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Lawrence NAACP honors unmarked victims with new granite markers at Oak Hill Cemetery

The Lawrence Times reports that the Lawrence, Kansas Branch of the NAACP invited the community to a June 10 marker dedication honoring victims of the 1882 Kansas River bridge lynching. The annual remembrance included, for the first time, an opportunity for attendees to lay carnations directly on the graves of Isaac King, George Robertson and Peter Vinegar.

June 10, 2026 Lawrence Community
A community gathers in a cemetery section to place flowers beside newly installed granite head markers.

The ceremony honored 30 Black people buried in previously unmarked graves in Potter’s Field at Oak Hill Cemetery, with new granite markers naming individuals and highlighting additional graves, including three unnamed children. The article says the project previously left fewer than 10 gravestones in the section.

What the dedication memorialized

  • Names and stories of 30 Black people in Potter’s Field, plus markers for three unnamed children.
  • Three men—Isaac King, George Robertson and Peter (Vinegar)—described in the article as being murdered by a white mob atop the Kansas River bridge in 1882.
  • Margaret “Sis” Vinegar, with the article noting a cenotaph placed next to Peter’s marker because her body could not be located.

The article also says the NAACP project includes online biographies accessible through archives at the University of Kansas and in the Lawrence Public Library’s history room, and that the chapter’s next steps include seeking a sign marking Potter’s Field.