Researchers Positively Identify Victim Of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre At Oaklawn Cemetery

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and the City of Tulsa provided a significant announcement about the City's 1921 Graves Investigation on Friday.

Bynum alongside researchers from Intermountain Forensics, and Tulsa Race Massacre descendant Brenda Nails-Alford announced that the first victim of the massacre was positively identified.

According to Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum, C. L. Daniel was a veteran who served during WWI and was born in Georgia. Evidence shows that he was killed in Tulsa during the massacre and buried at Oaklawn Cemetery for 103 years. Mayor Bynum said that identifying the remains has been an "emotionally powerful experience."

Related Story: The Research Behind Oaklawn Cemetery 1921 Mass Graves Investigation

C. L. Daniel is connected to Burial 3, which is located in what has historically been referenced as the “Original 18” area.

In a release posted on the City's website, investigators mention that they obtained letters from Daniel and his family that helped place him in Tulsa.

"While the circumstances of C. L.’s death are unknown, his connection to the Tulsa Race Massacre was confirmed this week when Intermountain Forensics, the laboratory assisting the City with DNA and genealogical analysis, was able to recover records from the National Archives. Contained in the records was the most convincing piece of evidence tying him to the Tulsa Race Massacre – a letter from C. L.’s family attorney written to the U.S. Veteran’s Administration on behalf of C. L.’s mother regarding C. L.’s survivor benefits.

In part, the letter states “C. L. was killed in a race riot in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1921.” Receipt of this letter confirms that C. L. – whose next of kin share a significant portion of their DNA with Burial 3 - is a Tulsa Race Massacre victim not previously identified.

"As genealogists, our daily work centers on families and communities,” said Alison Wilde, Genealogy Case manager for the City’s 1921 Graves Investigation project. “I know I speak for everyone at Intermountain Forensics, and our genealogy partners, when I say we are continually humbled by the Greenwood and Tulsa Race Massacre descendant communities, as they protect the history of, and serve as guardians of, the unknown victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Today the family members of Mr. C. L. Daniel join those communities. I am confident his next of kin, and the memory of their loved one, are in good hands.”

Records from the National Archives also show that C. L. Daniel, a black male in his 20s, was drafted to the U.S. Army in 1918 and was later discharged in December of 1919. Records also show that C. L. was not married and did not have any children at the time of his death. 

Based on letters written by C. L. Daniel in February of 1921, C. L. was in Utah working to find a job and a way back home to his mother in Georgia. While it is unclear why C. L. was in Tulsa, the notes from his mother’s attorney and another letter – one from a U.S. Congressman from Georgia – corroborate one another in that C. L. died in 1921 in Oklahoma. The second letter states in part that “C. L. Daniel was killed in Oklahoma some time shortly after his discharge…”

The City said that because of the recent findings, the latest Oaklawn Cemetery summary report, and the proposed next steps from the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey, the City of Tulsa and field experts will begin a fourth excavation at Oaklawn Cemetery the week of July 22.

This is a developing story.

Related Stories:

1. Researcher Shares Historic Documents On ‘Original 18’ Tulsa Race Massacre Victims
2. New Profiles Created From DNA Testing At Oaklawn Cemetery
3. Excavation Complete: Archaeologists Study Remains Found At Oaklawn Cemetery