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Oberlin History Timeline
1960-1979

• 1960: The "new" Oberlin High School is completed.
• 1965: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visits Oberlin and gives the College commencement address. He also receives an honorary degree from Oberlin College.
• 1965: The present-day Oberlin High School is built.
• 1965: The Historic Elm is removed after being stricken with Dutch Elm Disease.
• 1966: Oberlin's graduate-level theological school closes.
• 1966: Tappan Square is named a National Historic Landmark.
• 1967: Oberlin students opposed to the Vietnam War surround the car of a Navy recruiter. They refuse to disperse until forced to do so by the use of tear gas. Eventually thirty-six of the participants were fined, though none were jailed.
• 1970: Robert Thomas becomes the first African-American president of Oberlin City Council.
• 1972: Folk musician Pete Seeger gives the commencement address and a performance at the request of the graduating Oberlin College seniors.
• 1973: Richard Haass, later president of the Council on Foreign Affairs and holder of numerous important governmental posts, graduates from Oberlin College. Also graduating in this class was Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, a popular Oberlin staple in these post-Graham diet years.
• 1974: Julie Taymor graduates from Oberlin College. She goes on to direct the 1998 Broadway musical "The Lion King" and 2002 film "Frida."
• 1975: Morgan Street is blacktopped. It is the last street in Oberlin to be converted from brick to blacktop.