Oberlin is currently one of eight sanctuary cities in Ohio. The city’s history is one of commitment to social justice, even when in conflict with federal law. Oberlin College is proud of the city’s history, and the college’s archives holds significant collections that document the city’s history of antislavery, abolitionism, coeducation, black education, and feminism, to name a few movements.
Just after the 2016 presidential election—amid discourse about immigrants, Muslims, and people of color—students, faculty, and staff signed a petition demanding that the president of the college declare Oberlin a sanctuary campus. The college held public events to discuss the definition and community’s history of sanctuary, and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences asked the college archives and libraries to consider ways in which we could highlight our long history of inclusion and sanctuary.
