Suggested Reading on Oberlin
Oberlin has a lot of history for such a small and young town! If you can't make it to the Oberlin Heritage Center for a visit, or if you want more information on a selected topic, you might want to check out some of the books on this list. (Please note that this list is a work in progress: we'll be adding new titles as we become aware of them, and removing other titles if we discover that they are out of circulation. Thanks for your patience!)
Have you recently read a good book about a topic related to Oberlin history that you think we should include in this list? Let us know about it--send info via e-mail to ohioweb@oberlinheritage.org
General Oberlin History
Oberlin and African-American History
Oberlin and Women's History
Oberlin and Religion
Oberlin College & Conservatory History
General Oberlin History
Oberlin Architecture, College and Town: A Guide to its Social
History, by Geoffrey Blodgett (Oberlin: Oberlin College, 1985).
Contains brief entries about many of the buildings in Oberlin, both
the college and the town: when they were built, their architectural
style, who lived in them, and their siginificance in Oberlin's history.
Oberlin: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow..., edited by Jan DeMarinis,
Jean Ebosh, and Gail Wood (Oberlin School District, 1996).
This workbook was written to be a part of the Oberlin Public Schools'
third grade curriculum. It includes information and activities about
local geography, the pioneers of Oberlin, the Underground Railroad,
transportation, women in Oberlin, Oberlin's connection to the rest
of the world, and the future.
Oberlin: The Colony and College 1833-1883, by James Fairchild
(Oberlin: E.J., 1883).
History of the first fifty years of the college as written by James
Fairchild, the College's third president.
The Oberlin Colony: The Story of a Century, by Wilbur H.
Phillips (Oberlin: Press of Oberlin, 1933).
This book is a chronicle of Oberlin's first hundred years. Phillips
narrates the most important events of each year.
Oberlin Community History, edited by Allan Patterson (State
College, PA: Josten's Publications, 1981).
This brief volume was written to be a part of the Oberlin Public
Schools' seventh grade curriculum. It includes chapters about the
founding of Oberlin, history of African-Americans in Oberlin, businesses,
transportation, utilities, government, and architecture in Oberlin.
Leadership in a Small Town, by Aaron Wildavsky (Totowa,
NJ: Bedminster Press, 1964).
A history of the government of Oberlin, examining how the leaders
of Oberlin dealt with the issues the small town faced. Wildavsky
draws conclusions about leadership in small towns based on his case-study
of Oberlin.
Pictorial Memories of Oberlin, by the Rotary Club of Oberlin
(Oberlin, 1976).
This spiral-bound volume has many pictures of Oberlin throughout
the years, from the first buildings of the pioneers up to war protests
in the 1960s.
Oberlin and African-American History
They Stopped in Oberlin: Black Residents and Visitors in the
Nineteenth Century, by William E. Bigglestone (Scottsdale, Arizona:
Innovation Group Inc., 1981).
Contains brief biographical sketches about African-Americans who
travelled through or settled in Oberlin. This book is not only an
interesting look at the town's population, but is also very useful
for genealogists.
The Town that Started the Civil War, by Nat Brandt (Syracuse,
NY: Syracuse University Press, 1990).
The first few chapters of this book by popular historian Nat Brandt
give a good overview of the early history of the College and the
atmosphere of the town, and the remaining chapters tell the story
of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue in great detail, focusing on the
event's national significance.
John Mercer Langston and the Fight for Black Freedom, by
William F. Cheek and Aimee Lee Cheek (Urbana & Chicago: University
of Illinois Press, 1989).
This biography focuses on John Mercer Langston's life up the the
Emancipation Proclamation, focusing on his efforts to abolish slavery.
From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capital, by
John Mercer Langston (Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1894).
Later reprint editions available.
An autobiography of John Mercer Langston, the son of a Virginia
slave owner and a freed slave, ne of Oberlin's first black graduates,
Ohio's first black lawyer, and the first African-American elected
to a public office. In addition to these acheivements, he fought
hard for abolition and the rights of African-Americans.
Lewis Tappan and the Evangelical War Against Slavery, by Betram Wyatt-Brown (Cleveland: Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1969).
Fleet Walker's Divided Heart: The Life of Baseball's First Black
Major Leaguer, by David W. Zang (Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press, 1995).
Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first African-American major league
baseball player, graduated from Oberlin College in 1881. He struggled
throughout his life to overcome the racism and bigotry that hindered
his career.
Oberlin and Women's History
Friends and Sisters: Letters between Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown Blackwell, 1846- 93, edited by Carol Lasser and Marlene Deahl Merrill (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987).
Soul Mates: The Oberlin Correspondence of Lucy Stone and Antoinette
Brown 1846-1850, edited by Carol Lasser and Marlene Deahl Merrill
(Oberlin: Oberlin College, 1983).
Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown were two of Oberlin's most distinguished
alumnae. Both were prominent advocates of women's rights. Antoinette
Brown was the first woman to be an ordained Protestant minister
in the United States. The two of them began a lifelong friendship
in Oberlin, and wrote many eloquent letters to each other over the
years.
Oberlin and Religion
Massacre in Shansi, by Nat Brandt (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse
University Press, 1994).
Brandt tells the story of the Shansi Association, an Oberlin missionary
organization, and the Oberlin missionaries who died in the Boxer
Rebellion.
The Memoirs of Charles G. Finney, The Complete Restored Text,
by Charles Grandison Finney, edited by Garth Rosell and Richard
A. G. DuPuis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1989).
Finney's memoirs deal primarily with his religious and evangelistic
activities, and do not tell the complete story of his life.
Charles Grandison Finney, 1792-1875, Revivalist and Reformer,
by Keith J. Hardman (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1987).
This definitive biography of Charles Grandison Finney, the second
president of Oberlin College, tells the story of an important piece
of Oberlin's history and the religious history of the United States.
Finney was a nationally known revivalist and Christian perfectionist.
Oberlin College & Conservatory History
Oberlin Architecture, College and Town: A Guide to its Social
History, by Geoffrey Blodgett (Oberlin: Oberlin College, 1985).
Contains brief entries about many of the buildings in Oberlin, both
the college and the town: when they were built, their architectural
style, who lived in them, and their siginificance in Oberlin's history.
Oberlin: The Colony and College 1833-1883, by James Fairchild
(Oberlin: E.J., 1883).
History of the first fifty years of the college as written by James
Fairchild, the College's third president.
A History of Oberlin College from its Foundation through the
Civil War, by Robert Samuel Fletcher (Oberlin: Oberlin College,
1943; reprinted in 1971 by Arno Press of New York City.)
A thematic treatment of Oberlin's history, with many quotations
and excerpts from primary documents, including letters, diaries,
etc. Two volumes.