Oberlin Academy Explained

Oberlin Academy Preparatory School
City:Oberlin
State:Ohio
Country:United States
Coordinates:41.2929°N -82.2186°W
Other Names:Oberlin Institute, Preparatory Department of Oberlin College, Oberlin Academy
Schooltype:College preparatory
Established:1833
Closed:1916

Oberlin Academy Preparatory School, originally Oberlin Institute and then Preparatory Department of Oberlin College, was a private preparatory school in Oberlin, Ohio which operated from 1833 until 1916.[1] It opened as Oberlin Institute which became Oberlin College in 1850. The secondary school serving local and boarding students continued as a department of the college. The school and college admitted African Americans and women.[2] This was very unusual and controversial. It was located on the Oberlin College campus for much of its history and many of its students continued on to study at Oberlin College. Various alumni and staff went on to notable careers.

History

Oberlin Institute, a private secondary school, was established in 1832 or 1833,[3] 27 years before the city of Oberlin, Ohio, established their public high school.[4] Public high schools were uncommon at the time; as a result, many colleges found that their incoming students were poorly prepared for academic studies. This led some colleges to establish their own high schools, organized as preparatory departments of the college.[5]

Oberlin Institute faced opposition from conservative Whites in Ohio who opposed its admittance of African Americans. Nevertheless, in 1850 the school was granted a charter and became Oberlin College. The undergraduate education program continued afterwards as a preparatory school sometimes referred to as "prep".[6]

The Preparatory Department was the only primary education in Oberlin until the community organized a school district and eventually launched public schools. The Preparatory Department had an enrollment of 690 students in 1890.[7]

Sarah Watson, the first African American woman to attend Oberlin, enrolled in the Preparatory Department in 1842.[8] Between 1833 and 1865, at least 140 black women studied at Oberlin, most of them in the Preparatory Department.[9]

In 1887, the school moved into French Hall and part of Society Hall. From 1892 the secondary school was called Oberlin Academy. The school's mission was to prepare students for college.

Edward Henry Fairchild was the school's principal from 1853 until 1869. An abolitionist, he went on to become president of Berea College, a coeducational and integrated institution in Kentucky.[10] John Fisher Peck also served as the school's principal.[11] His daughter, Emily Peck, tutored Latin and Greek at the preparatory department and was an artist who depicted fellow Oberlin alums in sculpture.[12]

Booker T. Washington, who had close ties to Oberlin College and hired teachers from the school at Tuskegee Institute, sent his son Ernst to Oberlin Academy in 1904 and 1905.[13]

By 1905, the school's enrollment was declining. One of the factors for the decline was that public high schools were becoming widely available by that time. In January 1910, the Oberlin Alumni Magazine published an entry on the school, its significance, and the need for continued support of it.[14] In 1912 a new building opened for the academy and the Oberlin Academy Alumni Association was organized.[15]

The school was removed from campus from 1912 to 1916 and occupied the Johnson mansion (now known as Johnson House)[16] on South Professor Street in Oberlin.[17] [18] The Johnson House is now the Hebrew Heritage House, a college residence for Jewish students.[16]

In 1915, the college announced that it would close the Preparatory Academy.[19] In that same year, the academy was listed in A Handbook of the Best Private Schools of the United States and Canada, which stated:[20]

Alumni

Alumni include:

Faculty

Teachers included:

