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John Mercer Langston House
The John Mercer Langston House, built in 1855 and located on East College Street across from Eastwood Elementary School, was the home of John Mercer Langston and his family from 1856 until 1867. John Mercer Langston was an Oberlin graduate and…
Mary Edmonia Lewis
The first professional African American sculptor, Edmonia Lewis attended Oberlin College from 1859 through 1862. While her time at Oberlin ended in scandal, she went on to have a successful career as an American expatriate artist living in Rome.
Oberlin College Preparatory Class of 1855
A photo of an 1855 class from the Preparatory Department of Oberlin College. The college offered pre-college education in the Preparatory Department in the 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the students in the class (upper right) was Anthony…
Intersections: Recovering the Genius of Shirley Graham Du Bois
American history is full of hidden histories, especially when it comes to the histories of women, specifically those of women of color. This book aims to unpack the “many lives” of Shirley Graham Du Bois, who was a woman of mixed race born in…
Wilson Bruce Evans
Wilson Bruce Evans was a leading member of Oberlin's 19th century African American community. He and his brother, Henry Evans, moved their families to Oberlin from North Carolina in 1854. The two men ran a successful carpentry business in town.…
Wilson Bruce Evans House
Wilson Bruce Evans and his brother, Henry Evans, were free African-Americans who lived in Oberlin. They built this house in 1855-1856 for Wilson Bruce Evans and his family. Wilson Bruce Evans was an abolitionist who participated in the 1858…
The African American Women Intellectuals Project
The African American Women Intellectuals Project was created to develop an archive of scholarly biographies of African American women who attended, or were closely affiliated with, Oberlin College. The goal of this website is to create expanded…
Mary Church Terrell
Mary Church Terrell was an educator and lifelong activist on behalf of women's rights and racial equality. Terrell graduated from Oberlin College with a BA in Classics in 1884. She earned an MA in education from Oberlin in 1888, becoming of the first…
Betty Glenn Thomas Project
In the spring of 2019, students in Oberlin College History 214 inaugurated an ongoing research project focused on the life and milieu of Betty Glenn Thomas. Elizabeth (Betty) Glenn Thomas was born at 195 North Professor Street on July 2, 1913, and…
Oberlin Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
This 8-page guide offers a brief history of Martin Luther King Jr's visits to Oberlin, discusses the decision to erect a monument to him in 1987, highlights the work of local mason Burrell Scott and bricklayer Henry Young on the monument, and offers…
Oberlin's African-American Community: Historic Groveland
The southeast quadrant of the City of Oberlin has historically housed the African-American community and Groveland Street is at its heart.
More Oberlin History Highlights: The Struggle for Racial Justice
This tour visits Oberlin monuments to explore its abolitionist heritage and contributions to the Civil War, and includes site that signaled the town’s re-dedication to African American struggles during the Civil Rights era.
This tour takes about…
This tour takes about…
Martin Luther King Jr. Monument
The city of Oberlin dedicated this memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. in 1987 at the same time as they changed the name of the park where it is located from Vine Street Park to Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. Famed civil rights leader Martin Luther…