Oxford looks to highlight area Black history with new plan
As Oxford moves forward with historic preservation and economic development plans, one temporary fellow with the city has worked to create a smaller plan focused on preserving Black history in town.
Elena Ziccarelli’s Ohio Public Leaders Fellowship with Oxford is only three weeks long, but in that time, she’s fleshing out a dedicated plan to educate residents about and preserve the city’s Black history.
“There’s a really rich Black history here that I … don’t think I’d have dug as deep into the collections … had I not had this project,” Ziccarelli, a senior political science, data analytics and individualized studies major at Miami University said.
Ziccarelli is working with the city from Jan. 3-23. So far, she’s connected with librarians and NAACP members in town to learn more about the impact of Black residents and students on Oxford and Miami. By the end of her fellowship, she hopes to create a plan for the city to adopt which highlights opportunities for additional Black history education, engagement and awareness in town.
“I’ve put in the plan to try to get more plaques up around certain landmarks in Black history in Oxford that might not have otherwise been identified by people just walking around,” Ziccarelli said. “Also, we hope to get different landmarks in the National Register of Historic Places.”
The plan Ziccarelli creates will need to be formally adopted by Oxford City Council, said Community Development Director Sam Perry. Once that happens, he hopes that community partners like the NAACP and other organizations will be able to take up individual pieces of that plan.
Among the potential efforts the plan could highlight, Perry said city groups are looking into an annual Juneteenth celebration, a unified document that compiles local Black history research and resources, partnerships with the Talawanda School District and additional historic markers.
“If a citizen group wants to take something and run with it that’s in the plan, [the document] gives them the credibility to the community to say, ‘Well, this was in the Black history and culture plan … and we’re gonna take that on and try to complete that,’” Perry said.
Oxford formally adopted its newest comprehensive plan in 2023, and that document called for both “collective memory work” to preserve the stories of Black residents and additional signage regarding historic locations. Ziccarelli’s project is just one of several planning documents in the works right now, including a historic preservation plan being drafted by consulting firm McKenna.
“We’re kind of in a planning frenzy, I call it, right now,” Perry said. “There’s all these plans being created … It all aligned.” The consultants for the historic preservation plan have also pointed to Black history as an important cultural resource for Oxford to put more attention toward preserving.
Enjoy Oxford, the city’s visitors bureau, maintains a map and information for a self-guided Black history tour. Locations include Bethel AME Church, purchased in 1857, the Freedom Summer of 1964 Memorial and more. Maps can be found at www.enjoyoxford.org or in the bureau’s office.