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Oberlin Academy Records, 1850-1916 | Oberlin College Archives. oberlinarchives.libraryhost.com.
  2. Mission Matters: Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, and the Schooling of Southern Blacks, 1861-1917. Butchart, Ronald E.. 2002. History of Education Quarterly. 42. 1. 1–17. 3218165. 10.1111/j.1748-5959.2002.tb00098.x. 144813001.
  3. Most sources list 1833 as the establishment date. However, an item in the January 1910 Oberlin Alumni Magazine (third, unnumbered, page after title page) signed by John Fisher Peck, Principal, states that the school was founded in 1832.
  4. Keeping True to the Cathedral Within: A Case Study of Wheaton Academy and the Initiation, Development, and Fulfillment of Its Christian Saga of Social Justice. Dissertations. Dill-Varga. Barbara. Loyola University Chicago (EdD thesis). 2011. Chapter II: Review of Historical Background: Oberlin Academy, 1833-1916.
  5. Book: Baumann, Roland M.. Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College: A Documentary History. July 31, 2014. Ohio University Press. See "Introduction: Oberlin -- A College and a Cause". Google Books. 9780821443637.
  6. Book: Elusive utopia : the struggle for racial equality in Oberlin, Ohio. Kornblith. Gary J.. Lasser. Carol. 9780807169568. Baton Rouge. 1023084688. 2018-12-05.
  7. News: Oberlin's Catalogue: A New Two Years's Course Has Just Been Established.. 27 December 1890. The New York Times. 11 February 2019. 8. Seventeen hundred and nine persons received instruction at Oberlin in 1890, of whom 940 were women. These persons were assigned as follows: ... preparatory department, 690 ....
  8. Book: Hine . Darlene Clark . Black Women in America . 2005 . Oxford University Press . 9780195156775 . 451 . registration .
  9. Merrill . Marlene. Henle. Ellen . Antebellum Black Coeds at Oberlin College . Women's Studies Quarterly . Spring 1979 . 8–11 . 13 February 2019.
  10. Web site: E. H. Fairchild Papers, 1860-1973 | Berea College Special Collections and Archives Catalog. berea.libraryhost.com.
  11. Book: Booker T. Washington Papers Volume 2: 1860-89. Assistant Editors, Pete Daniel, Stuart B. Kaufman, Raymond W. Smock, and William M. Welty. Booker T.. Washington. Louis R.. Harlan. 1 October 1972. University of Illinois Press. Google Books. 9780252002434.
  12. Web site: Oberlin College Archives - Projects from History 213: First Wave Feminisms, Spring 2013. www2.oberlin.edu.
  13. Book: Baumann, Roland M.. Constructing Black Education at Oberlin College: A Documentary History. July 31, 2014. Ohio University Press. 9780821443637. See "Introduction: Oberlin -- A College and a Cause". Google Books.
  14. Book: Oberlin Alumni Magazine. January 1910. Oberlin College. 6. 4.
  15. Web site: Oberlin Alumni Magazine. February 3, 1912. Oberlin College for the Alumni Association.. Google Books.
  16. Web site: Johnson House · Oberlin College Archives. www.oberlinlibstaff.com.
  17. Web site: A Brief History of Oberlin High School. www.oberlin-high.org.
  18. Web site: Historic Preservation -- Johnson House. www2.oberlin.edu.
  19. News: Oberlin Academy to Close . . 20 November 1915. .
  20. Book: Sargent, Porter E. A Handbook of the Best Private Schools of the United States and Canada. 1915. Porter Sargent Pub., Incorporated. Boston. 77. en. Google Books.
  21. Web site: Oberlin College | 175th Anniversary. www2.oberlin.edu.
  22. 42837681. Education in Action. The Journal of Education. 109. 19. 541–543 . 1929 . 10.1177/002205742910901913. 220788846.
  23. Book: Shannon, Ronald. ProfilesOhio History: A Legacy of African American Achievement. June 3, 2008. iUniverse. Google Books. 9780595477166.
  24. Blodgett. Geoffrey. July 1968. John Mercer Langston and the Case of Edmonia Lewis: Oberlin, 1862. The Journal of Negro History. The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. 53. 3. 201–218. 10.2307/2716216. 2716216. 149831946.
  25. Book: Lewis, Sinclair. Main Street. February 2, 1924. Lulu.com. Google Books. 9781105992056.
  26. Web site: george herbert mead . umhistory.dc.umich.edu.
  27. Web site: Oberlin College Libraries - Documenting the Wright brothers through the.... Oberlin College Libraries.
  28. https://zanesvilletimesrecorder.newspapers.com/image/286396855/?clipping_id=141291704&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjI4NjM5Njg1NSwiaWF0IjoxNzA5NDczNzY0LCJleHAiOjE3MDk1NjAxNjR9.reuBnNEAwIqqrm2S-f6z78OQsMVeZt3iecYS6nQoFNk
  29. Book: Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. February 3, 2003. Infobase Publishing. Google Books. 9781438130170.
  30. Web site: Feature Photo: The Wright Side of History. Adam. Gittin. April 29, 2016.
  31. News: Rasmussen . Frederick . She achieved her goals Educator: Fannie Jackson Coppin made a name for herself by teaching and job-training African-Americans in the late 19th century. Baltimore's college is named for her . . 10 February 2001. .

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