A Brief History of the Search for 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Victims' Graves: A Mayor's Perspective
In 1921, Tulsa was home to one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history. America's Black Wall Street, the Greenwood District, was burned to the ground by a white mob and an unknown number of Black Tulsans were murdered. Many of the victims were buried in unmarked graves, leaving their families with no awareness of their whereabouts. For nearly a century, the Tulsa city government refused to participate in any search for those graves. In 2019, then-Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum announced the City would lead a search for graves of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victims. That search had many ups and downs moving forward. In this talk, Mayor Bynum will speak about his motives for pursuing the search, the team assembled to find the missing graves, and the challenges they had to overcome in that search.
G.T. Bynum
G.T. Bynum currently serves as the Vice President for Community & Government Affairs in the Saint Francis Health System. G.T. served on the Tulsa City Council (2008-2016) and as Mayor of Tulsa (2016-2024). As mayor, G.T. guided Tulsa through its greatest public health crisis and major natural disasters while never losing an election, for office or in support of public improvements.
He led the physical transformation of Tulsa - Zink Lake, Gilcrease Museum, the Gathering Place, and other major public projects - while fostering a historic boom in private sector investment ranging from Amazon to American Airlines. He initiated the search for unmarked graves of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victims, created the Tulsa Police Real Time Information Center, and paved more miles of road than any mayor in Tulsa history.
G.T. is married to Susan Bynum, Vice President of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa. They are the proud parents of Robert and Annabel - the sixth generation of Bynums to call Tulsa home.