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Oberlin: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow...

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Introduction

This is the third edition of our book on Oberlin history for third grade students.

The first edition was developed by Oberlin teacher Mrs. Millie Arthrell in 1969 when she pulled together what she and others had been teaching about our town.

In 1980 a rewritten and expanded Oberlin workbook was published with Peter Hendrickson, Prospect's Principal, as editor. Millie Arthrell, Bobbie Carlson, Jan DeMarinis, Peter Hendrickson, and Richard Lothrop wrote and Lorna Kretchmar drew the illustrations for the book which was used in Oberlin third grade classes through 1995.

In 1995 a group of teachers and Oberlin townspeople began working on this updated version. The existing chapters were rewritten and expanded and two new chapters were added. The hard work of research, writing, editing, illustrating, and publishing took almost one year.

Many people helped. Millie Arthrell, Bobbie Carlson, Jean Ebosh, Susan Emery, Nadia Johnson, Marilyn Kamin, Richard Lothrop, Marly Merrill, Thelma Quinn, and Sandra Podwalny researched and wrote drafts of chapters. Val French added new drawings and John Memmott took responsibility for the photographs of present day Oberlin. Roland Baumann, Oberlin College Archivist, shared his expertise on both Oberlin history and publishing. He and his administrative assistant Tammy Martin helped the editors find appropriate illustrations from their extensive collection. Carl Jacobson of the Shansi Association helped with research and provided photographs of Obirin University. Reid Wood used his computer expertise for the detailing of maps in the first chapter. Graphic Designer Mark Gabel devoted extra hours designing the book's format , scanning all the images, and completing the desktop publishing. The teachers and principals at Prospect School provided support and encouragement to the editors.

Jan DeMarinis and Gail Wood chaired the planning meetings and supervised the revision process. Gail edited, proofread, and word-processed the chapter drafts and captioned the illustrations. Jan did the organizational legwork and kept the revision process on track. They with Jean Ebosh completed final revisions, reworded language for third grade understanding, and developed reflection pages that would extend student thinking and creativity.

This book could not have been published without the financial contributions of several sources. The Oberlin Schools Endowment Board made book preparation possible with a grant that paid for the desktop publishing preparation, a binding machine, and binding strips. The National Association of College Stores (NACS) generously prepared and donated enough beautiful covers to last many years. Gary Shapiro and Barbara Brucker at NACS were especially helpful. Funds from the Oberlin School District paid for printing expenses.

On behalf of the children of Oberlin, we editors extend our heartfelt thanks to those listed above without whom this book would not be in your hands.

To Oberlin Third Graders -

Oberlin: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. . . is yours to keep. It represents hundreds of hours volunteered by people who love this town. We hope you will share some of our excitement and curiosity.

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