BA, Oberlin College, 1963, History

Now trying to recover a short part of the past life of Oberlin, I have relied heavily upon The Oberlin Review for factual data and insight into the atmosphere of the times. By spot-checking the other town newspapers, The Oberlin Tribune and The Oberlin News with The Review, I concluded that the review is a reasonably reliable source. To help construct the skeletal chronology of events I turned two other periodicals besides The Review. These included the Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer, The Oberlin College Alumni Magazine, and The Oberlin College Bulletin. These contained such valuable information as the nature of and the enrollment in college classes, geographical distribution of students, reports of the various departments, summaries of the events at Oberlin, and the college calendar. Secondary sources such as Donald Love's Henry Churchill King of Oberlin, the often inaccurate master's thesis of Katherine Hyde, The Colleges in the World War, and Allan Bailey's Mock Conventions in Oberlin 1860-1932 offered supporting material and a few insights.

Committee: Geoffrey Blodgett (Advisor) Subjects: History

BA, Oberlin College, 1989, Anthropology

This thesis concerns Oberlin local legend, its forms and functions. It focuses on one of the vital legends in Oberlin, the local/historic legend of the Oberlin Wellington Rescue, about the town's efforts to send a recaptured slave to freedom. The event occurred in 1858, twenty-five years after Oberlin's founding. This incident was instrumental in "putting Oberlin on the map," it helped to precipitate the abolition of the Fugitive Slave Act. The legend has been associated with the better known story of the John Brown Rebellion, a contemporary historical tale that also has Oberlin origin.The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue has been popular for over one hundred years, and its telling has become an Oberlin tradition; it is a part of the seventh graders' local history curriculum, and often Bill Long, the town expert on the legend and my prime informant, is invited to retell the story for the middle school children. It is also recalled during Oberlin's Heritage Days Celebration during the summer. Long has used the legend to help Oberlinians come to terms with the events of the McCarthy era and to help them understand their relation to Martin Luther King's dream.The Rescue legend has assumed many forms that some would not classify as legend. Bill Long has written two plays on the Rescue, one of which has been acted out repeatedly in Oberlin. He is looking for a larger, outside audience for the presentation of his more imaginative second version. So far he has been unsuccessful. In the process of looking for an audience, Long contacted a novelist, Nat Brant. Brant took an interest in the story, but not in Long's play, and is now writing his own monograph on the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. In the monograph the Rescue story leaves the realm of legend and will probably become a combination of national folktale and history in its reception into the mass culture.This thesis is in part an acceptance of Alan Dundas' invitation to future folklorists and anthropologists to begin to interpr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jack Glazier (Advisor) Subjects: American History; History

BS, Kent State University, 2008, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

During the uneasy years predating the American Civil War, self-proclaimed prophets and messengers of God traveled the frontier proclaiming their interpretations of truth as revealed through Protestant Christianity. As they attempted to convert the nation, they conceived American utopias which, constructed within a sacred history of Christianity, played an important role in redefining the religion in North America. As part of the process of establishing these utopias, individuals interested in the conversion of society utilized and revised the “New Haven” theology of Yale College, from which would emerge a reconstructed concept of “sanctification” in Oberlin, Ohio. These individuals would use this theology to form the basis for their attempts to reform society, applying religious meaning to social action. In Lorain County, Ohio, we can observe these changes in religious thought and practice as numerous “religious virtuosi” carried out social action which they considered to be bound to a sacred history. In tandem with social action would come ecclesiastical conflict, tearing the New England Plan of Union asunder. This thesis is interested in how reformers' attempts to create heaven on earth would result in conflict highlighted by a series of events which would ultimately change the religious landscape of the county as it contributed to and reflected the changing face of religion in America.

