photo by: City of Lawrence

A proposed marker design for Rick "Tiger" Dowdell.

A yearslong process to design historic markers for two young men who were killed in confrontations with police during a period of unrest in Lawrence in 1970 is now nearing the finish line.

At its meeting Thursday evening, the city’s Historic Resources Commission will consider recommending designs for markers for the killings of Rick “Tiger” Dowdell and Harry Nicholas “Nick” Rice. Dowdell and Rice were killed during a period of civil rights and antiwar demonstrations in the summer of 1970 that were at times destructive, including the firebombing of the University of Kansas Memorial Union and use of force and tear gas by police.

“On July 16, 1970, a four-day siege of Lawrence erupted,” part of the marker’s proposed text reads. “Two KU students, one Black and one white, Rick ‘Tiger’ Dowdell and Nick Rice, were shot to death by officers of the Lawrence Police Department.”

As the Journal-World has reported, Dowdell, a Black 19-year-old, was shot in the back of the head by Lawrence Police Officer William Garrett while attempting to run from police, with police alleging they exchanged gunfire with Dowdell in the moments before his death. A coroner’s inquest at the time found that Dowdell’s death was justified, though that finding has been controversial. During a protest four days later against Dowdell’s killing, Rice, a white 19-year-old, was also shot in the back of the head after police reportedly fired into a crowd of protesters.

The effort to create the markers about the young men’s deaths has been going on for more than five years. In September 2020, the Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously for the creation of the markers and directed city staff to work with the Watkins Museum and the Dowdell and Rice families to design them.

“Over the course of five years, multiple texts, types of markers, and locations of markers have been considered,” a memo from Planning and Development Services Staff to the Historic Resources Commission reads.

photo by: City of Lawrence

A proposed marker design for Harry “Nick” Rice.

The commission has been provided with mockups of the proposed marker designs in advance of its meeting on Thursday. Each one would have historical information and photos mounted on a metal pedestal. That includes a photo of the marker’s subject — Dowdell or Rice — and an account of how they died, as well as some background information about the civil rights, Black Power and antiwar protests in Lawrence in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Dowdell’s marker’s proposed text says that after his death, “The Black community and many whites as well were enraged; other whites along with the police were both fearful and angry. For the first time since 1865, Lawrence stood on the brink of a civil war.”

On the markers, there would also be QR codes that would link to an online exhibit from the Watkins Museum about the protests. And each marker would have a photo of what its location looked like in July 1970. The marker for Dowdell would be placed on East 10th Street, between Rhode Island and New Hampshire streets, and the marker for Rice would be on Oread Avenue, just north of KU’s Adams Alumni Center.

Both of the markers are being paid for by a private donor, and the city will only have to pay for their installation.

Once the Historic Resources Commission has made its recommendation, the marker designs will go before the City Commission again. The Historic Resources Commission meets at 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.