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Encyclopedia Article: INFOhio World Book Student, Toni Morrison | Get the facts about a famous Ohio author. May need password.
Game: The Nobel Prize, Find the Authors, Nobel Laureates in Literature | Try this challenging word search that includes Toni Morrison’s name.
Website: Buckeye Book Award | Did you know Ohio kids vote on their favorite books each year?
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MARY: AS EARLY AS THE 1800S, OHIO WAS REGARDED AS A PLACE WERE AFRICAN AMERICANS FOUND, FOR THE MOST PART, EQUAL TREATMENT. OHIO PUBLIC SCHOOLS WERE INTEGRATED. THEY ALLOWED STUDENTS OF ALL RACES, AND OBERLIN COLLEGE BECAME ONE OF THE FIRST COLLEGES IN THE COUNTRY TO ADMIT BLACK STUDENTS.
SO, IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS FOUND REFUGE HERE AFTER THE CIVIL WAR WHEN SOUTHERN STATES PASSED UNFAIR LAWS THAT MADE LIVE DIFFICULT FOR BLACK SOUTHERNERS. THE HISTORIC RESETTLING OF SIX MILLION SOUTHERN AFRICAN AMERICANS TO NORTHERN STATES LIKE OHIO IS KNOWN AS THE GREAT MIGRATION, AND IT BROUGHT THE FAMILY OF OHIO'S MOST FAMOUS WRITER, TONI MORRISON.
TONI WAS BORN IN LORAIN IN 1931, BUT HER FAMILY INSTILLED IN HER A SOUTHERN HERITAGE OF STORYTELLING AND FOLKLORE. AS ONE OF FEW BLACK STUDENTS IN MOSTLY WHITE CLASSROOMS, TONI WAS A STAR STUDENT AT LORAIN HIGH SCHOOL, AND SHE DEVELOPED A LOVE OF READING, ESPECIALLY CLASSIC NOVELS LIKE THOSE BY JANE AUSTIN.
TONI LEFT OHIO FOR COLLEGE AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY AND WORKED IN PUBLISHING AND AS A PROFESSOR FOR YEARS BEFORE SHE WROTE HER FIRST NOVEL. THAT NOVEL, THE BLUEST EYE, WAS SET IN TONI'S HOMETOWN, LORAIN AND TOLD THE STORY OF A YOUNG BLACK GIRL WHO WISHED FOR BLUE EYES AND WHITE SKIN, SOMETHING TONI DID, HERSELF, AS A CHILD.
THE NOVEL WAS SO SUCCESSFUL THAT IT LAUNCHED TONI'S CAREER AS A WRITER. SHE WENT ON TO WRITE SEVERAL MORE NOVELS THAT ARE NOW CONSIDERED CLASSICS SUCH AS SULA, SONG OF SOLOMON, AND BELOVED.
OVER THE YEARS, HER WRITING HAS EARNED HER MANY AWARDS INCLUDING THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM GIVEN BY PRESIDENT OBAMA IN 2012. TONI MORRISON IS ARGUABLY THE COUNTRY'S MOST CELEBRATED WRITER, AND HER STORY BEGAN RIGHT HERE, IN THE BUCKEYE STATE.