Committee: David Odell-Scott PhD (Advisor); Guy E. Wells PhD (Advisor); Leonne Hudson PhD (Committee Member); Leslie Heaphy PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; History; Religious History

PHD, Kent State University, 2016, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History

Giles Shurtleff died in the early 20th Century a local hero. His life, which had been followed with great interest in his adopted hometown of Oberlin, Ohio, was filled with military feats of glory. Breveted Brigadier General, Shurtleff's war story was well known. He was a recent graduate of the college, and a tutor of Latin when the Civil War began. Shurtleff led a company of Oberlin boys into the conflict, only to be captured at his first major engagement. Although his actions helped save many in his regiment, Shurtleff was off to several Confederate prisons over the next year. When he was released, instead of returning to the Oberlin regiment, he became a staff officer of General Orlando Wilcox, and was on the front lines during the Union disaster at Fredericksburg. Sickness took him out of the service, but only briefly. The Oberlininte returned to lead a regiment of black soldiers in a desperate battle where he was seriously wounded while leading his men to victory. Upon his recovery, Shurtleff returned to his men, and served his country with enormous dedication. This story was well known. Shurtleff's life story, however, is quite a bit larger than his impressive military career. He entered Oberlin virtually penniless, and worked his way through the school's preparatory department, college department, and graduate school. His impressive work resulted in job offers from Oberlin and at least one other college. He returned to Oberlin after the war to teach, and became a very successful fund raiser for the school and was named its treasurer. He retired as a prominent Oberlinite and a trustee of the college. As the Civil War receded into memory, Shurtleff remained on view in Oberlin, as a bronze sculpture of him remains one of the few statues of a human in that college town known for its artistic temperament. Shurtleff's story is significant for much more than just the compelling narrative of his life. In addition to his obvious importance in Ohi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Leonne Hudson PhD (Advisor); Bradley Keefer PhD (Committee Member); Clarence Wunderlin PhD (Committee Member); Babacar M'Baye PhD (Committee Member); Landon Hancock PhD (Committee Chair) Subjects: History

BA, Oberlin College, 2008, Economics

As concern over global climate change and fears of rising energy costs permeate our collective and individual decision making, more and more private institutions are seeking out innovative and feasible solutions to meet these issues. Many colleges and universities throughout the United States have been among the first private and public institutions to dedicate themselves to positions of climate neutrality and have begun to incorporate the ethics of conservation and commitment to environmental sustainability into their primary objectives. To date nearly five hundred institutions of higher education have signed the American College and Universities Climate Change Commitment, pledging to take immediate and prolonged action to reduce their foot print of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Undoubtedly many of these schools will be able to implement extensive and inexpensive improvements in the efficiency of current facilities and practices in order to meet their objectives. However for those that have committed to complete climate neutrality, such as Oberlin College, additional measures extending beyond the traditional endeavors of an educational institution may also become necessary. One such option that has received attention from the Oberlin community is the construction of a utility scale wind turbine. Although there are many other alternatives that the College may investigate, the choice to be considered here is between investing in a wind turbine or purchasing carbon offsets commercially. Naturally the college faces tradeoffs as it allocates its budget between turbines, offsets, and its myriad other operational activities, so a cost benefit analysis is particularly useful in comparing the advantages and disadvantages of investment in various turbine models. This paper addresses several primary objectives. First, the analysis conducted here will update previous research on the topic of the viability of wind power in Oberlin by incorporating spot mark (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jordan Suter (Advisor); Barbara Craig (Other); Hirschel Kasper (Other); David Cleeton (Other); Shreemoy Mishra (Other); John Scofield (Other) Subjects: Alternative Energy; Economic Theory; Economics

