Researchers Find Possible Mass Grave From 1921 Tulsa Race Riot

Nearly a century after a mob of white residents attacked black residents and businesses in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, researchers say they've uncovered potential evidence of mass graves linked to the deadly race riots in 1921.

Researchers used ground-penetrating radar to identify two spots at the Oaklawn Cemetery which demonstrated irregularities consistent with mass graves, Scott Hammerstedt, a senior researcher for the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey said Monday at a public hearing.

"I'm as confident as I can be in the results that this is a very big candidate with something associated with the massacre," Hammerstedt said.

The surveys conducted by the team were conducted in one area suspected to be a mass grave, as well as another newly discovered trench under the soil that measures 30 by 25 feet which is large enough to hold up to 100 bodies.

The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot is a dark chapter in American history in which a mob of white residents burned down much of the area known as Black Wall Street in the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The mob of white men clashed with several armed black men who'd gathered to protect another black man falsely accused of assaulting a white woman.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics recorded the number of people killed as 36, however, a 2001 state commission on the riots noted higher estimates, including up to 300 killed in the rioting.

Witnesses reported seeing bodies being buried in mass graves, but local officials at the time hid evidence of any crimes.

Another 800 people were admitted to the hospital and more than 6,000 black residents were arrested and detained, with many being held for several days.

Scientists are working on additional surveys that could lead to excavations.

"Even if the preservation is truly excellent, we don't know who we'll find in there," University of Florida forensic anthropologist Phoebe Stubblefield told CBS News.

Should remains be discovered in the potential mass grave sites, members of the black community in Tulsa say they'd want the remains to be relocated to the Vernon A.M.E. Church, which was one of the few buildings to survive the 1921 riots.

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