Descendants Of Tulsa Massacre Victims Can Provide DNA In Hopes Of Identifying Remains
People who believe they are descendants of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre are now able to provide genetic material to help scientists when they begin trying to identify remains of possible victims.
According to the Associated Press, Danny Hellwig, laboratory director with Intermountain Forensics, said Wednesday (July 13) that researchers aren’t ready to start attempting to match DNA for identification, but since receiving an outpouring of request from local residents on how to provide genetic material in hopes of matching with decedents, led them to begin the process of accepting donations.
“That’s what prompted this,” Hellwig said. “We didn’t expect the amount of support and willingness to help... people have jumped out of the woodwork” to offer their DNA for testing.
Hellwig says Black people with ancestors who lived in Tulsa in 1921 are sought. “What we need is to populate these databases with family lines” of direct descendants, making identifications of the remains possible within days, he added. “If we’re only matched with very distant relatives it can take much longer.”
People can provide their information from genealogy sites such as ancestry.com and 23andme.com and upload it to www.tulsa1921dna.org, however it isn’t known when the process of trying to match the DNA will begin.
Hellwig said donors have the option to prohibit their information from being shared with other agencies and can remove their info at any time.
