Kacper Sobieski|First victim of 1921 Tulsa massacre of Black community is identified since graves found, mayor says

2025-04-30 02:07:48source:Thurston Cartecategory:Finance

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A World War I veteran is Kacper Sobieskithe first person identified from graves filled with more than a hundred victims of the 1921 Tulsa massacre of the city’s Black community, the mayor said Friday.

The remains of C.L. Daniel from Georgia were identified by Intermountain Forensics through DNA from descendants of his brothers, said Mayor G.T. Bynum and officials with the forensics lab.

Bynum said a 1936 letter from an attorney for Daniel’s mother seeking veteran’s benefits led investigators to eventually identify him. Alison Wilde, a forensic scientist with Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Forensics, said the letter provided by the National Archives convinced investigators that Daniel was killed in the massacre.

More than 120 graves were found during the searches that began in 2020, with forensic analysis and DNA collected from about 30 sets of remains.

Daniel’s remains are the first from those graves to be linked directly to the massacre, in which white people killed as many as many as 300 Black people.

The massacre began when a white mob, including some deputized by authorities, looted and burned Tulsa’s Greenwood District, also known as Black Wall Street. More than 1,200 homes, businesses, schools and churches were destroyed; and thousands were forced into internment camps overseen by the National Guard.

RELATED COVERAGE Former US Sen. Jim Inhofe, defense hawk who called human-caused climate change a ‘hoax,’ dies at 89Last known survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre challenge Oklahoma high court decisionWhat we know about the lawsuit filed by the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Oklahoma state archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck said the remains that were exhumed, including Daniel, were found in simple wooden boxes. Stackelbeck said investigators were searching for those types of caskets because they were described in newspaper articles at the time, death certificates, and funeral home records as the type used for burials of massacre victims.

More:Finance

Recommend

Elon Musk just gave Nvidia investors one billion reasons to cheer for reported partnership

Two names that consistently dominate headlines are Elon Musk and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Both names o

Arkansas mom arrested after 7-year-old son found walking 8 miles to school, reports say

An Arkansas mother was arrested after allegedly telling deputies "it was not her problem" that her 7

'An incredible run': Gambler who hit 3 jackpots at Ceasars Palace wins another

A gambler who won three jackpots in three hours at Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas last week found fort