[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 186 (Friday, October 22, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5797]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECOGNIZING THE OBERLIN VILLAGE COMMUNITY

  (Ms. ROSS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  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.

                          ____________________