BA, Oberlin College, 1994, Sociology

Due to changing demographics in the United States' elderly population,adequate senior housing is becoming a major concern for an increasing number of Americans. Issues and concerns of housing are related to a multitude of issues surrounding aging including the retention of one's independence and adaptation to age-related changes, the physical, the cognitive, the environmental. One of the most recent developments in senior housing is the continuing care retirement community (CCRC). This research focuses on Kendal at Oberlin, a newly constructed CCRC in Oberlin, Ohio. Methodologically, data were gathered with resident-targeted and management and staff-targeted surveys. Research goals include delineating resident needs,expectations, and desires, their interaction with and relation to management and staff members, and exploring socialization factors involved in community formation. Analyses indicate that independence is a central underlying factor for most issues, concerns, and attitudes surrounding moving to and participating in the Kendal at Oberlin community. Residents share a rather homogeneous set of descriptive characteristics and attitudes suggesting anticipated high levels of community cohesiveness as well as a potential for conflict with the also relatively homogeneous management and staff population. Community formation is being fueled by the excitement of creating a new community and by the wide-spread respect and reverence for Quaker values and philosophies on which the institution is founded. Future developments of this research should include longitudinal analyses of the Kendal at Oberlin community, a prime target of focus due to its currently unique position as a newly opened CCRC.

Committee: Daphne John (Advisor) Subjects: Gerontology; Sociology

BA, Oberlin College, 1987, History

The preceding section is the human evidence behind this paper: what did the Great Depression feel like? What was it like to live in a Hooverville? To travel across the country in a rundown Jalopy? To Jump freight trains and live in box cars? To go on relief? What impact did the depression have on the national and individual psyche? Many authors have dealt with these questions, so why do it again? First, this thesis represents a attempt to draw together all the information for myself. Second, it is also an endeavor to find what people considered then (and perhaps still do) most important in their lives. Third, it may lead to a deeper understanding of what sort of society entered the depression and how the depression changed it. The first thing to be discussed is the economics of the depression. Most importantly, Just what is a depression? No one seems to know. Economists have agreed on a definition for the term recession, but have not reached a consensus on the term depression. Five different handbooks of economics give five different definitions of the word ranging from "a severe slowdown in the economy," to "a long lasting recession in economic activity". Perhaps the best way to define a depression is to list its characteristics. Generally, business activity is far below normal, there is great pessimism among business and consumers alike, there is a sharp curtailment of production, little capital investment, contraction of credit, falling prices, mass unemployment, and a high rate of business failures.

Committee: Geoffrey Blodgett (Advisor) Subjects: American History; Economic History

BA, Oberlin College, 1978, History

Oberlin College is frequently mentioned in connection with women's education, women's rights, or the struggle for women's emancipation. The following passage from the 1834 First Circular is invariably cited: Oberlin's founders strove for"… the elevation of female character, by bringing within the reach of the misjudged and neglected sex, all the instructive privileges which hitherto have unreasonably distinguished the leading sex from theirs." Discussions seek to prove either that Oberlin is to be praised for its correct and "liberated" goals, or that it is to be condemned for hypocrisy in not going as far as publicized in the First Circular. A brief survey of the literature concerning women at Oberlin clarifies what is lacking in the analysis. One strand of thought applauds the coming of coeducation for opening up new paths for American women. James Fairchild, at various times student, teacher, and president of Oberlin College, found himself the defender of Oberlin's experiment, and of coeducation in general. Twenty years after criticizing women who spoke in public, he became the spokesman for coeducation, on the grounds that it worked."

Committee: Barbara Steinson (Advisor) Subjects: American History; Higher Education; Religion, History of

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

BA, Oberlin College, 2021, Environmental Studies

Food waste represents significant amounts of money, energy, and natural resources throughout its lifecycle from production to disposal. Diverting the quantity of food waste sent to landfills is necessary to address the growing strain on resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study was a collaborative effort between the City of Oberlin and Oberlin College designed to identify challenges and benefits to establishing a pilot municipal composting program. Establishing a citywide composting program will help Oberlin achieve its goal of carbon neutrality. We used food audits, stakeholder interviews, and emissions reduction models to better understand the best approach to municipal composting in Oberlin. We found that our partner organizations face a variety of challenges to successfully participate in food waste composting. The study concludes with recommendations for the pilot program and expansion of citywide composting in Oberlin.

