains to study.

For Lieurance, seeing some of the work first hand was meaningful.

"It's kind of incredible that I get to be here for a teeny piece of history,” she said. “And I hope to one day tell my future grandchildren that I was here for this when I read them a book that I picked up at the museum in Greenwood. Because I want to tell them about this. I want to make sure that they know and they understand that this is part of our history."

The team will be back at Oaklawn on Friday. The city said the team does not have a timeline yet for when the next excavation could be.