- Hall of Free Discussion-Caroline Williams
The Hall of Free Discussion, a public meeting house, was so named by James Ludlow, son of Israel Ludlow, a Hamilton County abolitionist surveyor whose first home was built in Northside, then Cumminsville. He built it for the purpose of open discussion of controversial topics. After the Lane Debates in 1834, it became the headquarters of the “Lane Rebels” as they negotiated with Oberlin. Some of the “Lane Rebels” stayed in Cumminsville to teach classes to blacks in this hall while other former Lane students taught in Cumminsville and then moved on to Oberlin College to continue their studies. Abolitionists such as Rev. Lyman Beecher, Theodore Weld and William Cary spoke in the Hall of Free Discussion.
WPA Guide to Cincinnati
Intersection across from the site of the Hall of Free Discussion 2013
Approximate location of the Hall of Free Discussion