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

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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

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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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t ;'AI-;AL:-L:Zk:.J:-:l.r -3;k:u.h;;;tggw5 : 'T a i S .3, $ V;- t,. s; 2. A Ww- mu-aw .ianir-lzvmtif; rm Mn RIVYHU ti HI! HI! ttmn, ypslu. --2H:. H- Muz-ih Miumi Mulrsuu li-nn I M i . Ii - . OBERIJN i'FEHALE xi L'DliX 18 0!. v. nr-i-rui nxtrxm IHE LXI l: Hl-I 1H tt! 1859 In September 1858 a small army of Oberlin wagons and horsemen thundered down the road to Wellington, 10 miles to the south, to rescue a fugitive named John Price from slave-catchers who had come into Oberlin to carry him off the night before. Some twenty Oberlin men spent three months in a Cleveland jail for their crime in rescuing John Price. The Wellington Rescue became the central legend in the Oberlin abolitionist tradition. A year later, several black Oberlinians joined John Brown in his raid on Harperis Ferry. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, an anti- Negro, anti- abolitionist paper in those days, said, tiOberlinism is abolitionism boiled down to the quintessence of bitterness. Its reputation in this respect is worldwide. The humorist Petroleum V. Nasby, explaining why the Civil War took place, wrote, Oberlin commenst this war. Oberlin wuz the prime cause uv all the trubble.