Letter From National Archives Key To Identifying Tulsa Race Massacre Victim

The City of Tulsa has identified a previously unknown victim of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the first identification to come out of the search for unmarked graves.

Researchers identified WWI Army veteran C.L. Daniel as one of the victims.

This is the first identification of a Race Massacre victim since the state's 2001 commissioned report.

The newly identified remains from what researchers refer to as “Burial 3” were found in the same row as two known massacre victims' headstones. Researchers said there was no apparent gunshot wound in the remains found.

But researchers are learning more about the person they said was buried there: C.L. Daniel.

A letter obtained by scientists through the National Archives, combined with a DNA match, are the two factors that gave researchers the confidence to make today's historic announcement.

“We've identified the first 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victim since we began our search for them five years ago,” Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum said.

Intermountain Forensics in Utah has been working with DNA found at Oaklawn for years, comparing it to DNA from living Americans who gave their consent.

At the same time, people like genetic genealogist Alison Wilde have been studying family trees and documents and listening to people's family histories.

“It was only through those additional DNA comparisons that we were able to narrow our focus down to a set of brothers and begin requesting records of their lives,” Wilde said.

The letter was written in 1936 by an attorney in Georgia. He was representing C.L. Daniel's mother, who was seeking military benefits because of her son, who was drafted in WWI.

The letter says she is going to have difficulty establishing his death because he was "killed in a race riot in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1921."

“It’s her efforts, her perseverance, that led to the documentation that was able to give us the answers that we were searching for,” Wilde said.

While researchers connect C.L. to Burial Number 3, they caution there is a chance it could also be one of his brothers (because sibling DNA is similar), but the letter about him, points them back to believe it is C.L.

Friday’s announcement sparked raw emotions from everyone involved, and they said it is just the beginning, as there are more victims to identify.

“I am so very humbled and honored to stand here today to witness this time in history and this historic moment, as it is,” Brenda Nails Alford, a descendent of several survivors, said.

The next phase of excavation work at Oaklawn will be picked up later this month. The city will be removing an oak tree in the search area, which was planted sometime between 1995, and 2003.