photo by: Ashley Golledge

A public memorial was held at the Oak Hill Cemetery on Thursday, June 10, 2021, for three Black men lynched by a white Lawrence mob in 1882. The memorial honored the lives of George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar 139 years after they were murdered. Margaret "Sis" Vinegar, who was convicted of murder and later died from tuberculosis in prison, was also honored at the memorial.

A memorial service on Thursday at Oak Hill Cemetery honored George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar, three Black men who were lynched by a white mob in 1882.

According to historical archives, in the summer of 1882, Vinegar, King and Robertson were arrested in connection with the murder of a white man, David Bausman, as was Vinegar’s teenage daughter Margaret “Sis” Vinegar. Pete Vinegar was never charged with a crime. Before a trial could take place, Pete Vinegar, King and Robertson were lynched from a bridge over the Kansas River by a mob of men who broke into the jail in the middle of the night using sledgehammers and chisels. Though Margaret was not hanged, she was convicted of murder and later died from tuberculosis in prison. Margaret was honored at Thursday’s memorial service, as well.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

Jeanne Klein speaks to a crowd at a public memorial at Oak Hill Cemetery on Thursday, June 10, 2021. The memorial honored the lives of Black men George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar, who were lynched by a white Lawrence mob in 1882. Margaret “Sis” Vinegar, who was convicted of murder and later died from tuberculosis in prison, was also honored at the memorial.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

The Rev. Shelley Page of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lawrence speaks to a crowd at a public memorial at Oak Hill Cemetery on Thursday, June 10, 2021. The memorial honored the lives of Black men George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar, who were lynched by a white Lawrence mob in 1882.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

Don Miller attends a public memorial at Oak Hill Cemetery on Thursday, June 10, 2021. The memorial honored the lives of Black men George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar 139 years after they were murdered. Margaret “Sis” Vinegar, who was convicted of murder and later died from tuberculosis in prison, was also honored at the memorial.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

Bart Littlejohn attends a public memorial, which was held for three Black men lynched by a white Lawrence mob in 1882, at Oak Hill Cemetery on Thursday, June 10, 2021. The memorial honored the lives of George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar 139 years after they were murdered. Margaret “Sis” Vinegar, who was convicted of murder and later died from tuberculosis in prison, was also honored at the memorial.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

Jeanne Klein speaks to a crowd at a public memorial at Oak Hill Cemetery on Thursday, June 10, 2021. The memorial honored the lives of George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar, who were lynched by a white Lawrence mob in 1882. Margaret “Sis” Vinegar, who was convicted of murder and later died from tuberculosis in prison, was also honored at the memorial.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

Flowers mark the approximate burial sites of George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar, three Black men who were lynched by a white Lawrence mob in 1882. A public memorial was held for the three men at Oak Hill Cemetery on Thursday, June 10, 2021, 139 years after they were murdered.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

Flowers mark the approximate burial sites of George Robertson, Isaac King and Pete Vinegar, who were lynched by a white Lawrence mob in 1882. A public memorial was held for the three men at the Oak Hill Cemetery on Thursday, June 10, 2021, 139 years after they were murdered.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

Flowers honor the life of Margaret “Sis” Vinegar at the Oak Hill Cemetery on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Vinegar, who was convicted of murder and later died from tuberculosis in prison, was honored at a public memorial for three Black men lynched by a white Lawrence mob in 1882.