A Presbyterian minister and a missionary founded Oberlin in 1833. The duo, the Rev. John J. Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart, became friends while spending the summer of 1832 together in nearby Elyria. They discovered a mutual disenchantment with what they saw as the lack of strong Christian principles among the settlers of the American West. They decided to establish a college and a colony based on their religious beliefs, ‘’where they would train teachers and other Christian leaders for the boundless most desolate fields in the West.’’
Stewart and Shipherd adopted some of the ideas of the man who inspired them: Alsatian pastor John Frederick Oberlin, who pioneered educational programs, established schools, built roads, and introduced the trades of masonry and blacksmithing throughout poor communities in France.
With their own labor and faith, combined with funding from several wealthy sources, they established the town and college with some 40 other individuals on about 500 acres of donated land. In spring 1833, the first settler, Peter Pindar Pease, built his log house at the center of Oberlin. That December, 29 men and 15 women began classes as the first students of the Oberlin Collegiate Institute.
The college soon adopted the motto "Learning and Labor.” In those days, tuition was free because students were expected to contribute by helping to build and sustain the community. The concept attracted many bright young people who would otherwise not have been able to afford tuition. Eventually this approach was discontinued, although the motto remained.
Shipherd and Stewart soon gained the support of Charles Grandison Finney, one of the great revivalists of the 19th century. Finney’s reputation as a fiery and outspoken preacher attracted many to this fledgling community. He later served as the second president of the college after social reformer and abolitionist Asa Mahan, who served from 1835-50.
The college and community thrived on progressive causes and social justice. Among Oberlin’s earliest graduates were women and Black people. While Oberlin was coeducational from its founding in 1833, the college regularly admitted Black students beginning in 1835, after trustee, abolitionist, and the Rev. John Keep cast the deciding vote to allow them entry.
Women were not admitted to the baccalaureate program, which granted bachelor’s degrees, until 1837. Prior to that, they received diplomas from what was called the Ladies Course. The college admitted its first group of women in 1837: Caroline Mary Rudd, Elizabeth Prall, Mary Hosford, and Mary Fletcher Kellogg, although Kellogg did not complete her degree in 1841 along with the others.
In 1844, George B. Vashon became the first Black student to earn a bachelor’s degree from the college, followed by Mary Jane Patterson, who in 1862 earned a BA in education, becoming the first Black woman to earn a degree from an American college.
The college experienced financial difficulties in its early years. Shipherd went on several fundraising tours to the east, while trustees John Keep and William Dawes journeyed to Britain to generate financial support. Keep and Dawes lectured about Oberlin in private homes, meeting houses, and church halls, raising funds primarily from the abolitionist community. After 18 months, they returned with $30,000 in gold—the equivalent of $640 million in today’s terms.
Those donations saved Oberlin.
Throughout the college’s history, the role of an Oberlin College president has been to provide academic and civic leadership to the college and community that are ripe for development, eager for change, and driven by a noble desire to make a difference. From Henry Brown (1834), the first acting president; to Henry Churchill King (1902-27), the longest serving; to Nancy Schrom Dye (1994-2007), the first woman; each has offered reasoned initiatives and a unique style of leadership to address the demands of the time.
In May 2017, Oberlin’s Board of Trustees appointed Carmen Twillie Ambar as the college’s 15th president. Ambar is the second woman and the first Black person to serve in this capacity.