Because of its history and geographical location, Oberlin College has had a long and important history in the American civil rights movement. In 1835, it was the first college to establish a policy of admitting African-American students, and two years later, the first American college to admit women to its baccalaureate program. In 1858, more than 30 Oberlin students and townspeople invaded a city nearby and freed a male slave held in captivity and destined to be returned to his owners in Kentucky.

It was a key northern junction point on the Underground Railroad, being 15 miles from Lake Erie and the freedom boats that would ferry the escaped slaves to Canada. A few blocks away a large statue of Martin Luther King Jr. celebrates his many speeches to students in Oberlin, the first in 1957.