Otterbein College's Concert Choir will celebrate the College's abolitionist history at an event at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30, at Shiloh Baptist Church, 720 Mount Vernon Ave., Columbus. The event is free and open to the public.

Following a lecture by Beth Weinhardt, local history coordinator for the Westerville Public Library, the concert will feature spirituals, gospel music and works by Adolphus Hailstork, professor of music at Old Dominion University, and other African American composers.

The choir will also sing Who Is He in Yonder Stall? a Christmas hymn composed by Benjamin Hanby, minister, abolitionist and Otterbein alumnus of the class of 1858. Hanby is credited with composing Darling Nelly Gray, later deemed the anthem of the abolitionist movement. His family actively participated in the Underground Railroad, providing shelter to many runaway slaves. The Hanby House still sits on Otterbein's campus on Main Street in Westerville and is maintained by the Ohio and Westerville Historical Societies. Otterbein was one of the first colleges in the country to admit black students and women.

"This is a great opportunity to make it known that Otterbein has this tradition of openness," said Gayle Walker, director of choral activities and professor of music. "Hanby was a student here when the choirs were founded and our history really comes together with this performance."