National Archives Aids in Tulsa Riot Mass Burial Identification
By Cara Moore Lebonick | National Archives News
ST. LOUIS, November 4, 2024 — On the 100-year anniversary of race riots erupting in the predominantly Black-populated and affluent Greenwood District in the city of Tulsa, OK, the city launched an investigation into unmarked graves in likely mass burial sites resulting from the riots. The laboratory assisting Tulsa, Intermountain Forensics, turned to the National Archives for records to help identify individuals from those graves. Based on those records, the first positive identification was made earlier this summer: a World War I veteran named C. L. Daniel.
Letter written to the Veterans Administration on behalf of C.L. Daniel’s mother citing Daniel’s death ‘in a race riot in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1921’ from the Deceased Veterans Claim File of C.L. Daniel in the National Archives at St. Louis’ holdings.
The 1921 event has been called both the Tulsa Race Riot and Tulsa Race Massacre, and it resulted in a massive loss to Black lives and properties. Investigations into the excavated burial sites sought to identify the remains using a combination of forensic genealogy and community statements and family histories about family members interred after the riots.
This extensive research led to many possible identifications, but in July it yielded its first result. Intermountain Forensics came across possible veteran matches for the burials and consulted the National Archives to confirm the identity.
“The Intermountain Forensics 1921 Tulsa Identification Project forensic investigative genetic genealogy group submitted several requests related to burials,” said Anna Kampwerth, a supervisory archives specialist at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). “The requests were for World War I–era veterans, an era heavily affected by the 1973 fire and which requires the most additional reference research for our team.”
Kampwerth and their colleagues used identifying information from the request to confirm relevant holdings at the National Archives at St. Louis, which shares office space with the NPRC.
“We are able to expediently provide many archival auxiliary records . . . like the Deceased Veteran’s Claim File used for the Tulsa burial identification, to facilitate NPRC’s responses to benefits cases,” said Theresa Fitzgerald, Director of the Personnel Records Division of the National Archives at St. Louis. “We look forward to further working with members of the media and other stakeholders as these identifications continue.”
Deceased Veterans Claim Files are part of the permanent holdings of the National Archives at St. Louis. These files contain records of veteran and next-of-kin claims for benefits and entitlements. They can include medical and benefits notes created by Veterans Affairs employees about the veteran’s service, as well as letters and submissions by veterans and next-of-kin to support their claims. This information makes these records important sources in cases when the original personnel file was lost in the 1973 fire.
C. L. Daniel’s file has been digitized and is available in the National Archives Catalog. Additional Veterans Claim Files can be found across the National Archives’ holdings.
“Requests like these generate a lot of interest in the National Archives’ holdings,” said Vivian Green, an archives technician at the NPRC. “It’s an important part of my job, and I look forward to finding more answers about our nation’s history.”
Media and genealogy-related requests can be submitted to the National Archives at St. Louis at stl.archives@nara.gov, and burial-related requests should be directed to the National Personnel Record Center through eVetRecs.
Check the Calendar of Events for veterans-related programming throughout November, including 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge on Wednesday, November 13, at 6:30 p.m. ET and Inside the Vault: Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War on Monday, November 18, at 6 p.m. ET.