FEBRUARY is traditionally honored as Black History Month and every day this month I've posted a…read morenew review either highlighting a black-owned business or Black History landmarks. Thank you for coming on this journey with me as I introduce my final three reviews for the month.
NEXT UP is Toni Morrison's BENCH BY THE ROAD #2
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Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford, Toni was an American novelist who wrote the critically acclaimed Song of Solomon and won a Pulitzer Prize for the book Beloved in 1988 whom Oprah made into a movie 10 years later in 1998. She was most notably awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She met Harold Morrison (a Jamaican architect) while teaching at Howard University and married him in 1958.
The 'Bench By The Road' Project was launched on February 18, 2006, on the occasion of Toni's 75th Birthday to alleviate the absences of historical markers that help remember the lives of Africans who were enslaved. She said:
"There is no place you or I can go, to think about or not think about, to summon the presences of, or recollect the absences of slaves. There is no suitable memorial, or plaque, or wreath, or wall, or park, or skyscraper lobby. There's no 300-foot tower, there's no small bench by the road. There is not even a tree scored, an initial that I can visit or you can visit in Charleston or Savannah or New York or Providence or better still on the banks of the Mississippi. And because such a place doesn't exist . . ."
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The 2nd bench placement is located in Oberlin, Ohio and was placed on April 23, 2009. It honors the site of one of the courageous stops on the Underground Railroad.
The inscription of a marker simply reads:
[ side one ]
"A key junction on the Underground Railroad in Oberlin, Ohio connected at least five routes that led from slavery to freedom. No fugitive in Oberlin was ever returned to bondage. Freedom seekers lived openly in the town, and were supported by its vibrant African American community and Oberlin College. All students have been welcomed to Oberlin College, regardless of color since 1835. Faculty and students, both black and White, worked together to assure safe passage on the Underground Railroad, proclaiming their loyalty to "a higher law." In 1858, town residents rescued John Price from slave catchers who had taken him to nearby Wellington in their efforts to return him to enslavement. Due to this incident, Oberlin was heralded as the town that started the Civil War." - side one
[ side two ]
In 1859, Oberlin's African American lawyer and activist, John Mercer Langston recruited two of the town's prominent young men of color, John A. Copeland and Lewis Sheridan Leary into John Brown's band of twenty-one raiders. They attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Leary was killed during the unsuccessful attempt to bring about emancipation through a slave insurrection. Before his hanging in Charleston, Virginia on December 19, 1859, Copeland wrote to his family in Oberlin: "how dear brother could I die a more noble cause?" Oberlinites memorialized these two martyrs and co-conspirator, Shields Green, with the only monument erected for any of the five African Americans who fought with John Brown. The monument stands in Oberlin's Martin Luther King Park.
[ FINAL THOUGHTS ]
Oberlin was an important stop to the Underground Railroad because it was located only 10 miles from Lake Erie. Because of the amount of free blacks here, many freedom-chasing slaves did not have to hide. Many homes and churches in the city provided rest and renewal for enslaved men, women, and families who escaped slavery in the South en route to Canada. One such example was the Bardwell House just down the street from the bench: https://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/CivilWarTour/Stop10.html
Oberlin demonstrated an active resistance to slavery, and provided equal education for Blacks & women in public schools and college. They worshiped together and would risk their own freedom to protect others. It is indeed an excellent place to visit when enhancing your historical knowledge.
[sources] Electronic Oberlin Group & BLACKpast.org
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