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

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1899 The main replacement for abolitionism was a long, earnest crusade for temperance and prohibition, against both tobacco and alcohol. Regional newspapers had almost as much scornful fun at Oberlin's expense over these issues as they had over abolition back in the 18503. The Wakeman Independent wrote in 1800; iiThe moral village of Oberlin is again on the rampage against the evils of society. This time tobacco has to suffer? in 1893 the Anti-Saloon League was founded in Oberlin. Over the next quarter- century the League would prove to be one of the most effective single-issue lobbies in American political history - the main arm of the national drive for the Prohibition Amendment of the 19205. The town of Oberlin remains mostly dry to this day. The disparity in prestige in our minds between abolition and prohibition obscures the strong line of continuity in motives between these causes. Both were impelled by hope for a cleaner, purer, better world where people kept sin to a minimum in their personal behavior. 17

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1909 TRACK TEAM- Within the College itself, the major thrust at the turn of the century was toward improvement in the rigor and quality of the . y 4 Oberlin undergraduate education. Students played a vital role in ' ' this campaign, agitating for changes to make their education more varied, more interesting, and more demanding. Admission standards began to rise along with tuition, which was up to $40 per year by 1890 and hit the $100 barrier in 1910. Meanwhile, the quality of the faculty tor at least the quality of their academic pedigreesi improved, as reverend clergymen were replaced in the classroom by a rising percentage of young, thoroughly secular Ph.Ds. The curriculum was completely overhauled and modernized, with the arrival in Oberlin of the elective system pioneered by Harvard's President Eliot. The social sciences emerged one by one, along with instruction in modern languages and contemporary literature. lxlmmm m Xru inxnmu u 19