Oberlin College - Hi-O-Hi Yearbook (Oberlin, OH)

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5 W 5.23.3779? 17F? . s. m WW WiMax . I om IEW mil, g . l 5: la n... a... 4 u. an. :. CELEBRATION II THE ESRSKEEZSEE ABEQCBBS $1'r.1..';. ';g :22; rlns'r or AUGUST, 1 346. .M. ..... I .5: 0 :? trunnv arm. in '.'.r,t mi : u'u 1;..,.'v...'.1.., In, l i a emymmg 910mm... $EVE$ 3.3 59552535523: PRAYER. Xil' . Frcedom'n Dawn.-.xs i'umh t, Ann H.13unu t1... ye l Silvery.-.n iu-tw . leu Ilw'yu H K'umxuu 'lr ,, X l Stake...-.u im-xpn 51illlulx1,' f . Liberly and Slurry contrasted.-l Um; x ;, unwmhw g It . Ought that lhingn no to be '-tx l u llu Hum ll ltr-um ,,. . The Bondnnnll Appeal.-h mm s In . Recall- of Mainframe u mun x . Why do we rejolce to day 'w-h Law MI- liu Sruu. 1L..- RnAfr l .. . . Hanan Bmmerwah 1 nm Jinn 31mm; 1 w, RESIDENT GRA-leleES. m Baum 'An'uineue L. Brownf - . 51412111121: 8. Nolan. .41 - . 'Puuuing Theologiai Course. 1303133333 YEAZB. m m. aebecca Bcbout, . . . Savannah. Navy E. Cone, - - - Bristol. 11!. ilelen M. Cowles, - - . 06min. Hinem P. Dayton, - . Piqm. ihtris! A. Green, - . - 'rwberry. Sally Holly, - - - Rncluslcr, NFY. mud: Panache. - - - Oberlin. hrlnda Pumlee, - - Oberlin. 5L R. skinner. - - - Chelsea, V1. Lucy A. Stanton, - - - Ch'vdaud. Emacs Thompson, - - . Medina. rm Tm Mia, 11. $ .1 P H-F. FROM THE ranu 1. lllll 01.1,! . The Duty of American Women nhlivc to American . Emancipation in tn: W'eu: lndrum-Slavery in mv Umh-d lnwlh M 1huom l': r;'. . Ilvnritilrl. 1V. Y. Aim Arbor, Mich. 1849 Criss-crossing Tappan Square were narrow two-lane wooden sidewalks designed to prevent couples from holding hands. Chapel seating stayed segregated until the faculty finally caved in on that issue in 1934. Oberlin's third big decision in the early years was to open its doors to black students beginning in 1835. This was as bold an open- admissions policy as any 20th Century counterpart. And given 19th Century about racial mixing and Oberlin's commitment to coeducation, it was even more daring. White women, black men, black women, white men, all on the same campus: that was an explosive mixture, and the prospect scared the hell out of a lot of people. But John Shipherd knew exactly what he was doing. The decision proved to be the College's salvation. By 1835 Oberlin was on the brink of financial collapse. It was hurting for students as well as money. Then interesting things began to happen. The theology students at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati rebelled against efforts by Lane trustees to squelch their antislavery agitation, and threatened to leave along with two of their sympathizers, truste'e Asa Mahan and Professor John Morgan. Shipherd seized the chance and invited them to come to Oberlin. He also won a promise from the 'Tappan brothers, wealthy antislavery merchants in New York City, to finance the exodus. Mahan would become Oberlin's president, and Morgan would join the faculty. The Tappan brothers also offered to subsidize the hiring of the country's most famous evangelist, Charles Finney, to head Oberlin's new theological department. But all this could occur on one condition, which the Tappans, Finney, and Shipherd insisted on e that Oberlin launch a policy of student admission regardless of color. Reluctantly, and under great duress the Oberlin trustees finally agreed, in a tie vote broken by their chairman, John Keep. It was a near thing, but Shipherd's splendid deal went through. Thereafter, Oberlin maintained a steady commitment to black admissions, during long decades when a college education - like most other desirable things in America - was hard for blacks to come by. Between 1835 and 1965 the percentage of blacks among Oberlin students ranged from 2 to 4 percent - a modest figure, but one which resulted in Oberlin producing more black graduates than any other predominantly white college in the country.

