1921Graves

**Oaklawn Cemetery Excavation Update Oct. 30**

Seventy-eight new graves have now been discovered at Oaklawn Cemetery during the City's fifth excavation at the site as part of the search for victims and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Thirty-six of those 78 new burials were discovered this week, with three additional sets of remains escorted to the on-site osteology lab today for further analysis. The remains exhumed today were observed to be adults buried in plain wooden caskets.

Since the excavation began on Oct. 14, experts have exhumed six burials, one of whom is confirmed to have a gunshot wound. And since the City began excavations at Oaklawn Cemetery in 2021, seven burials are confirmed to have trauma associated with gunshot wounds.

Field work will continue for at least the next week.

For the latest information on the 1921 Graves Investigation, visit: www.cityotulsa.org/1921Graves

**Oaklawn Cemetery Update Oct. 23, 2025 - 1:15 p.m.**

Earlier today, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols and his team spent the morning with our field experts to learn more about the work underway at Oaklawn Cemetery.

During this round of excavations, two burials have been exhumed with additional an exhumation(s) planned before the weather could put a pause on additional work for a few days.

More updates will be provided as more information comes available.

See the latest on the work at: www.cityoftulsa.org/1921Graves

**Oct. 20 Excavation Update**

Archaeologists have discovered 24 new graves during the first week of the fifth round of excavations at Oaklawn Cemetery, 21 of which are adult-sized.

Exhumations could begin for some of these graves this week depending on their condition and whether they meet the criteria experts are looking for.

It’s important to note that none of the work this time around has yielded any confirmation of a direct tie to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, yet.

Field experts will continue searching for additional graves this week and into next, and we’ll share updates as more information becomes available.

For the latest information on the search, visit: www.cityoftulsa.org/1921graves o

Twenty-five days of work, much of which happened in 100-degree heat, will be wrapping up later this afternoon as part of the fourth round of excavations at Oaklawn Cemetery.

During this round of excavations, experts have:
✅Exhumed 10 individuals as of yesterday and will exhume one more this afternoon (totaling 11)
✅Confirmed three additional gunshot victims, two of whom have munitions from two different fi****ms, and one of whom also has evidence of possible burns

To date, nearly 50 sets of remains from all excavations over the past five years have been exhumed.

Once Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Phoebe Stubblefield wraps her analysis work in the coming weeks in Tulsa, all newly exhumed sets of remains will be sent to Intermountain Forensics - the laboratory assisting the City with DNA and genealogical analysis for the Investigation.

Intermountain Forensics has been instrumental in the work so far, helping identify the first known Race Massacre victim from the Investigation - C. L. Daniel.

For more information about the Investigation, see how you can get involved, and see additional pictures from this round of fieldwork, visit www.cityoftulsa.org/1921graves.