C. L. Daniel

C. L. Daniel
Born	July 14, 1896[1] Newnan, Georgia, U.S.
Died	May 31, 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Cause of death	Tulsa Race Massacre
Body discovered	July 12, 2024
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	Army
Years of service	1918-1919
Battles / wars	World War I

C. L. Daniel was an American World War I veteran known for being the first victim of the Tulsa Race Massacre identified from remains exhumed from mass graves in Tulsa.

Biography

C. L. Daniel was born and raised in Newnan, Georgia to Thomas Daniel and Amanda Merriweather. His father died before 1910.[2] He was drafted into the United States Army in 1918 during World War I and served until 1919.[3] He was stationed at Camp Gordon in Chamblee, Georgia, during his military tenure with the 47th Company, 12th Training Battalion, and the 406th Rescue Labor Battalion, Company B. According to an anthropologist at the University of Florida, he spent 19 days in a base hospital for a possible leg injury.[2]

Death and identification

After the war, Daniel traveled across the United States.[2] He was on his way home to Georgia from Utah when he was killed in the Tulsa Race Massacre. In 2020, the city of Tulsa began exhuming suspected mass graves related to the massacre. In July 2024, Daniel was the first victim of the massacre exhumed from the graves positively identified.[3] The city offered to help rebury Daniel according to his family's wishes.[4] A memorial service was held in which the mayor of Tulsa G.T. Bynum eulogized Danial and spoke of his relationship to his bereaved mother. A letter from his family was read: "Today represents more than a memorial for C.L. Daniel and those still resting in unidentified graves; it is a long-waited acknowledgement of the lives impacted by the massacre."[5]

References

1. C.L. Daniel profile. Retrieved 8-8-2024
2. Sutter, Sofia (12 July 2024). "First person identified in Tulsa massacre mass grave". NBC News. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
3. Burch, Audra D. S. (July 12, 2024). "The Search for Tulsa Massacre Victims Finally Reveals a Name". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
4. Kemp, Adam (12 July 2024). "A World War I veteran is the 1st Tulsa Race Massacre victim to be identified in city's yearslong investigation". PBS News. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
5. Falconer, Rebecca (11 November 2024). "1st Tulsa Race Massacre victim identified in mass grave honored with memorial". Axios. Retrieved 12 December 2024.

External links

• City of Tulsa press release - July 12, 2024