First person identified in Tulsa massacre mass grave

Investigators looking for the identities of 120 people buried after the 1921 Tulsa Massacre released the name of the first known victim, C.L. Daniel, a World War I veteran.

The first person identified from a century-old mass grave of victims in the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 is a Black World War I veteran, Tulsa’s mayor announced Friday. 

C.L. Daniel served in the U.S. Army and was likely no older than 25 when he died during the deadly riot, according to forensic investigators who identified him this week. 

About 300 people were killed by a racist mob and more than 1,000 Black-owned homes and businesses were destroyed on May 31 and June 1, 1921. 

The city of Tulsa launched an investigation into 120 unmarked graves in 2021, and researchers began combing through the gravesites to identify people who had been buried during the riot in Tulsa’s prosperous Greenwood District, known as “Black Wall Street.” 

Daniel was born in Newman, Georgia, to Thomas Daniel and Amanda Merriweather Daniel. His mother was a widow by 1910 and had to provide for her seven sons. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/tulsa-massacre-oklahoma-mass-grave-cl-daniel-rcna161599

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