Memorial Arch, 1990

Memorial Arch, 1990

The Memorial Arch, erected in Oberlin's Tappan Square in 1903, is the only monument to the United States that relates to the history of the Boxer Rebellion, an anti-imperialist uprising in China. In 1900, thirteen American missionaries and five of their children were killed in the uprising; all but four of the eighteen who lost their lives were Oberlin alumni or their children. The memorial was erected by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; its cornerstone contains a box with the missionaries' last letters and other mementos. Inscriptions include the names of the dead and, in red mable, “The Blood of Martyrs—The Seed of the Church.” In the post-WWII era, the arch became a contested symbol of cultural imperialism. In 1994, a placque commemorating the lives of the Chinese who died in the Boxer Rebellion was added to the memorial.

Oberlin College Archives

www.oberlinlibstaff.com/omeka_oca/files/original/f25bb8e210f5ad2e1ad294e05d8d3aea.jpg

1903

50 North Professor Street, Oberlin, OH