Tulsans, Leaders Push For Answers Nearly 100 Years After Tulsa Race Massacre
2021 marks the centennial for the Tulsa Race Massacre, and it could be the year for answers about a mass grave at Oaklawn Cemetery. Since 1921, there have been claims that the official estimate of 39 deaths was low. Eyewitnesses have described mass burials in common graves. Many mentioned Oaklawn Cemetery.
One account came from Clyde Eddy, who remembered watching men digging a trench at Oaklawn days after the massacre when he was a child. Eddy said he saw large boxes stacked nearby. We opened the first box, and there were three bodies of black people in there. The stench was terrible, Eddy said in 1999.