|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Update posted on Thu, Aug 19, 1999, at 1:53:29 PM Pacific Daylight Time.
Monroe House
Oberlin, OH, Heritage Center |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tour guides from O.H.I.O. (the Oberlin Historical and Improvement Organization) were good enough to lead us through the Oberlin Heritage Center, the centerpiece of which is the Monroe House.
Belonging first to Civil War General Giles Shurtleff (commander of the first African-American regiment from Ohio), it later came into the possession of James Monroe and Julia Finney Monroe, abolitionists and friends of Frederick Douglass. James Monroe was also something of a renaissance man, serving as a teacher, diplomat, and U.S. congressman. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
The Monroes had a servant, Julia Quinn, a close member of the family who went on to become the first African-American woman in Ohio to achieve a college degree. We were lucky enough to meet up with a descendant of hers, Thelma Quinn Smith (shown at left with a picture of James Monroe), a lovely and friendly lady who assisted in the tour of the Monroe House. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
While we were on the Monroe House tour, a "Mr. Chauncy Wack" arrived to meet with us and give his negative opinion of the abolitionist strains running strong through Oberlin. In reality, the gentleman's name is Scott Medwid (right), but he gave a wonderful portrayal of "Wack," proprietor of the Russian House inn and a diehard Democrat. His fictional support for the Fugitive Slave Act and concerns at all the activity in his town well illustrated what was going on at that time. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Multimedia Available for this Event. Go to Multimedia Page. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Navigation
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back to the Front Page...
Address technical questions on the Footsteps to Freedom website to webmaster@rims.k12.ca.us |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|