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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…
Antoinette Brown Blackwell
The first women in the United States to be ordained as a minister by a recognized religious denomination, Antoinette Brown Blackwell was a lifelong crusader for women's rights. A graduate of Oberlin College, she also advocated against slavery and for…
Lucy Stone
In 1847, Lucy Stone graduated from Oberlin College, becoming the first women from Massachusetts to earn a bachelor's degree. Stone was a staunch advocate of both abolition and women's rights and she became one of the most important 19th century…
Burrell-King House Historic Marker
Marks the site of the house built by Jabez Burrell, an important local abolitionist, and Henry Churchill King, who was president of Oberlin College from 1902-1927. Erected in 2002 by The Ohio Bicentennial Commission. The Longaberger Company. Oberlin…
Antoinette Brown Blackwell and the First Church of Oberlin Historic Marker
Marker about the history of First Church and Antoinette Brown Blackwell, an 1847 graduate of Oberlin's Ladies Department and one of the first women ordained as a Christian minister. Erected in 2014 by 2014 by the First Church in Oberlin, United…
Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney was the leading evangelist of the Second Great Awakening. He began teaching theology at Oberlin in 1835 and served as Oberlin College president between 1851 and 1865. He was also the pastor at Oberlin's First Congregational…
Kenji Okuda
Kenji Okuda was one of the nearly forty Japanese American students who studied at Oberlin College and Conservatory during World War II, many of them, like Okuda, coming to Oberlin directly from internment camps. Okuda gained national attention when…
John Jay Shipherd
John Jay Shipherd co-founded both the community and college of Oberlin in 1833. Shipherd, a x pastor, wanted to create a community and a college that would adhere to Christian values, simple living, and an ethic of service to others. He named Oberlin…
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…
The John Frederick Oberlin Collection of the Oberlin College Archives
This collection of digitized images, texts, and objects from the Oberlin College archives relates Oberlin's namesake, John Frederick Oberlin. Known in France as Jean-Frédéric but born in Strasbourg as Johann Friedrich, Oberlin was a Lutheran pastor…
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…
"You were made of the stuff that makes legends": The life and legacy of Ellen H. Johnson (1972-1992)
Oberlin's Namesake: John Frederick Oberlin (1740-1826)
This digital exhibitcreated and hosted by the Oberlin College Archives, explores the life and work of John Frederick Oberlin, the French Lutheran Pastor who as the namesake of the town of Oberlin and Oberlin College.
Oberlin Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture: World War II Memorial Garden
A 3-page history of the construction of World War II Memorial Garden, which was built in 1995 to honor Oberlin alumni who died in the war.
Charles Martin Hall and Oberlin's Aluminum Connection
This walking tour visits 14 locations associated with Charles Martin Hall's life in Oberlin, including his homes; Tappan Square which he endowed; and Hall Auditorium, named for his mother.
Walking Tour of Jewett-Related Sites
Created for "Jewett Day" in 2013, this two-page brochure includes photographs, information and a map to seven local landmarks related to Frank Fanning Jewett and Sarah Frances Gulick Jewett. Mr. Jewett taught chemistry at Oberlin College and Mrs.…
Oberlin College: The First Century
The tour consists of eight stops, all on or near Tappan Square. The tour was developed under the auspices of the Oberlin College Archives and the Coalition for Oberlin History.
John Frederick Oberlin Monument
This granite monolith located on the Oberlin College campus commemorates Oberlin's namesake, who was a pastor in the France in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The monument incorporates an optical effect that Oberlin used in his pastoral…
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…
Co-education Centennial Memorial Gateway
In 1837, Oberlin became the first college to admit women on an equal basis with men. This memorial was erected in 1937 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of co-education. Inscribed with the text, "This gateway commemorates the enrance of women into…
Nichols Memorial Gateway
This gateway was erected as a memorial to John Herbert Nichols, a longtime director of Oberlin College's Athletic Department, on the occassion of his 1955 retirement. It marks the entrance to Oberlin's athletic fields.
Memorial Arch, 2004
A picture of Oberlin's Memorial Arch from September 27, 2004. The arch, erected in memory of American missionaries killed in the 1899 Boxer Rebellion in China, was built in Oberlin because most of those killed were Oberlin alumni or their families.…
Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Monument
This monument, which was erected in 1990 and is located in Martin Luther King Park, commemorates the 1858 Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. In that year, slave catchers captured John Price, an escapee from slavery who was living outside Oberiln. A large…
Underground Railroad Monument
Created by then college senior Cameron Armstrong in 1977, this sculpture of train tracks rising out from the ground commemorates Oberlin's importance as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Originally planned as a temporary installation, the…
World War II Memorial Garden
The World War II memorial garden commemorates the 75 Oberlin college alumni who were killed in World War II. Unusual for a war memorial, the Oberlin memorial lists the names of all alumni who died in the war--including Masura Nakamura, who fought for…