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l 840 Four big decisions in the first few years helped define the specific innovations in Oberlinis educational dream. The first had to do with manual labor. Every student was expected to contribute four hours of hard labor each day to the cause of the College and his or her own virtue. Much of this work took place on the College farm in the southwest corner of the town. The College farm lasted less than 20 years, and manual labor as an educational reform disappeared even sooner. Students proved to be no match for local farmers when it came to raising crops. As President James Fairchiid later recalled, ftTo discuss first principles became their pastime. They rested on their hoes in the cornfield to look into their inner consciousness, and the manual labor cause suffered in the interests of philosophy. But the cause lives on - in the stern motto of the College tLearning and Labori; in the concept of a sound mind in a sound body tthe governing philosophy behind the emergence of physical education as an academic discipline at Oberlin in the early 20th Centuryi; in the Farmers Co-op, an organic farm located near the railroad tracks on South Professor Street, which emerged from an ad hoc biology course in the early 19705; and in the flourishing program of housing and dining co-ops that dates from the 19505. The second big decision early on was to educate women along with the men. In light of the fame and controversy which swirled around the College for pioneering coeducation, itfs odd to discover how little local discussion it provoked at the outset. Womenis education was apparently more a means of producing as many Christian teachers and missionaries as possible, than it was a direct feminist goal in itself. Also it was hoped that coeducation would reduce the frivolous follies common to youth in those bygone days. When women were placed alongside men as fellow students, they were less likely to be regarded as sex objects. As the local pre-Civil War journal, the Oberlin Evangelist, put it: thhe idea that the young lady is a toy or a plaything is very thoroughly exploded by the practical working of intellectual competition. Coeducation proved to be a more daring invention than the founders intended. Oberlinians spent the next 50 years trying to curb the most feared consequences of what they had launched, to call the lie of the critics and scoffers who said it couldn't be done. College authorities developed an elaborate machinery of sexual segregation to keep men and women apart - the two exceptions being dining halls and classrooms. For a long time co-ed Classes were separated by a wide central aisle a males on one side, females on the other, to keep everyone's mind in proper focus. Even the library remained segregated till the 18905, with separate hours for each sex. LH tRl M LR tNDiNUX HXXIQY Ilahh I H'l'ths

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1850 The entrenched sin of American slavery ultimately posed the most blatant challenge to perfectionist ideals. Abolition became the dominating moral cause of the 18505. It really put Oberlin on the map. The town was a main stop on the so- called Underground Railroad of places helping escaped slaves and free blacks on their way to Canada. Many of them Chose to stay in Oberlin, and by 1860, 20 percent of the town's population was black or mulatto tprobably the highest percentage of any town in the Northy I; I M w Z1, I tradile ' N- f.- eh d' 1 n ' k e I .j MV- E! u, 1'. a q, x , 4- f K Ill kl I Uh llllt lhhl Rt-RUI'VD RHLROU! Unlum N511 ti w-p' I'lut Hmum' .nui l'mL LHHx, lww nlv lnr N no hum Illt' Hnuw n! Buluiugu nllith l m-ut mu xn m mu Hm mu hill xn- m Xhmll Ihm mu tell Hu'il nun um x hmu H: H. H. EluLv NHI ht. 1 NH t-RHH tHh D's, H e Hn-Iw u :' ' t monk :m- hum wnzu .szv HR lmun aim m.tt .A Human: .:,x' m Hrn' :lI-n: gun .x. I.WWQv a X ' ' WES; , ssxgxte gas. w, tar; A W . ya , M , ' umwuua-I: f 5123 nauamE Sn altars arbolxrsbtp. lstoau-n'nrs 'ii at it , IL, 4 Tmnmvg 2 mun: outmnXoZm :4 E cmanfwzkws 49mm, 0 M .- 1 3f? 1'. mam 91M W. 7! mmom mum, fmJ a. M: . II I? 6..., rcrnr 44 KZLWZHW II . NY wau-I GZMIIQIJ zd; Mu. limlcf, d! a Irma, Mr any dzihubnwwt y-MIJ$: h' t t , ,- a v . k. I , . ' x'r- ; , Nb??? thVayl, 041-4117 XI! Myulir; lnwm JuNmJ- I 14-.37unn'u iluygwalal w; Mm .nx-M M Ma Am, 3:4 s, nuJ .' 1 ' 4M; ; .mgox, .4 .w. u ; An. M 71v a mid uvw. J u KLLAMLI, .L-'.,.-.'7 a 3m? Ana 1- + a :4 4 n t g.ggm '. MW... an :19. ugh. ..-.'. . lvnfu 1.7.-.. ef.,, ' rnt .1 h' I; A... .-. u ,.. w-J' I. rm. 43' t ItH hit DHE INHI tR V HUI tkhllll' ',-. mzthrgxru, v; :1 if v 3 t