Freedom and justice
SMU - School of Law First Amendment Clinic
The Legal Team led by Peter Steffensen and Tom Leatherbury
Young County Commissioners Court adopted the William P. Johnston Cemetery (Graham, Texas) Rules and Regulations on April 14, 2025. Rule # 5 prohibited free speech. Rev. Vanessa Sims, (a descendant and alunma of SMU-Perkins School of Theology) reached out to the First Amendment Clinic - SMU-Dedman School of Law for assistance.
First Amendment Clinic -- Student Assistants Ashley Wu, Michael Kelley, Ashli Dade, Kajol Oommen
In May 2025, The First Amendment Clinic legal team began their fight for the publics right to talk freely about the historic African American cemetery. It took nine months for the Young County Commissioners Court to remove the unconstitutional Rule # 5 from the cemetery Rules and Regulations. On January 28, 2026, the Young County Commissioners Court finally removed the unconstitutional Rule # 5 that prohibited free speech.
The fight for justice continues. The Texas Historical Commission approved a Historical Marker for the Oak Grove Colored-Graham Colored-Johnston Cemetery. We have been unable to obtain approval to install the Historical Marker at the cemetery from the Young County Commissioners Court and/or the Young County Historical Commission. The Historical Marker's inscription approved by the Texas Historical Commission is Oak Grove Colored-Graham Colored-Johnston Cemetery. Why? The historical cemetery name includes the word "colored."
Historic Texas Cemetery Designation Certificate
The historic name of the cemetery is Oak Grove. African Americans were buried at this segregated cemetery during the 1920 until 1963. They were buried in the "Colored" section of the Oak Grove Cemetery. The "Colored" section of the cemetery was north of Oak Grove Cemetery , divided by a 2 lane road.
Young County Commissioners Court and the WPJ Cemetery Preservation Committee established Rules and Regulations prohibiting free speech and threats of punishment if the rules were violated. They also claimed that the cemetery never had a name. According to a member of the WPJ Preservation Committee, "Colored" was offensive. They voted to name the cemetery William P. Johnston Cemetery. We believe that they want to hide the authentic African American history in the City of Graham by only wanting the cemetery to be referenced to the William P. Johnston Cemetery.
Fortunately, the Texas Historic Commission has designated the cemetery as a Historic Texas Cemetery.