Potter’s Field Historical Marker Dedication Honors Those Laid to Rest

BY ANUSKA DHAR

Photo courtesy of Fred Wolski and Gary Kirk Brown.

Senator Ernie Chambers and Organizer Nick Clawson at Potter’s Field.
Photo courtesy of Fred Wolski and Gary Kirk Brown.

Close to 4,000 people buried in Omaha’s Potter’s Field were memorialized with a historical marker on Sunday, Oct. 25. The community group behind the dedication, Make Potter’s Proper, works to spread awareness about the historical significance of Potter’s Field, located on 5110 Young Street. The monument itself was made possible through a grant from the Hollis & Helen Baright Foundation in conjunction with History Nebraska.


From 1887 to 1957, the City of Omaha buried 3,912 people in Potter’s Field, 1,663 of whom were infants. Among the most notable is William Brown, a Black man who was brutally and publicly lynched by a white mob of 20,000 by the Douglas County Courthouse in 1919. His death was among one of many around the nation due to racial violence by white supremecists during the period which is now called The Red Summer.


Potter’s Field covers five and a half acres of land and as the gravesite of thousands of people, one might ask why it is the often unnoticed neighbor of the well kept Forest Lawn Cemetery. Turns out, most of those resting in the land were poor, homeless, unidentified, or considered criminals. 


During an interview with NOISE, community activist and local historian, Nick Clawson, explains that bodies found floating in the river, people without identification, without money for a proper burial, or without family members to claim them, would be among those buried in Potter’s Field. He touches on the negative societal implications around the practice, “As a society, we kind of hid them away there. We have to bury them to still be civilized, but we don’t really want to have to spend the money to give them a proper burial, and we don’t really want to have to think about it too much.” 

Before the scheduled event on Sunday, Oct. 25, some anonymous community members left flowers by the historical marker. Clawson says this is in line with the spirit of their whole project which is “to give respect and honor to these people who are buried there.”

Will Brown Remembered Oct 2020 by Fred Wolski and Gary Kirk Brown bw (6 of 13).jpg

Sen. ernie chambers gets in a set up pushups,

showing “he’s still got it” Nick Clawson told NOISE.

Photo courtesy of Fred Wolski and Gary Kirk Brown

Will Brown Remembered Oct 2020 by Fred Wolski and Gary Kirk Brown2 (2 of 4).jpg

keep up with Make Potter’s Proper and future events:

You can visit their Facebook page. Omaha’s Potter’s Field is open daily from 8 am to 8 pm, and visitors can park in a small area for parking off of Young Street near the entrance of Potter’s Field, according to Omaha Historical, a project by University of Nebraska at Omaha Libraries.

Michaela Armetta speaking at the dedication ceremony. Photo courtesy of Fred Wolski and Gary Kirk Brown

Senator Ernie Chambers was the keynote speaker at the dedication, officially recognizing the new historical marker. As one of the main Black voices in North Omaha, a longtime activist, and a representative of the community, he spoke on his experience as a Black man in the largely conservative and white state of Nebraska. As Clawson tells it, Sen. Chambers offers a perspective that younger generations don't often hear, “There is hope, even if we don’t always reach the goals we seek. We work within our own spheres of influence and we do what we can, and sometimes that just has to be enough.”


Potter’s Field is not unique to Omaha, as many exist across the country. The name "Potter's Field" comes in part from the idea that potters used to come to the field to gather clay from the land to make pots and other ceramics - who knows what has been made from this land in the past and what is to come?


For now though, Make Potter’s Proper has proved that more of our community is connected to Potters Field than the previous lack of support for it might have suggested. The group uses Facebook to organize and after posting a picture of the historical marker, they garnered over 8,000 views. As a result, community members started coming forward about family members who have been buried in the land.


With the new monument, the community group hopes to highlight what previously would’ve gone overlooked, and hopes that the recognition “will be a step toward a greater understanding of our shared history, heritage, and responsibility.”


Sources and More Information on Potter’s Field:





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