The Lawrence City Commission voted Tuesday to approve a plan to place a historical marker in honor of Margaret “Sis” Vinegar, a young Black woman who, at age 14 in 1882, survived a sexual assault by a white man but died in prison at age 20 after being wrongly convicted of the man’s murder.
The Lawrence Historic Resources Commission approved the marker and its placement near Eighth and Kentucky streets on a 7-0 vote on April 20.
Kerry Altenbernd, of the Lawrence/Douglas County Community Remembrance Project Coalition, summarized Vinegar’s story in the meeting agenda materials:
“Margaret Vinegar, known as “Sis”, was the 14-year-old daughter of Peter Vinegar whose sexual assault by David Bausman, a white farmer, led to the man’s death and the subsequent lynching of Isaac King, George Robertson, and the elder Vinegar from the Kansas River Bridge in Lawrence on June 10, 1882, by a large mob of Lawrence citizens.
“With no one else left to hold responsible for the death of Bausman, local authorities put Margaret Vinegar, who had escaped being the fourth lynching victim that June night by a single vote of the mob, on trial for murder. She was declared guilty of murder in Bausman’s death and incarcerated in the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing where she died of Tuberculosis at the age of 20.”
King, Robertson and Pete Vinegar are memorialized on a marker placed near Lawrence City Hall and the Kansas River. It was sponsored by the Equal Justice Initiative and dedicated in June 2022. The EJI, based in Montgomery, Alabama, provides historical markers at no cost to communities where any of the more than 4,400 documented racial terror lynchings occurred between 1877 and 1950 in the U.S.
The marker for the three who were lynched tells the story of racist violence that white mobs perpetrated against people of color in Lawrence and Douglas County. However, “Left out of that story is the sexual violence and abuse of women of color by members of the dominant society in Kansas and the unwillingness of the powers that be to address those heinous actions or do anything to stop or prevent them,” Altenbernd wrote.
“In Margaret’s case, not only was she victimized, but those who were attempting to protect her from sexual abuse paid with their lives for doing so, and afterward, she was again victimized, this time by the powers that be, in a system that treated her as a second class citizen, both for her gender and for her race.”
Altenbernd said the Equal Justice Initiative thought Sis’ story was so important that they offered to have a separate marker made to tell her story.
Altenbernd said that to this day, it is unknown what happened to Sis’ body after her death at Lansing prison, and this marker would be her only memorial.
Here’s a closer look at the marker:
Lawrence city commissioners voted 4-0 Tuesday to approve the marker; Commissioner Amber Sellers was not present for the meeting.
Lawrence Parks and Recreation staff members will install the marker, which Altenbernd said is waiting in Grover Barn.
Altenbernd told the HRC last month that he hoped the City Commission would approve the marker in time for it to be installed to hold a dedication on June 10, the 141st anniversary of the lynching and the first anniversary of the lynching marker’s installation.
He noted that Tuesday was the perfect day for the commission to approve this marker as it was abolitionist John Brown’s 223rd birthday.
“I think he would be proud of the town where he had a lot of influence … at the time and since then,” Altenbernd said.
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More coverage: Lawrence/Douglas County Community Remembrance Project
Molly Adams/Lawrence Times
Lawrence City Commission approves marker honoring Margaret ‘Sis’ Vinegar
The Lawrence City Commission voted Tuesday to approve a plan to place a historical marker in honor of Margaret “Sis” Vinegar, a young Black woman who, at age 14 in 1882, survived a sexual assault by a white man but died in prison at age 20 after being wrongly convicted of the man’s murder.
Historic Resources Commission approves marker honoring Margaret ‘Sis’ Vinegar
A city board on Thursday voted in favor of a plan to place a historical marker in honor of Margaret “Sis” Vinegar, a young Black woman who, at age 14 in 1882, survived a sexual assault by a white man but died in prison at age 20 after being wrongly convicted of the man’s murder.
Lawrence Historic Resources Commission to consider marker in honor of Margaret ‘Sis’ Vinegar
A city board on Thursday will consider a plan to place a historical marker in honor of Margaret “Sis” Vinegar, a young Black woman who, at age 14 in 1882, survived a sexual assault by a white man but died in prison at age 20 after being wrongly convicted of the man’s murder.
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
