History Feature:
From Covenant to Corsets -
A Peak at the Real Julia Finney Monroe and Her Family
In case you missed it at the 2007 Oberlin Heritage Center Annual Meeting, you can find the talk given by Museum Fellow Laurie Stein and Collections Assistant Prue Richards here. Learn some fascinating details about Julia Finney Monroe through recollections and receipts - for instance, that rather than dressing in the dour colors one might picture in the wholesome, stringent atmosphere of early Oberlin, she had a marked preference for the color blue! You'll see how our ongoing research helps us improve the interpretation of the Monroe House.
You might also be interested in some of these past features:
- August 2006: La Amistad Seized - August 29, 1839. Learn a less commonly known tale of La Amistad: one of the young women on board later returned to America, to Oberlin, Ohio, where she attended public school and then studied at Oberlin College.
- August 2006: National Inventors' Month. Oberlin educated two very important inventors--Charles Martin Hall and Elisha Grey. What did they invent, when, and how? Find out in this feature.
- July 2006: Oberlin's Independence Day. Till after the Civil War, Oberlin didn't celebrate Independence Day on the Fourth of July. Why not?
- Mid-June 2006: Juneteenth. During the Civil War, many slaves in the south weren't freed for quite a while after the Emanicipation Proclamation--in fact, the Emancipation Proclamation wasn't enforced in parts of Texas until June 19th, 1865--the first Juneteenth. Learn more about the history and present of Juneteenth in this feature.
- Late May/Early June 2006: Katharine Wright Haskell Fountain. Katharine Wright, little sister of the famous Wright Brothers, was an OC alumna, as well as a helper and confidant to her brothers. Check out this feature for more information on the "Wright Sister" and ongoing efforts to restore the fountain, built in her memory, on the Oberlin College campus.
- May 2006: Historic Preservation Month. Learn about historic preservation activities going on in Oberlin, Ohio, and how you can be a part of preservation nation-wide!
- April 24-30, 2006: TV-Turnoff Week. Not so long ago, EVERY day was a no-TV day. So during TV-Turnoff Week, why not look to history to figure out what to do when not in front of the "tube?"
- April 2006: Volunteer Appreciation Month. The Oberlin Heritage Center is a volunteer-powered operation. We simply couldn't function without our wonderful volunteer force! So, a HUGE thank-you to all our current volunteers. (And if you're not a volunteer yet, consider joining us--we'd love to have you on board!)
- April 2006: Keep America Beautiful Month. The Oberlin Heritage Center's predecessor organization was a village improvement and beautification society, and we continue supporting efforts to make our town and our nation a better place to live! Think about ways you can help, and also find some resources on historic gardening.
- March 2006: Women's History Month. Oberlin led the way in women's collegiate education, and Oberlin women led the way in a number of social movements, including abolition, women's rights, and temperance.
- February 2006: African-American Heritage/Black History Month. Oberlin played an important role in the Underground Railroad; Oberlin College was the first college in the nation to have a policy of race-blind admissions--in 1835.
(February 2006 was our inaugural History Feature, and the idea wasn't yet fully developed--and the page got turned into a regular page, at that! More, and expanded, History Features are on the way, though. Check back, as pictures get changed and information developed several times a week, and topics change every few weeks!)
Have a suggestion for a future Feature? Tell us about it!