The Election of 1857 and Oberlin’s Dissent

by communications@oberlinheritage.org | Nov 19, 2016 | Abolition

by Ron Gorman, Oberlin Heritage Center volunteer docent, researcher and trustee The recent Presidential election, in which Ohio continued its recent trend of flip-flopping between blue and red every 8 years, got me thinking about early Ohio history. It was even worse...

“Odious business” in Oberlin: Northern States’ Rights, Part 3

by communications@oberlinheritage.org | Jan 23, 2014 | Abolition

by Ron Gorman, Oberlin Heritage Center volunteer docent “An act to prevent slaveholding and kidnapping in Ohio” – REPEALED! “An act to prohibit the confinement of fugitives from slavery in the jails of Ohio” – REPEALED!...

Monroe’s Personal Liberty Law: Northern States’ Rights, Part 2

by communications@oberlinheritage.org | Dec 28, 2013 | Abolition

by Ron Gorman, Oberlin Heritage Center volunteer docent It was May 27, 1857, four years before the start of the American Civil War. On this day an armed confrontation over the issue of states’ rights would occur between forces of the United States federal...

Kidnapped into Slavery: Northern States’ Rights, Part 1

by communications@oberlinheritage.org | Dec 19, 2013 | Abolition

by Ron Gorman, Oberlin Heritage Center volunteer docent The movie 12 Years a Slave, now showing in northeast Ohio, graphically depicts several deplorable aspects of American slavery, including the fact that freeborn African Americans could be kidnapped and carried...