An effort to recognize victims of lynching will culminate this weekend with a series of events in Newton County.

The Equal Justice Initiative Community Remembrance Project is part of a campaign to recognize the victims of lynching by collecting soil from lynching sites, erecting historical markers, and developing the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, which acknowledges the horrors of racial injustice.

As part of its effort to help towns, cities and states confront and recover from tragic histories of racial violence and terrorism, the initiative is joining with communities to install historical markers in communities where the history of lynching is documented.

According to a news release, the primary goal of the initiative is to raise awareness and provide education on the history of racial and economic injustice and inequality in America. Moreover, it is EJI’s hope that this will motivate a higher level of commitment among all people, generations and communities to work together toward reconciliation and justice for all, the news release states.

Judge Constance Slaughter-Harvey, coalition co-liaison and Joyce Salter Johnson, co-liaison are fostering an effort to honor the memory of three men lynched in Newton County in 1908. The families of the victims, Frank Johnson, Dee Dawkins and William Fielder, are actively involved in the project along with a large and diverse coalition of local community leaders.

Activities planned for Saturday, Aug. 3 include:

A soil collection ceremony honoring Johnson, Dawkins and Fielder will take place at 11 a.m. just south of Hickory off Highway 503 near Dawkins and Good Hope Church Roads. The program will begin with welcome, songs, prayers, stories and blessing. The jars of collected soil will be on display at the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.

A luncheon and reception will be held at 1 p.m. at the Hickory Chamber of Commerce Building at 16287 Highway 80. After lunch, an interactive panel on lynching and the history of racial and economic injustice and inequality in America will be held.