OBERLIN, Ohio — Nobel Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison says her campaign to commemorate African-American historical sites has brought her home.
Morrison was in Ohio on Thursday to dedicate a memorial bench in Oberlin, a stop on the Underground Railroad. The 78-year-old author grew up in Lorain, 11 miles away in the region west of Cleveland, and says her books such as "Beloved" grew out of the stories shared around her mother's kitchen table.
The bench is one of 10 planned across the country as part of Morrison's "A Bench by the Road Project" marking key locations in African-American history.
She said Oberlin is an ideal spot for a bench because it was a town where slaves on the run found assistance from both Blacks and whites.
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Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Morrison was in Ohio on Thursday to dedicate a memorial bench in Oberlin, a stop on the Underground Railroad. The 78-year-old author grew up in Lorain, 11 miles away in the region west of Cleveland, and says her books such as "Beloved" grew out of the stories shared around her mother's kitchen table.
The bench is one of 10 planned across the country as part of Morrison's "A Bench by the Road Project" marking key locations in African-American history.
She said Oberlin is an ideal spot for a bench because it was a town where slaves on the run found assistance from both Blacks and whites.
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Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
