OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Recognizing the Oberlin Village Community

Floor Speech

Date: Oct. 22, 2021
Location: Washington, DC

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. ROSS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the history and the legacy of the Oberlin Village community.

Founded in 1866, Oberlin Village is one of the last surviving antebellum settlements founded by free Black people in North Carolina.

After Reconstruction, the community became a welcoming refuge for newly freed former slaves from the nearby Cameron plantation.

It became much more than a town. The thriving municipality was home to rows of single-family houses, two churches, and a public school. It became a symbol of land ownership for freedmen.

The local post office, now located in a building owned by the Oberlin Baptist Church, is still named after the plantation rather than this historic community. I urge the Postal Service to change the name to reflect the post office's new location and to commemorate the Oberlin Village community and its legacy.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT


Source
arrow_upward