Raleigh, NC – After months of urging the USPS to change the name of the Cameron Village Post Office to the Oberlin Village Post Office by Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02), it became official March 30. “This new name reflects its new location and the strength, perseverance, and inclusiveness of the Oberlin community,” said Rep. Ross through her Twitter account.
The post office was previously located adjacent to a shopping center which until recently was known as Cameron Village. Named after the owner of the Cameron Plantation, where hundreds of enslaved people were once confined, the name of the post office was an archaic tribute to a horrific past that did not fit the inclusive community that now calls the area home. While the shopping center was recently renamed the “Village District,” the post office still bore the name “Cameron Village”—despite the name’s troubling history and its new location farther away from the shopping center.
Sabrina Goode, Executive Director of Friends of Oberlin Village said, “It’s historically significant that the USPS is located in the Oberlin Baptist Church, which was founded by former slave Plummer T. Hall. The church has served the Oberlin community for over 140 years. The renaming of the current post office is an acknowledgment of this beloved community that has contributed in many ways to the City of Raleigh.”