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Honoring victims of a racial massacre 130 years ago

Associated Press
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In this Feb. 11, 2017 photo, Dr. Thomas J. Durant Jr., center, Professor Emeritus of African-American Studies at Louisiana State University, performs a libation ceremony on the grounds of American Legion Raymond Stafford Post 513 in Thibodaux, La. Victims of the 1887 Thibodaux Massacre are believed buried in a mass grave at the site. This memorial, conducted in conjunction with the River Road African-American Museum in Donaldsonville, is one of several commemorations held since publication of "The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike" by John DeSantis (James Loiselle/Courtesy of John DeSantis via AP) (The Associated Press)

In this Nov. 13, 2016 photo provided by John DeSantis, author of "The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike" poses with Sylvester Jackson, right, great-grandson of massacre survivor Jack Conrad, at the Nicholls State University archives in Thibodaux, La. Jackson and his family had not known about their relationship to Conrad or the massacre until DeSantis got in touch with them as part of research for the book. (James Loiselle/Courtesy of John DeSantis via AP) (The Associated Press)

In this Feb. 11, 2017 photo, Dr. Thomas J. Durant Jr., center, Professor Emeritus of African-American Studies at Louisiana State University, performs a libation ceremony on the grounds of American Legion Raymond Stafford Post 513 in Thibodaux, La. Victims of the 1887 Thibodaux Massacre are believed buried in a mass grave at the site. This memorial, conducted in conjunction with the River Road African-American Museum in Donaldsonville, is one of several commemorations held since publication of "The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike" by John DeSantis (James Loiselle/Courtesy of John DeSantis via AP) (The Associated Press)

Descendants of victims of a racial massacre 130 years ago in south Louisiana and of plantation and Confederate families are working to honor the victims by searching for their remains.

Whites went door to door for hours, shooting unarmed blacks, on Nov. 23, 1887. The violence ended a strike by sugar plantation field hands, including former slaves and their children. Though records are sketchy, it's believed that 30 to 60 people died in the Thibodaux (TIB-uh-doh) Massacre.

Local tradition holds that there's a mass grave on the grounds of what's now an American Legion chapter . An archaeological survey might show if that's true.

A committee to raise money for and direct the search holds its first meeting Thursday night in Thibodaux, about 60 miles west-southwest of New Orleans.