Committee: Cynthia McPherson Frantz (Committee Member); Roger H. Laushman (Committee Member); Linda Arbogast (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Sustainability; Urban Planning

BA, Oberlin College, 2020, Archeological Studies

Housed in Oberlin College's Religion department, the Oberlin Near East Study Collection encompasses a wide variety of archaeological material from the Southern Levant. Its roughly 650 artifacts encompass a vast time span from the Epipaleolithic to the Modern Period with most objects coming from the Iron Age. As a teaching collection, the objects were used to vivify Biblical texts for generations of students in Oberlin's School of Theology and later in the College's department of Religion. Starting in the 1980s, the collection began to receive only limited use with its contents being largely forgotten. This thesis utilizes the collection's artifacts, archival documentation, and secondary sources to reconstruct the history of how the collection was assembled and how it was used to teach at Oberlin College. By focusing on these themes, the collection can be used as a proxy to better understand a chapter in the field of Biblical Archaeology as well as the wide variety of collecting strategies employed by Biblical Archaeologists.

Committee: Cynthia R. Chapman (Advisor); Amy Vlassia Margaris (Advisor) Subjects: Archaeology; Biblical Studies; Museum Studies; Religion

BA, Oberlin College, 2020, Economics

This paper studies the personal characteristics and factors that determine alumni giving using a dataset from Oberlin College from 1974-2019. Liberal arts colleges like Oberlin are especially dependent on gifts to cover operating expenses and fund endowments as they don't receive direct public funding. Using Logit and Tobit regression, I find that females, graduates, age, alumni whose spouse attended Oberlin, being married, and GPA are associated with higher giving. Media coverage in years when Oberlin faces bad press lowers giving. The state charitable tax deduction increases giving on the intensive margin (total amount donated) but not the extensive margin (likelihood to give). Additionally, findings suggest taking longer to graduate, enrollment in the Conservatory, and living in rural areas are associated with lower giving. Athletics, race, and undergraduate financial aid do not affect giving.

Committee: Barbara J. Craig Professor (Committee Chair); Ron Cheung Professor (Advisor); Martin Saavedra Professor (Advisor) Subjects: Economics

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2020, History

Ohio politics during the Reconstruction era has received sparse treatment by historians. Not until 1970 with Felice Bonadio's North of Reconstruction was there a monograph solely dedicated to Ohio politics during the era. Robert Sawrey wrote his Dubious Victory in 1992, but still the historiography on Reconstruction Ohio remains dramatically underdeveloped. In Ohio, the question of African American suffrage was the single most divisive issue facing politicians during the era. Radical Republicans brought a referendum before the people of Ohio in 1867 to change the state constitution to protect the suffrage rights of both white and black males above the age of 21. The measure failed 216,987 votes (45.9 percent) to 255,340 (54.1 percent) votes. The failure of the suffrage amendment disheartened many Radical Republicans across Ohio and the rest of the North, yet Ohio Republicans managed to elicit more support for suffrage than most states in the North. Such support did not arise randomly; it intentionally developed over a three-year period beginning after the Civil War. Two primary research questions drive this project: 1) Did suffrage become a crucial issue in the state of Ohio earlier than the existing historiography suggests, 2) why were Ohio radicals able to generate more support for black suffrage within the Republican party than in other states in the North? By showing that Republican support (through Congressional voting records, public support via speeches and letters, and by Republican-sympathetic papers throughout the state) for black suffrage existed in significant numbers in 1865 (prior to 1866-1867, as Bonadio, Sawrey and others suggest) in both the Western Reserve and in other parts of the state and only continued to grow until the referendum in the fall of 1867, this project will argue that black suffrage was not only being pursued by radicals, but ultimately by the vast majority of the Republican party. Ohio's inability to secure black suffrage with over (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Scott Martin (Advisor); Michael Brooks (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; History

