Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2023, History

Between 1820 and 1860, dozens of new denominational colleges opened throughout the United States. Nowhere was this growth as dramatic as in the Old Northwest in general and in Ohio specifically. Through the mid-twentieth century, most historians saw these colleges as steps backward in the development of higher education in the United States, with faculty overly focused on theological minutiae. These denominational colleges served as the dismal backdrop against which educational reformers launched research universities, where academic inquiry was unimpeded by religious dogmatism. Since the late 1960s, however, historians have generally stressed the positive aspects of these colleges, praising them for anticipating later developments in higher education. Still, many of these newer histories neglected other aspects of antebellum colleges, such as their many non-classical programs. The college's preparatory departments and ancillary courses provided interested students with at least some level of higher education beyond the common school. These programs helped expand the reach of these institutions far beyond the relative handful of students who graduated from their collegiate programs. Other histories also convey a limited view of campus life. While literary societies were certainly popular, students also played sports and games, staged picnics, went on nature excursions, and socialized with young townswomen. Some also cheated on exams, played pranks, tormented tutors, stole food, drank alcohol, and smoked tobacco. Contrary to both the traditional view that students attended these schools almost solely to become ministers and the revisionist view that many students left campus for modern careers in business and science, young men evidently flocked to antebellum Ohio's denominational colleges in hopes of pursuing careers in one of the four traditional learned professions. Indeed, the vast majority of students who graduated from these schools became clergy (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Daniel A. Cohen (Advisor); Timothy Beal (Committee Member); John Grabowski (Committee Member); David Hammack (Committee Member) Subjects: American History

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2021, History

This thesis is case study of Miami University and its connections to slavery between its founding in 1809 and 1861. As the second college founded in Ohio, Miami University was one of the first institutions of higher education on the early national frontier and was founded more than fifty years before the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. This thesis asserts that Miami University was involved with slavery on both an ideological and financial level. The link between Miami and slavery is explored through the economic, social, and political histories of the early frontier. Case studies of students and administrators exemplify the multifaceted nature of slavery's entanglements at Miami and show how the university contributed to and profited from enslavement through tuitions, endowments, and educational curriculum. This research reveals the complexities of slavery in early Ohio and evaluates the extent of Miami's financial dependence on it.

Committee: Steven Conn, PhD (Advisor); Lindsay Schakenbach Regele, PhD (Committee Member); Helen Sheumaker, PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; American History; Economic History; Education History; History