Uncovering the Mass Graves of Black Wall Street
More than 120 graves were found and still counting. So far, only man identified
C.L. Daniel was born in Newnan, GA, in July 1896. His father, Thomas, died when he was ten years old; Daniel would be survived by his mother, Amanda. C.L. was drafted into the U.S. Army when he was 21. He served just over a year, mainly at Camp Gordon in Chamblee, GA. Daniel was with the 47th Company, 12th Training Battalion, and the 406th Rescue Labor Battalion, Company B before being released in 1919 shortly after the war’s end. He decided to travel across the United States. After over a year on the road, he was coming home to Georgia from Utah when he stopped to spend a few days in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, OK. His mother and the rest of his family were anxious to see him. Daniel never made it home.
Over two days beginning May 31, 1921, white residents of Tulsa attacked the Greenwood District with every means possible. Greenwood was bombed from the air, set afire, and an angry mob shot residents at will, all stemming from a false claim of sexual assault by a white woman against a Black teen elevator operator. A group of armed Black men exercising a Second Amendment right never meant for them. He went to the jail where the teen was held, demanding he be kept safe from those who would lynch him. The…
