When Aly Boltman accepted the YMCA Peace Medallion on behalf of the Potter’s Field Monument Steering Committee, she made the following remarks:

I’m honoured to be here today to accept this award, along with Shirley and John Reaburn, without whom there would be no monument, or this wonderful YMCA Peace Medallion award.

In February 2018, I was asked by Philly Markowitz to create an outdoor, historical event for the Lupercalia Winter Arts Festival. I decided to lead a cemetery tour, because that’s the obvious thing to do in the dead of winter in Owen Sound. About 75 people gathered at Greenwood Cemetery in minus 10-degree weather for an hour and a half, tromping through nearly 40 acres of ice and snow in the pitch black. The tour ended at Potter’s Field, also known as the “poor grounds” and we held up our flashlights to read the interment list of those buried, unmarked, in what appears to the passerby as a small, empty field. As I listened to perfect strangers struggle to read words like “child, found drowned in river, age unknown”, or stumbling to recite the names of young mothers who had died in childbirth along with their babies, of youth cut down in the prime of their lives, of seniors who had outlived their loved ones and gone to their graves, anonymous, in Potter’s Field – just one small step beyond a mass grave – I discovered I wasn’t alone in being horrified about the near erasure of more than 1000 people.

A few months later, I led a similar tour for Doors Open. When it was over, someone ran up to me and said: “A man just offered to fund a memorial!” and I was in shock. Having spent the better part of my career raising money for charities, I had never had the experience of NOT having asked for money for a good cause but being offered it anyway. Completely unsolicited, John Reaburn decided on the spot that he wanted to fund a substantial monument to help restore dignity to the people of Potter’s Field. It took 2.5 years, a lot of community consultation and hard work, but the monument was finally placed in the winter of 2020-2021. We have been trying to hold a community dedication ever since, but COVID has stymied our efforts.

Exactly how many people were buried at Potter’s Field between 1858-1989 is still unclear, but it’s somewhere between 1000 and 1300 people. What’s not debated is that Potter’s Field holds the remains of Owen Sound’s most vulnerable people, those who faced terrible systemic racism, former slaves and their descendants who escaped across the border. Despite Owen Sound’s recognition as northern terminus of the Underground Railroad, and the efforts made here to celebrate our unique cultural heritage, such as Black history walking tours, The Emancipation Festival, museum exhibits, the Black History Cairn, no marker has ever been erected to honour the resting place of these very people. The monument’s arched window is inspired by Black History Cairn, designed by Bonita Johnson DeMatteis, modelled on the original BME church, the historic Black church in Owen Sound. The long point of the monument indicates north, the direction of freedom for thousands and for generations.

Along with the very high concentration of Black citizens in Potter’s Field, there are also at least five Indigenous persons buried there. There are the working poor, hundreds of them; the babies, infants, children, seniors, those felled by disease, Spanish Flu, malnutrition, poverty, colonialism, sexism, and other hardships that are entirely avoidable in a just society that values human life and scorns inequity and erasure.
Creating the monument brought some long-overdue dignity to the people interred at Potter’s Field. For us today it’s an opportunity to “learn local”, in a way that effectively connects us to our environment and to each other.

I have so many people to thank. I’ve spent the better part of a week terrified that I would forget someone. Please accept my apologies if I do.

John and Shirley, you are the best former neighbours a girl could ask for, and deeply caring human beings who recognize the inherent dignity in everyone. Thank you for your generosity, commitment and now, your friendship.

Thank you to Dorothy Abbott and the Grey County Black Heritage Society, who submitted the nomination for this award. Dorothy is here if you would like to speak to her about this new and growing organization’s valuable work.
Terri Jackson, local researcher and historian, whose article “Greenwood Cemetery – Land for the Living” introduced me to Potter’s Field, and ultimately, inspired the monument itself.
The City of Owen Sound, specifically Council, Pam Coulter and Adam Parsons, who have been dedicated at all stages of this project and who donated the concrete monument base, ensuring its long-term stability
Professor Naomi Norquay, who is leading the Federally funded research project to unearth the histories of those in Potter’s Field, information which will eventually be available on Grey Roots’ website.
The long-suffering Steve Peyton, formerly of Sanderson Monuments, who retired almost immediately upon the completion of the monument and no wonder, after putting up with so many design changes.
My fiancée, Michael Den Tandt who helped me edit the inscription on the monument. Michael proposed to me a few weeks ago in no better place in the world: Potter’s Field.
Michael McLuhan and Luke Den Tandt, who both took gorgeous photographs of the monument, and who donated their time and talent.
The community, who responded to our community survey to help determine the direction of the monument, and who have come forward with vital research.
My thanks are also extended to many people who served as an informal advisory group, or volunteers at open houses, consultants, promoters and more. Bonita Johnson De Matteis, Naomi Norquay, Petal Furness, Richard Thomas, Dorothy Abbott, Terri Jackson, Karen Noble, Anne-Finlay Stewart, William Felepchuk, Aimee Sturley, Amanda Tennant, Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard and Anne-Marie Hay.
Thank you to the committee here at the YMCA for selecting this project- you have helped us bring about awareness to the Monument and community social justice.
Thank you to my family, for supporting this project even though it took my time and focus away from our time together. Michael, Luke, Lia, Erin, Ezra, Carter – you are my north stars.

Lastly, I humbly ask the people of Owen Sound to please visit the Memorial, to pay your respects to the people of Potter’s Field. I hope it brings you the same peace it brings us, as well as to those who rest there who have not, in the end, been forgotten.

Photo of the memorial by Luke Den Tandt