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CHARLOTTE BAKER TO RECEIVE OBERLIN COLLEGE 2002 COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
MAY 2, 2002-- The recipient of Oberlin College's 2002 award for distinguished service to the community is Charlotte Owens Baker.
"Mrs. Baker is a model citizen who epitomizes the ideals that Oberlin has stood for historically: equal rights for all; dedication to making the world a better place; diligence in the pursuit of private and public goals," says Oberlin History Professor Gary Kornblith, who will present her for the award at Oberlin's commencement ceremony May 27.
Mrs. Baker has long been a leader in the struggle for social justice. In the 1950s, denied the right to bowl at Stoneys in Elyria, she and her sister enlisted Oberlin students and other citizens to demand integration of the establishment. Stoneys relented and Mrs. Baker soon became the first African American to sit on the Elyria Bowling Association Board.
During the 1960s Mrs. Baker was involved in the local NAACP's successful campaigns to end discriminatory hiring practices at Fisher's grocery store and the GTE Telephone Company and was the first African-American office worker at Gilford Instruments. She also helped to establish the Host Family Program for black students attending Oberlin College, and she was active with the YWCA, AFS, and Girls Scouts.
Mrs. Baker is treasurer of the local chapter of the NAACP and president of the local chapter of the National Association of Negro Business and professional Women's Clubs, which awarded her its Sojourner Truth award in 2001. She also received the 1998 Community Service Award from the Ohio Chapter of the Alpha Theta Sorority.
Mrs. Baker sits on the boards of the Cable Co-op, Friends of the Oberlin Public Library, and Oberlin Community Services. During the recent Community Services capital campaign former Oberlinians located throughout the country responded "with a remarkable outpouring of love as well as money to her personal solicitations," says Kornblith.
A member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Mrs. Baker has been a Sunday school teacher, church youth leader, and member of the Board of Christian Education. She has been a grandparent reader at Eastwood School, and has volunteered for many years at Allen Memorial Hospital (now the Allen Medical Center).
The daughter of the late Elmer Owens and Rosanna Reed Owens and a graduate of Oberlin High School, Mrs. Baker grew up in Oberlin during the Great Depression. Though trained for work as a secretary, because of her race she was unable to obtain a clerical position and obtained employment as a molder at General Industries during World War II.
She then worked at the Co-op Grocery Store, where she rose to manager of the Credit Union. She later owned and operated the Quick and Delicious Restaurant, and for the past dozen years has worked at the Oberlin Subway shop. She has been married to Norman Baker for 55 years. Their daughter Joyce Baker Gates, graduated from Oberlin College in 1973.
Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli
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