December 3 “Learning and Labor”

On this day in Labor History the year was 1833. 

That was the day that the Oberlin Collegiate Institute was founded in northcentral Ohio. 

Today it is known as Oberlin College. 

The college was the project of two Presbyterian ministers John Jay Sipherd and Philo Stewart.

Their goal was to form a college based on Christian principals. 

In the early days, tuition was free and students were expected to give their labor to help sustain the school and community. 

The College motto “Learning and Labor” harkens back to that time. 

From early on the college was different than many other institutions of higher learning of its day. 

In 1835. Oberlin became the first predominantly white college admit black male students. 

Two years later, Oberlin broke new ground again, letting in women and becoming the first coed college in the nation. 

By opening its doors to black and women enrollees, Oberlin gave these students a chance to study and pursue careers that might otherwise have been closed to them. 

By the turn of the twentieth century, one third of all black professionals in the United States had graduated from Oberlin. 

In 1862, Mary Jane Patterson became the first African American woman to earn her bachelorette degree from Oberlin. 

She became a teacher and principal. 

Another black graduate, John Mercer Langston, would become the first black lawyer in Ohio and the first black congressman to represent Virginia in Washington, D.C. 

Oberlin College was also known for its stance supporting the abolition of slavery and later for supporting Civil Rights. 

The school was a stop on the Underground Railroad, which helped enslaved people escape into freedom in Canada. 

Oberlin gave people the opportunity of an education.