OBERLIN COLLEGE – AFRICAN AMERICAN AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Oberlin was the first to regularly admit African American students in 1835 and women in 1837. Mary Jane Patterson was the first African American woman in 1862 to earn a B.A. degree.

The college was active in the Underground Railroad. In 1858 they were involved in the rescue of a fugitive slave that was nationally covered in the press.

Clearly the ministers that developed Oberlin College set up an institution with a passion for justice.