Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison to Dedicate Commemorative Bench in Oberlin April 23
There’s also a short mention in Cleveland.com (click HERE)
Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison will help dedicate a bench to honor the slaves who traveled the Underground Railroad at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at North Main and Lorain streets in Oberlin. The “Bench by the Road” project was conceived after a statement by the celebrated poet in 1989 in which she said, “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” to commemorate the path escaped slaves took to freedom. The bench, honoring those who found refuge in Oberlin, is one of 10 that will be installed across the country.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2009
Area residents are invited to join celebrated author Toni Morrison on Thursday, April 23, at 1:30 p.m. in the park at the Corner of North Main (Rt. 58) & Lorain Streets (Rt. 511) for the dedication program: “A Bench By the Road, a tribute in memory of the enslaved persons who sought refuge in Oberlin.”
Inspired by Morrison’s 1989 statement – “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” – the Oberlin installation is one of 10 planned for around the country to commemorate slaves and their history as part of the “Bench by the Road” project created by the Toni Morrison Society. The author, whose first novel, The Bluest Eye, is set in nearby Lorain, picked Oberlin as one of her favorite sites for the bench, says The New York Times.
The wording on the bench will read: “The bench by the Road Project was launched by the Toni Morrison Society in honor of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, a native of Lorain, Ohio. This bench is placed in memory of the enslaved men, women and children who followed the path of the Underground Railroad and sought refuge in the community of Oberlin, Ohio, in their quests for emancipation. Their spirit endures and will inspire us until every human is raised up to freedom.”
The April 23 dedication will precede Morrison’s Convocation address, “Home,” at 8 p.m. in Oberlin’s Finney Chapel. Her latest novel, A Mercy, published in 2008, “makes a spellbinding companion to Beloved, her 1987 tour de force that transformed our understanding of slavery and won the Pulitzer Prize,” says the Washington Post Book World. A question and answer session and a book signing will be held after the talk.
A limited number of free Convocation tickets for the general public – two per person – will be available beginning April 8. They may be requested by April 15 by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope with the request to Central Ticket Service, 67 North Main Street, Oberlin, Ohio 44074, (1-800-371-0178 or 775-8169).
The Convocation Series is sponsored by the Finney Lecture Committee and the Office of the President. For more information and directions, contact the Office of Public Programs at 440/775-6785.