BA, Oberlin College, 2019, Environmental Studies

Public art has the potential to influence people's sense of place and inspire environmental stewardship. By visiting existing public art, conducting a literature review, and creating a piece of public environmental art in an outdoor space in Oberlin, Ohio, I aim to learn how site-specific public art influences notions of place. Making connections between artworks that I have visited, public art projects that I studied and my own installation of public art, Hanging Leaves, allows me to place my art in a greater design context. I installed a collaborative, site specific piece of artwork in a public outdoor area in Oberlin, Ohio. This subtle installation of hanging clay leaves in a well-trafficked public courtyard responds to the seasons and a place-based environmental consciousness. When I made the leaves, they evoked the falling leaves of autumn and the changing seasons to winter, but their meaning shifted when the artwork was finally installed in February, and their meanings varied for the range of people who experienced the art. Over the installation period, I conducted surveys and observed public behavior in relation to Hanging Leaves. By analyzing people's responses to the artwork through four methods of analysis (descriptive, qualitative, statistical, and field observation), I explore these questions: ● How does art focused on place reflect that place and the people in it? ● How does public art (re)connect people to their place? ● What role does public art play in engaging a wide range of people? The artwork's interaction with weather and seasons prompts people to interact with it through their different senses, and their ideas of space are intimately connected to the artwork, demonstrating the range of ways that the artwork affected their senses of place. Hanging Leaves emphasizes the existing space in new ways, and causes some visitors to think more positively of the winter space. With the evaluation of Hanging Leaves, I have learned about how publi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rumi Shammin (Advisor); Karl Offen (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History; Environmental Studies; Geography

Master of Arts, Oberlin College, 1977, Sociology

The problem I set out to examine is that of the nature and use of kinship ties among Black people in Oberlin. Kinship, though we often assume -it to be a biological fact, is, in reality, cultural. Like another cultural fact, language common to all humans but· having different rules in different places, kinship is a human trait that in its cultural malleability may be organized variously. Specifically, then, what kinship ties do exist among Oberlin's Black population? Since kinship ties can be an important influence on the way people relate to one another, precisely how are these ties perceived and with what values are they imbued? Knowing that there have been Black families in Oberlin for over 100 years I was particularly interested in the patterns that may have developed among those who have built their lives here over a long period of time. If kinship ties have had any importance to these families careers I thought it should be apparent in the way they have used kinship in seeking business: success; social recognition, and political leadership. These, therefore, became subjects of my enquiries; they offer a variety of insights into the uses and limitations of kinship bonds in building a community and a culture.

Committee: (Advisor) Subjects: African Americans; Sociology

BA, Oberlin College, 2018, Latin American Studies

This project offers a new perspective for understanding the country and culture of Chile by examining the messages embedded in sport competitions. I will first detail the success of distance runner Manuel Plaza in his second-place finish at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, and analyze how Plaza's success at an international competition was adopted and interpreted to represent the entrance of Chile into modern and Western society. I will then discuss the struggle between different sections of Chilean society to create and monopolize the master narrative of the events that took place following the military coup of 1973. This section will demonstrate how sporting symbols like the National Stadium, World Cup, and Chilean national futbol team were used as the battleground to propagate these conflicting narratives. This project aims to understand how definitions of chilenidad, or Chilean identity, have evolved over time, and explore the intersection of chilenidad and sport. Drawing upon historical, political, and literary frameworks, this project advocates for the continued study of sport within the field of area studies, in order to learn from the cultural significance that sport carries.

Committee: Yago Colás (Advisor); Claire Solomon (Committee Member); Patrick O'Connor (Committee Chair) Subjects: Latin American Studies

BA, Oberlin College, 2017, Gender Sexuality and Feminist Studies

Using data from 27 interviews conducted in Fall 2016, I will show how students at Oberlin College construct queer-only spaces as sites for the formation of their queer identities. This is done through three discourses: the rhetoric of safe spaces; the ambiguity of queer as an identity label; and the positioning of a space as open or closed based on self-identification. Thus, in entering a space in which participation is contingent upon self-identification with the category “queer” (as it pertains to non-heterosexual and/or non-cis identity), students at Oberlin College are co-producing their queer identities while simultaneously forming “queer spaces.” This paper looks at 1) the ways in which Oberlin students identify as and define queer, 2) the rhetoric of queer spaces and how they are defined, talked about, advocated for, and advertised, 3) problems Oberlin students encounter with creating and participating in these queer spaces, including those specifically experienced by students of color and gay men, 4) the ways students understand and navigate through the concept of and rhetoric around “safe spaces,” 4a) how all of these factors are dealt with through a contradicting and yet reconcilable engagement with identity politics and queer theory, and 4b) how Oberlin Students are unique queer figures within a Foucauldian genealogy of queerness as always in relation to a norm.

