Page 9 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – January 2021

Oxford Tour Documents
Black History
It’s important to circulate the history of marginalized communities as a way to both honor and reinforce the memory of those who paved the way before us despite myriad challenges.
This is why it was such an honor to delve into the archives documenting the tribulations and triumphs
of Oxford, Ohio’s Black community in order to create a self-guided tour for both the town’s residents and visitors.
This project, which began in February 2019 and took more than a year to complete, was a little outside of what I typically do as the Marketing & Communications Manager for Enjoy Oxford, the town’s visitors bureau.
THE RESEARCH
Not having lived in Oxford long, I didn’t know where to begin during the initial stages of research.
That’s where Valerie Elliot came in.
It’s an understatement to say that Elliot, who’s been the manager of Oxford’s Smith Library of Regional History for 30 years, knows a great deal about Oxford history. She provided a list of the town’s historically Black churches, previously Black-owned businesses and sites of struggle for integration.
“Determining what is historically accurate is the most challenging aspect,” Elliot said. “There are often conflicting versions of past events, and trying to find primary sources to confirm names, dates and other
information is not always easy.”
THE TOUR
The tour takes roughly one hour to complete by car (though the first half can be completed comfortably by walking) and includes 16 stops. Participants will first explore Oxford’s uptown district and tree-lined neighborhoods followed by areas further out such as the Freedom Summer Memorial on the Miami University Western Campus
as well as the final resting place of world-famous jazz pianist Maurice Rocco in Oxford’s Woodside Cemetery.
Taking the tour is an educational experience but also an exercise in celebration, paying special attention to the accomplishments of Oxford’s Black residents in the face of adversity.
An example is the fight for the integration of the Oxford Public School in 1887. Black residents elected fellow community member and father, Perry Gibson, to advocate for the integration of the public school before the Circuit Court of Butler County. At the time, Black students were still
By Taylor Meredith
Oxford Panthers basketball team
Maurice Rocco, jazz pianist
FOR ADVERTISER INFORMATION, VISIT AAA.COM/MAGAZINEOFFERS JANUARY 2021 | 7
relegated to use the North School which had a lower- quality curriculum and fewer resources available to it.
After the case made it to the Ohio Supreme Court of Ohio, Black students were allowed to attend the new public school. Where the public school once stood now stands Stewart Square, a small shopping complex at Spring Street and College Avenue.
Elliot thinks people taking the tour will be surprised by this history in particular. “This integration took place more than 60 years before the Brown vs. Board of Education case,” she said. Brown vs. Board of Education was a nationwide case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregated schools unconstitutional.
Another story on the tour worth celebrating is that of the Oxford Panthers, an all-Black community basketball team who were commonly regarded as semi-professional. They played throughout Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
The Panthers’ home games were played in what was at the time the Town Hall. This building has been remodeled and is now the Oxford Police Department.
THE TAKEAWAY
Oxford’s Black history is not a thing of the past. It exists all around us. As my director, Kim Daggy, has beautifully put it, “The Black History Tour brings to light the legacy still relevant in our present day.”
Black history is everywhere and the people who are part of that history will never truly be gone.
The self-guided Oxford, Ohio Black History Tour is available in print and can be mailed free of charge. Simply send a request and your mailing address to TaylorMeredith@EnjoyOxford.org.
Alternatively, the tour can be found digitally online at EnjoyOxford.org/BlackHistoryOxfordOH.
Taylor Meredith is Marketing & Communications Manager for Enjoy Oxford.