Rev. Robert S. Laws Dedication Ceremony | July 10

After 123 years in an unmarked grave, Rev. Robert Simon Laws will be honored with a long-deserved marker in Pittsburgh. You are invited to join Mount Zion Baptist Church for this sacred ceremony on Friday, July 10, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at The Homewood Cemetery. Rev. Laws was Mount Zion’s first pastor and later served Mount Olive Baptist Church in Pittsburgh. The public is invited.
Rev. Laws served as Mount Zion Baptist Church’s first pastor from 1866 to 1875. Born enslaved in Virginia, he escaped from slavery and became a Baptist minister, educator, civic leader, and church founder whose life connected Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. He pastored two nineteenth-century churches that are still active today and died in 1903 while serving Mount Olive Baptist Church in Pittsburgh.
The outdoor gravesite ceremony will be led by Rev. Dr. André D. Ivy, Senior Pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, Arlington, VA, and will include prayer, reflection, music, and greetings from Pittsburgh community leaders.
Location:
The Homewood Cemetery
1599 S. Dallas Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Gravesite:
Section 15, Division 4, Row 15, Grave 5
Learn more about the ceremony:
https://mountzionbaptist.com/honoring-our-first-pastor-rev-robert-s-laws
Please click “Interested” or “Going” and share this invitation with family, friends, and Pittsburgh-area community members.