HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Oberlin Academy Preparatory School, originally Oberlin Institute and then Preparatory Department of Oberlin College, was a private preparatory school in
Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of the ...
which operated from 1833 until 1916. It opened as Oberlin Institute which became
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 ...
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. 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,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. 27 years before Oberlin High School. Public high schools were uncommon at the time, and as a result, many colleges found that their incoming students were poorly prepared for their academic studies. This led some colleges to establish their own high schools, organized as preparatory departments of the college. 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 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 ...
. The undergraduate education program continued afterwards as a preparatory school sometimes referred to as "prep". 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. Sarah Watson, the first African American woman to attend Oberlin, enrolled in the Preparatory Department in 1842. Between 1833 and 1865, at least 140 black women studied at Oberlin, most of them in the Preparatory Department. 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 Edward Henry Fairchild (1815–1889) was an American educator and abolitionist. He served as principal of Oberlin Academy and as president of Berea College. Early years Fairchild was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His father was Grandison F ...
was the school's principal from 1853 until 1869. An
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 ...
, he went on to become president of
Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. Berea College charges no tuition; every adm ...
, a coeducational and integrated institution in Kentucky. John Fisher Peck also served as the school's principal. His daughter, Emily Peck, tutored Latin and Greek at the preparatory department and was an artist who depicted fellow Oberlin alums in sculpture.
Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
, who had close ties to Oberlin College and hired teachers from the school at
Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...
, sent his son Ernst to Oberlin Academy in 1904 and 1905. 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. In 1912 a new building opened for the academy and the Oberlin Academy Alumni Association was organized. The school was removed from campus from 1912 to 1916 and occupied the Johnson mansion (now known as Johnson House) on South Professor Street in Oberlin. The Johnson House is now the Hebrew Heritage House, a college residence for Jewish students. In 1915, the college announced that it would close the Preparatory Academy. In that same year, the academy was listed in ''A Handbook of the Best Private Schools of the United States and Canada,'' which stated:


Alumni

Alumni include: *
Calvin Brainerd Cady Calvin Brainerd Cady (June 21, 1851 – May 29, 1928) was an American musician, music teacher, leading educational philosopher and writer of the progressive era of education in his subject area. Cady founded the music department at the University ...
, musician, educator, and writer *
Jacob Dolson Cox Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr. (October 27, 1828August 4, 1900), was a statesman, lawyer, Union Army general during the American Civil War, Republican politician from Ohio, Liberal Republican Party founder, educator, author, and recognized microbiologist ...
,
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
general, politician, and microbiologist *
John Dube John Langalibalele Dube (22 February 1871 – 11 February 1946) was a South African essayist, philosopher, educator, politician, publisher, editor, novelist and poet. He was the founding president of the South African Native National Congress ( ...
, founder of the South African Native National Congress *
Richard Theodore Greener Richard Theodore Greener (1844–1922) was a pioneering African-American scholar, excelling in elocution, philosophy, law and classics in the Reconstruction era. He broke ground as Harvard College's first Black graduate in 1870. Within three ye ...
, Harvard College graduate and dean of
Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...
*
James Monroe Gregory James Monroe Gregory (January 23, 1849 – December 17, 1915) was a Professor of Latin and Dean at Howard University. During the American Civil War, he worked in Cleveland for the education and aid of escaped slaves. He initially attended Oberlin ...
*
Luther Gulick (physician) Luther Halsey Gulick Jr. (1865–1918) was an United States of America, American physical education instructor, international basketball official, and founder with his wife of the Camp Fire Girls, an international youth organization now known ...
*
Charles Robert Hager Rev. Dr. Charles Robert Hager (October 27, 1851 - July 13, 1917) was a Swiss-born American missionary sent to Hong Kong and China by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to start the Hong Kong Mission (later renamed as ...
* Forrest M. Hall *
William W. Hannan William Washington Hannan (July 4, 1854 – December 24, 1917) was a real estate developer and the first president of the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges (now National Association of Realtors). Early years Hannan was born in Ro ...
*
Ellen Hayes Ellen Amanda Hayes (September 23, 1851October 27, 1930) was an American mathematician and astronomer. She was a controversial figure, not only because of being a female college professor, but also for embracing many radical causes. Early life Ha ...
*
Robert Maynard Hutchins Robert Maynard Hutchins (January 17, 1899 – May 14, 1977) was an American educational philosopher. He was president (1929–1945) and chancellor (1945–1951) of the University of Chicago, and earlier dean of Yale Law School (1927–1929). His& ...
*
John Mercer Langston John Mercer Langston (December 14, 1829 – November 15, 1897) was an American abolitionist, attorney, educator, activist, diplomat, and politician. He was the founding dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department ...
, first African American congressman from Virginia *
Edmonia Lewis Mary Edmonia Lewis, also known as "Wildfire" (c. July 4, 1844 – September 17, 1907), was an American sculptor, of mixed African-American and Native American ( Mississauga Ojibwe) heritage. Born free in Upstate New York, she worked for most of ...
*
Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...
*
George Herbert Mead George Herbert Mead (February 27, 1863 – April 26, 1931) was an American philosopher, Sociology, sociologist, and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatism, pragmati ...
*
Byron R. Newton Byron Rufus Newton (August 4, 1861 – March 20, 1938) was an American journalist, political figure, early aviation promoter, and author of Satire, satirical poetry. He was the publicity director of Woodrow Wilson's presidential campaign in 1912 ...
, journalist who attended from 1862 to 1864 *
Benjamin F. Randolph Benjamin Franklin Randolph (1820 – October 16, 1868) was an American educator, army chaplain during the Civil War,Methodist minister, newspaper editor, and politician who served as a state senator in the early part of the Reconstruction Er ...
*
Josiah T. Settle Josiah "Joe" Thomas Settle (September 30, 1850 – August 21, 1915) was a lawyer in Washington, D.C., Sardis, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee. He was a part of Howard University's first graduating class in 1872. In 1875, he moved to Mississ ...
*
Henry H. Straight Henry Harrison Straight (July 20, 1846 – November 17, 1886) was an American geologist, professor, second president of Peru State College, and the father of investment banker and diplomat Willard Dickerman Straight. Early life Henry Harrison S ...
*
Eloise Bibb Thompson Eloise Bibb Thompson (June 26, 1878 – January 8, 1928) was an American educator, playwright, poet, and journalist. She married fellow journalist and activist Noah D. Thompson. Early life Eloise Alberta Veronica Bibb was born in New Orleans, Loui ...
*
Katharine Wright Katharine Wright Haskell (August 19, 1874 – March 3, 1929) was the younger sister of aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright. She worked closely with her brothers, managing their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, when they were away; acting as ...


Faculty

Teachers included: *
Sarah Cowles Little Sarah F. Cowles Little (March 6, 1838 – January 16, 1912) was an American educator from the U.S. state of Ohio. She served as Superintendent of the Wisconsin School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Janesville, Wisconsin. Early years and ...
* Edgar Fauver *
Fanny Jackson Coppin Fanny Jackson Coppin (October 15, 1837 – January 21, 1913) was an American educator, missionary and lifelong advocate for female higher education. One of the first Black alumnae of Oberlin College, she served as principal of the Institute for C ...
, the "first black teacher in the preparatory department."


Notes


References


Further reading

*Descriptive Pamphlet of Oberlin Academy (1912), a special pamphlet issued to publicize the donation of Charles Martin Hall * * * {{authority control Preparatory schools in Ohio 1833 establishments in Ohio 1916 disestablishments in Ohio