June 3 - Repealing the Fugitive Slave Law
June 3 (Tuesday, 7:15 p.m.) Repealing the Fugitive Slave Law. In observance of the 150th anniversary of the repeal of the notorious Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Oberlin Heritage Center docent and blogger Ron Gorman looks at the fervent crusade by Ohio Republicans to overturn the law. Galvanized by the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of 1858, impassioned locals initially were at odds with Illinois Republican Abraham Lincoln. Gorman focuses on local political leader James Monroe, an Ohio state legislator, whose radical and controversial "personal liberty law" was accused by critics of stirring up an armed confrontation between the federal government and local law enforcement. Location: Kendal at Oberlin's Heiser Auditorium.