Committee: Greggor Mattson (Advisor); Patrick O'Connor (Committee Member); Bogdan G. Popa (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Sociology; Gender; Gender Studies; Glbt Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Multicultural Education; Social Research; Sociology; Womens Studies

BA, Oberlin College, 2016, Sociology

In his 2007 book Shopping Our Way to Safety, sociologist Andrew Szasz coined the term inverted quarantine to describe a phenomenon in the way that Americans react to the changing natural environment. Inverted quarantine, or the impulse to remove one's self from perceived environmental dangers, often manifests in consumption behavior such as consuming only organic food, drinking filtered or bottled water, moving from a city to a suburb, or even being enclosed in a gated community. Although inverted quarantine may result in some form of protection, in the long run it is unsustainable in the face of the changing natural environment. Through investigations in literature and in-depth interviews with Ohio farmers, Oberlin College students, and parents in Fairfield County, Connecticut, this study examines the different way that environmental dangers are perceived and addressed across three different demographics.

Committee: Christie Parris (Advisor) Subjects: Environmental Justice; Environmental Studies; Gender Studies; Social Psychology; Social Research; Sociology

BA, Oberlin College, 2016, Psychology

In today's world where climate change consequences are apparent, we need to be searching for ways to encourage more pro-environmental behaviors. Connectedness to nature, which is the sense of kinship and sense of community with the natural world, is one factor that has been shown to promote pro-environmental behavior. While architecture types have been tested with states of well-being, they have never been assessed to examine the effects on one's connectedness to nature. This study used Seeley G. Mudd Center (Mudd) and the Adam Joseph Lewis Center (AJLC) at Oberlin College to determine whether biophilic types of architecture versus architecture without any natural aspects can heighten or lower ones sense of feeling connected to nature. Our findings suggest that the AJLC can heighten the participants' connectedness to nature, while Mudd can lower the participants' connectedness to nature scores. We also found that a person's state connectedness to nature partially mediates the relationship between building and ranking of environmental issues. Lastly, we found that there isn't any difference between actively and passively engaging with the architecture. This indicates that architecture with natural aspects can raise people's kinship with the natural world, which can promote more pro-environmental behaviors and concern for environmental issues.

Committee: F. Stephan Mayer (Advisor); Cindy McPherson Frantz (Committee Member); Paul H. Thibodeau (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture; Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Climate Change; Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Psychology; Social Psychology

BA, Oberlin College, 2016, History

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, a globally renowned German Expressionist, painted one of his most famous works, Self-Portrait as a Soldier, in 1915. Today it hangs in Oberlin College's Allen Memorial Art Museum and is greatly sought after around the world for loan exhibitions. Yet the painting did not always have such a great demand; painted during Kirchner's experience as a World War I Soldier and publicly denounced by the Nazis, the painting realized a complicated journey to the United States and its eventual global fame. So how did it arrive at where it is today and why? This paper will examine in-depth the path of this painting and along the way its failures and successes, its popularity and its defamation; it will attempt to unlock the mystery of German Expressionism's relationship to politics and ultimately project a key understanding as to why reception of contemporary German culture in the United States was much better received after World War II than before. It will demonstrate how Self-Portrait as a Soldier's political identity changed with the context of its varying environments. Most importantly it will demonstrate the ability of art to tell history in a way that politics never could.

Committee: Leonard V. Smith (Advisor) Subjects: Art History; History