photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Journal-World

One of a handful of gravestones present in the potter's field at Oak Hill Cemetery is pictured on Oct. 8, 2022. The headstone, for Moses Gray, is made out of cement and inset with seashells.

The Lawrence branch of the NAACP will have a dedication ceremony for 30 newly installed granite grave markers for local African Americans buried in potter’s field.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on June 10 at the potter’s field section of Oak Hill Cemetery, 1605 Oak Hill Ave.

The Lawrence NAACP was awarded a $10,000 grant by the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council in 2025 to partially fund the purchase, engraving and installation of markers for the graves of 31 members of the African American community who died and were buried between 1871 and 1917. Prior to this project’s completion, there were fewer than 10 grave markers for the more that 1,000 people buried in potter’s field, according to a news release from the NAACP.

The public is invited to the dedication. No seating will be provided, so attendees are advised to bring their own chairs if needed. Potter’s field is in the extreme northeast corner of the cemetery.

Immediately following the marker dedication ceremony, there will be a event commemorating the 144th anniversary of the June 10, 1882, lynching in Lawrence of three Black men, all of whom have received markers in this project. The commemoration will also mark the failure of the judicial system to protect the rights of the 14-year-old daughter of one of the lynching victims. Her body is lost, but one of the new markers is engraved with her name and is installed with her father’s marker, the release said.

photo by: Tatum Goetting

A historical marker commemorating the three Black men lynched in Lawrence in 1882 is pictured Friday, June 10, 2022, outside of City Hall.