Students passing through the Oberlin Memorial Arch in front of Peters Hall on the Oberlin College campus Oberlin College is a small liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1833, and today has a student population of approximately 3,000. It is home to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, a distinguished music school. Oberlin is frequently recognized as one of the best liberal arts colleges in the United States.
Oberlin was the first college in the United States to accept African-American students regularly (1835), and was also the first coeducational institution. The first four women to enter as full students were Mary Kellogg (Fairchild), Mary Caroline Rudd, Mary Hosford, and Elizabeth Prall. All but Kellogg graduated. Oberlin has long been associated with progressive causes; many of its students were involved in the controversial Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of a fugitive slave in 1858. One historian called Oberlin "the town that started the Civil War."
The school's sports teams are called the Yeomen and Yeowomen (from "Ye O[berlin] Men). They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the North Coast Athletic Conference. Oberlin's football team was the first team coached by legendary coach John Heisman, who led the team to a 7-0 record in 1892. In modern times, however, the football team was more famous for a 40-game losing streak which ended in October 2001.
Oberlin College is a member of the Great Lakes Colleges Association and The Five Colleges of Ohio consortium, including Ohio Wesleyan University, Denison University, Kenyon College, and The College of Wooster.
Oberlin College's motto is "Learning and Labor" (see College seal, below). Its school colors are officially crimson and gold, though more often than not maroon and white are used.
History
 The Oberlin campus in 1909Both the college and the town of Oberlin were founded in 1833 by a pair of Presbyterian ministers, John Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart. The ministers named their project after Jean Frederic Oberlin, an Alsatian minister they both admired. Oberlin attained prominence because of the influence of its second president, the evangelist Charles Finney.
The college was built on 500 acres (2 km²) of land specifically donated by the previous owner, who lived in Connecticut. Shipherd and Stewart's vision was for both a religious community and school. For a more detailed history of the founding of the town and the college, see Oberlin, Ohio.
Notable alumni
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- Alison Bechdel (OC 1981), cartoonist
- Eric Bogosian (OC 1976), novelist
- Avery Brooks, actor
- James Burrows (OC 1962), producer and creator of Cheers
- Tracy Chevalier (OC 1984), novelist (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
- Eduardo Mondlane (OC '53), Mozambican political leader
- Stanley Cohen (Master's degree, 1945), Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine 1986)
- Danny Elfman, lead singer, Oingo Boingo
- Lee Fisher, former attorney general of Ohio
- Moses "Fleetwood" Walker, Negro League baseball player
- Kim France, editor of Lucky magazine
- William Goldman (OC 1952), novelist and screenwriter (the Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
- Jerry Greenfield (OC 1973), Co-Founder Of Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream
- Al Haig (pianist), jazz pianist
- Charles Martin Hall, co-discoverer of the electrolytic process of producing aluminium
- Ed Helms, correspondent on The Daily Show
- Bill Irwin (OC 1973), actor and clown
- Daniel Kinsey, Olympic champion in 110 m hurdles
- John Kander (OC 1951), composer, one half of the musical theater team Kander and Ebb (Cabaret and Chicago, among others)
- Romulus Linney (playwright), playwright
- Michelle Malkin, journalist and political commentator
- James McBride (novelist), author
- Josh McPhee (OC 1998), political artist and stencil art
- John Mercer Langston, early civil rights activist
- Robert Millikan, Nobel laureate (Physics 1923) for measuring the charge of the electron
- Adam Moss, editor of New York Magazine
- Liz Phair (OC 1989), rock musician
- Jane Pratt (OC 1984), creator of Sassy and Jane magazines
- W. V. Quine (OC 1930), philosopher
- David Rees, creator of My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable and Get Your War On
- Josh Ritter, American folk singer/songwriter
- Henry Roe Cloud, Native American political leader
- Carl T. Rowan (OC 1947), journalist
- Roger Sperry, Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine 1981)
- William Grant Still, composer
- Lucy Stone, feminist
- Anna Louise Strong (OC 1905), activist and author
- Julie Taymor (OC 1974), theatrical and cinematic director
- John Vinocur, foreign correspondent
- William Westervelt, writer
- Thornton Wilder, author and playwright
External links
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