OSCA Will Sell Historic Property
by Peter Dybdahl

In an attempt to avoid high maintenance costs and better allocate resources towards their goals, the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association plans to sell one of its off-campus properties, Langston-Bliss House, which is a National Historic Monument.
The former student co-op was once home to prominent abolitionist, statesman and Oberlin grad John Mercer Langston.
The vote to sell the property came last October. It reflects a consensus of OSCA’s roughly 630 cooperative members, including former residents of the house. While there were a handful of objections, none were strong enough to block the motion, OSCA Treasurer Jason Clark said. Last year’s vote marks the third time that OSCA has made an effort to sell Langston-Bliss House.
“I think selling Bliss House is a good choice because it is an extremely important piece of African American heritage and history and it’s owned by a mostly white, mostly middle-class institution that isn’t as invested in its history as African-Americans in town are,” junior and member of Keep co-op Sasha Yurgionas said. “Additionally, we can’t afford to keep the house up as a historical landmark and fill our mission statement of providing low-income housing.”
The house’s mounting repair expenses, costing an estimated $50,000 over the last ten years, are the chief motivation behind the sale. Because of the house’s status as a National Historic Monument, certain guidelines regulate the way repairs are done, which have, in turn, made the house a financial drain on the organization. “It was not serving its purpose of low-income cooperative housing in Oberlin,” Clark said.
Langston-Bliss House belongs to OSCA’s sister association, OSCA Properties. Created in 1997, OSCA Properties operates as a charitable organization, offering scholarships to its residents. This places the organization in a different tax bracket than OSCA. The tax relief has given OSCA Properties, which also owns Fuller House on East College Street, more leeway in purchasing off-campus housing.
The house is vacant this semester and ready to sell. A strict appraisal has valued it at $150,000, but this figure neglects its historical significance. The money from the sale could be invested in another house, though any move will be thoroughly reviewed and decided upon by OSCA members.
“[Langston-Bliss House] can be understood as a house, it can be understood as a historic landmark, it can be understood as a space for low-income students...” Clark said.
One prospective buyer, a professor at Manhattan Borough Community College, is interested in renovating the house for historical use.
John Mercer Langston, an African-American leader recognized and honored for his achievemants during the nineteenth century, received his Master’s from Oberlin in 1852. After marrying Oberlin student Caroline Wall, Langston was elected town clerk in 1855, making him the first African-American elected to public office in the United States.

In 1862, Langston defended Edmonia Lewis, a half-Native American and half-African-American woman who was a student at Oberin, accused of poisoning her white roommates. Largely due to Langston’s skillful defense, Lewis was acquitted and went on to became a successful sculptor.

Through the second half of the nineteenth century, Langston worked directly for improving the status of African-Americans. He served as president of two colleges and headed the Freedmen’s Bureau. In addition he argued before the Supreme Court and in 1890, was elected as the Congressman from the Fourth District of Virginia.