Monday, June 28, 2010

A Summer of History in Lorain County

From historical landmarks, to art; Lorain County, OH is the heart of many significant historical movements and events, as well as home to many important historical figures. The Lorain County Historical Society and Museum, the Spirit of '76 Museum, and the North Ridgeville Historical Society and Museum are just three of the many historical landmarks Lorain County has to offer. Spend some time this summer exploring north central Ohio’s historical roots. Who says learning has to stop during the summer?

The Lorain Historical Society, itself, has an appealing history that dates back to over 120 years, when it was established in 1888. In 1975 the Lorain Historical Society purchased a former mansion known as the Hickories in Elyria, OH to use as the headquarters for the museum and historical society, where it remains today.

Photo courtesy of The Lorain County Historical Society

This home once belonged to Arthur L. Garford, local inventor, industrialist, politician, and philanthropist. Visitors can tour the museum Tuesday through Friday, 1–4pm and Saturday, 1–3pm. The Lorain Historical Society provides information on Garford’s past and influence upon Lorain County, as well as various educational programs and art displays that relate to the overall history of Lorain County.

The Spirit of ’76 Museum in Wellington, OH serves as an important historical tribute to Archibald Willard and his painting “Yankee Doodle”, now known as “The Spirit of ‘76”. The museum includes over 4,000 artifacts from the surrounding time period including Revolutionary and Civil War artifacts. The museum is open April 1–October 31, Saturday and Sunday, 1–3:30pm. (Photo courtesy of Town of Marblehead, MA)

Visitors will learn the history behind the local artist and how his painting has transformed into American and Revolutionary iconography and regarded as the nation’s most inspirational painting of all time.

Spirit of '76 Museum photo by Rona Proudfoot

Another facet of Lorain County’s history can be found in North Ridgeville, OH. Visitors can experience local history by touring the historical society’s museum, located on the first floor of the Olde Towne Hall.
The extensive collection of artifacts and mementos including farming/agricultural items, military items, antique furniture, historical papers, photographs, etc. were gathered over the years from area residents. The museum is open on the last Sunday of every month (except December) from 2–5pm. Also available for touring is the historic Jaycox School, a one-room school house on Jaycox Rd., also open on the last Sunday of every month (April–October) from 2–5pm. The North Ridgeville Historical Society is currently celebrating their bicentennial anniversary with special programs and events through October 2010. (Olde Towne Hall courtesy of North Rideville Historical Society)

Jaycox School photo courtesy of North Ridgeville Historical Society

For more information on Lorain County, visit our website, email us at visitors@visitloraincounty.com, call us at (440) 984-5282, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For more information on other historical organizations or museums in Lorain County, take a look at our member directory.

Friday, June 11, 2010

2010 Juneteenth Festival in Oberlin

Oberlin’s Juneteenth Festivities are almost upon us!

Though the holiday has since come to broadly commemorate the end of slavery in the United States, June 19th, 1865 actually corresponds to the announcement of the end of slavery in the state of Texas. Slavery was of course formally abolished with Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, but it took General Gordon Granger and a large contingent of Union soldiers entering Galveston to successfully deliver the message. From the balcony of a downtown villa, General Granger read the following proclamation:
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involved an absolute equality ot personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages.
The Juneteenth Celebration, an official Texas holiday since 1980, has since spread to other states. The growing popularity of this day of remembrance and respect signals, perhaps, a heightened sensitivity in America to the facts of our history; it's no surprise that Oberlin is at the forefront of such a movement. In 2004 the Oberlin City Council passed a resolution establishing Juneteenth as an officially recognized day of commemoration and celebration. The town’s festivities are particularly interesting as the town adds it’s own rich history of abolitionist activism to the celebration.



This year Oberlin's Juneteenth takes as its theme, 1860: Oberlin on the Eve of the War. Educational presentations and historical reenactments will focus on how little, unassuming Oberlin, in its unfailing commitment to abolition, contributed immeasurably to the advent of war.

Throughout the antebellum period Oberlin was a final stop on the underground railroad. Community members, faculty, and students would routinely aid runaway slaves on their road to freedom. Earning a nationwide reputation, the small Ohio town was just as reviled by Southern slave owners as it was lauded by northern abolitionists.

Oberlin was also home to runaway slaves who had chosen to remain in the United States instead of continuing to Canada. Their first hand knowledge of slavery and ability to inspire the community to action proved indispensable to the movement. Westwood Cemetery is the final resting place of such liberal lights as Lewis Clarke (the basis for the character George Harris in Harriet Beecher Stowe's seminal novel Uncle Tom's Cabin), Henry Lee (runaway slave, Oberlin graduate and legal activist), John Scott (emancipated slave and participant in the rescue of runaway slave John Price), and Mary Kellogg (emancipated slave and ardent activist). The great African-American activists Wilson Bruce and Henry Evans are also buried at Westwood.


Also laid to rest at Westwood is Lee Howard Dobbins, a four year old fugitive slave whose harrowing story will be featured at this year's festival. Lee Howard reached Oberlin on the underground railroad in 1953 with an adoptive mother, but was too sick to travel any farther. Leaving Lee Howard in the care of an Oberlin family, his adoptive mother fled with several other children to escape their white pursuer, Lee Howard's plantation-owning father. The child died of consumption several days later. Over 1000 people attended his funeral in First Church. But it was more than just a memorial service; the event was a rallying moment for Oberlin's anti-slavery moment. By contributing ten cents apiece, the town purchased a headstone. Rev. Thome instructed the congregation to
Let that grave be a sacred spot. Plant there the flower to be watered by the tears of the future visitor. Erect a monument to the memory of the little slave boy, bearing the inscription 'Resurgam' and believe that as certainly as this little on shall rise again, so surely is written on the institution of slavery, 'it shall fall.'

Learn more about Lee Howard Dobbins and other fascinating pieces of nineteenth-century Oberlin history at the Juneteenth Festival. The schedule is as follows:

Sunday, June 13th
  • A memorial service for Lee Howard Dobbins in First Church, followed by an ice cream social on the lawn. 6 pm.

Thursday, June 17th
  • Juneteenth Comedy Night. 7:30 pm.

Friday, June 18th
  • Oberlin in 1860 Trolley Tour. 10:30 am.
  •  Children's Book Launch and Reception. 12:00 pm.
  • Westwood Cemetery Tour. 3:00 pm.
  • Juneteenth Community Picnic. 4:00 pm.
  • Maafa Memorial Service. 6:30 pm.

Saturday, June 19th
  • Juneteenth Festival on Tappan Square. 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
    • Festival will include vendors, children's bike give-a-ways, mime and step dancing demonstrations, greens and cobbler cook-off contest, broom jumping, music by various local groups, rock-paper-scissors contest, jump rope demonstration, youth karoake contest, 3-on-3 basketball tournament for 3rd-5th graders, and Oberlin history trolley tours at 1 pm, 2 pm, and 3 pm.
  • Juneteenth Parade. 12:00 pm.
  • Juneteenth Concert with Latin Jazz band La Bamba. 5:00 pm.

For more information on Juneteenth, visit our website, email us at info@visitloraincounty.com, call us at (440) 984-5282, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For more information on other festivals and events this summer in Lorain County, take a look at our Calendar of Events