James Harris Fairchild (1817–1902) was an American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, author, and third president of

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

Biography

Fairchild was born in

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is h ...

, on November 25, 1817.Fairchild, James
in ''

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'' (1901–1902 edition); via

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His father was Grandison Fairchild. Two of his brothers were Henry Fairchild and

George Fairchild George Thompson Fairchild (October 6, 1838 – March 16, 1901) was an American educator and university president. Fairchild was the son of Grandison Fairchild. George was born on a farm in rural Lorain County, Ohio, and graduated with two degr ...

, both of whom became college presidents. Soon after his birth his parents moved to Brownhelm,

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, and settled on a farm about ten miles from the present site of

. When Oberlin opened its doors in 1834, Fairchild entered as a freshman. He graduated in 1838. The year after graduation he was appointed tutor in the college, was ordained in 1841, and in 1842 became professor of Latin and Greek. In 1847, he was transferred to the chair of mathematics, and in 1858 to that of theology and moral philosophy. A committed

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, Fairchild played a role in the famous Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. In September 1858, he hid fugitive slave John Price in his home. A short time later, rescuers took Price to freedom in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 1866, Fairchild became the third president of Oberlin College. During his tenure, the faculty and physical plant of the college expanded dramatically. In 1889, he resigned as president but remained as chair of

systematic theology Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topi ...

. In 1896, Fairchild returned to the Oberlin leadership as acting President, serving until 1898. Fairchild's wife, Mary Fletcher Kellogg, was one of the first group of four women to be admitted to a college in the United States. She was the only one who didn't graduate, as her father's business failed. Her family moved to a frontier area of Louisiana, and Fairchild, who'd known her while they were students at Oberlin, came down and married her in November 1841. Fairchild wrote a history of Oberlin, which was published in 1883. He also wrote works on philosophy. A biography of Fairchild, ''James Harris Fairchild: or Sixty-Eight Years with a Christian College,'' was written by

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and published in 1907.Open Library entry on this book
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Bibliography

*
The Coeducation of the Sexes
', 1867 *

', 1883 *
Moral science; or, The philosophy of obligation
', revised edition, 1892. First published in 1869 as ''Moral philosophy; or, The science of obligation.'' * ''Elements of theology, natural and revealed''

References

Notes

Sources consulted

* ''National Cyclopaedia'' biography (public domain')
Fairchild entry
World Cat

External links

* 1817 births 1902 deaths Oberlin College alumni Oberlin College faculty

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...