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Ohio inventions and firsts · First · 1833-1837

Oberlin admits women and Black students

Oberlin (founded 1833) admitted Black students from 1835 and women from 1837; George Vashon (1844) was its first Black graduate and Mary Jane Patterson (1862) the first Black woman to earn a B.A.

At a glance

Year
1833-1837
Company
Oberlin College
Place
Oberlin, Lorain County ZIP 44074 · Oberlin · Lorain County

The story

In the 1830s, most colleges closed their doors to women and to Black students. Presbyterian ministers John Jay Shipherd and Philo Stewart founded Oberlin in 1833 as a center of religious influence for missionary education, and named it for Jean-Frederic Oberlin, an Alsatian minister.

In 1835 Oberlin became one of the first American colleges to admit Black students, over resistance from some trustees who had to overcome their own prejudices. It replaced the Oneida Institute as the leading abolitionist school.

In 1837 four women, Mary Kellogg, Mary Caroline Rudd, Mary Hosford and Elizabeth Prall, entered, making Oberlin the oldest coeducational college in the nation. Three of the four graduated. In 1862 Mary Jane Patterson became the first Black woman to earn a bachelor's degree, graduating with honors.

The college's reputation for activism showed in its help for the Underground Railroad and in the 1858 Oberlin-Wellington Rescue.

Timeline

  • 1833: Oberlin is founded. (Oberlin, OH) source
  • 1835: Black students are admitted. (Oberlin, OH) source
  • 1837: Four women enter, making Oberlin the oldest coeducational college. (Oberlin, OH) source
  • 1858: The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. (Oberlin / Wellington, OH) source
  • 1862: Mary Jane Patterson becomes the first Black woman to earn a bachelor's degree. (Oberlin, OH) source

What it changed

  • Oldest coeducational college in the nation, per Wikipedia.
  • Mary Jane Patterson was the first Black woman to earn a bachelor's degree, in 1862.

Why it matters

Early coeducation and integration.

Who gets the credit is disputed

The Ohio claim. Oberlin admitted Black students from 1835 and women from 1837, and it graduated George Vashon in 1844 and Mary Jane Patterson, the first Black woman to earn a B.A., in 1862.

The other claims. The source calls Oberlin one of the first, not the first, to admit women and Black students. A competing claim for Franklin College could not be confirmed.

Places in Ohio to see

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.