Oberlin Women and Antebellum Social Movements

History 266
Oberlin College

Professor Carol Lasser
Technical Assistant Courtney McGee

Navigation

Introduction

I. Getting to Oberlin: Backgrounds and Experiences of Early Women in Oberlin College and Colony

II. Social Movements and Social Commitments: Women and their Organizations in Antebellum Oberlin College

III. The Voices of Oberlin Women: Making Their Own Case

IV. Oberlin Women of Color and the Struggle for Racial Equality

V. Oberlin Scandals and the Circumscription of the Female Sphere: Women and (Mis)Behavior in an Evangelical Community

Bibliography

First Version of the History 266 Site 

Key to Transcription Symbols

Class Syllabus

Women in Social Movements Links

Women and Social Movements in the Unites States (Binghamton University)

Stanton and Anthony Mini-Edition (University of South Carolina)

Making of America (University of Michigan)
Oberlin/Ohio History Links

Guide to Women's History in the Oberlin College Archives

Oberlin College Archives

Electronic Oberlin Group

O.H.I.O.

Ohio Historical Society

Special Thanks

Berkshire Conference of Women Historians

Oberlin College OCTET

Open Source Web Design

Welcome to History 266 at Oberlin College!

[abstract]

I. Getting to Oberlin: Backgrounds and Experiences of Early Women in Oberlin College and Colony

     1. Mrs. Rudd's Address to the Female Colchester Society, 1811/2
               (Anthony Davis)

     2. Sally Rudd to Caroline Mary Rudd, March 26, 1836
               (Anthony Davis)

     3. Mary Mahan to Theodore Dwight Weld, February 21, 1836
               (Robbie Fee-Thomson)

     4. Hannah Maria Warner to Andrew Warner Jr., March 15, 1841
               (Polly Hubbard)

     5. Mary Sheldon Compositions:
               (Ann Avouris)

               a. Before Oberlin matriculation
                         1. "Dueling," 1842
                         2. "Tight Lacing," 1842
               b. "Women and Politics," 1848: An Oberlin Perspective

II. Social Movements and Social Commitments: Women and their Organizations in Antebellum Oberlin College

     1. The Ladies Literary Society, By-Laws, 1859
               (Katie Shilton)

     2. The Oberlin Female Moral Reform Society
               (Jen Malkowski)

               a. 1840 Annual Report
               b. 1855 Annual Report

     3. The Oberlin Ladies Antislavery Society: Mary Sheldon, "Our Duty to the Oppressed," May 28, 1850
               (Ann Avouris)

     4. A Missionary Career: Letters of Lucy Angela Woodcock, OC 1852, from her American Missionary Association post in Jamaica, WI
               (Tessa Levine-Sauerhoff)

               a. December 20, 1859
               b. December 30, 1862
               c. November 28, 1863

III. The Voices of Oberlin Women: Making Their Own Case

     1. The Power of the Pen: Frances Hazen, "Young Women," 1859
               (Katie Shilton)

     2. Speaking Out at Graduation
               (Robbie Fee-Thomson)

               a. Did Mary Raley Speak? An Explanation with Exhibits
                         1. Mary Raley Cravath Photograph
                         2. 1858 Commencement Program
               b. Women and the Graduation of 1861
                         1. "Commencement Exercises," Oberlin Evangelist, September 11, 1861
                         2. "The Book of Nature," Commencement Essay by Ella S. Risley, 1861

IV. Oberlin Women of Color and the Struggle for Racial Equality

     1. The Ladies Board Proceedings: A Sidewalk Scuffle in July 1851
               (Alexis Milinusic)

     2. The Edmondson Sisters, Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Cowles Family: Freed Women and their Sponsors
               (Julie Libes)

               a. Harriet Beecher Stowe to Mary Cowles, August 4, 1852
               b. Harriet Beecher Stowe to Mary Edmondson, October 2, 1852
               c. Emily Edmondson to Mary and Henry Cowles, June 3, 1853

     3. Educational Opportunity for Young Children of Color; Letters between Waldo Johnson and Henry Cowles
               (Emily Wexler)

               a. March 20, 1855
               b. May 26, 1855

     4. Louisa Alexander, Oberlin Women, and the Teaching of Freed People
                (Emily Wexler)

               a. Mary Ann Parker Dascomb to George Whipple, September 19, 1865
               b. Louisa Alexander to George Whipple, October 5, 1865
               c. Francis Cardozo to [Samuel Hunt], [1865]

V. Oberlin Scandals and the Circumscription of the Female Sphere: Women and (Mis)Behavior in an Evangelical Community

     1. The Tribulations of Emily Pillsbury Burke, 1850-1
               (Anna Clausen)

               a. Letter of Mary Jane Churchill to "Brother and Sister," January 25, 1850
               b. Appeal of Emily Burke to the Board of Trustees, n.d.

     2. The Church Trial of Eliza and Ebenezer Penfield
               (Mike Small)

               a. Mrs. Penfield's Charges Against her Husband, 1852
               b. Report of the Church Committee on the Case of Mrs. Maria Penfield, December 3, 1852

     3. Cornelia Bardwell and the Questions of Slander

               a. The Oberlin Church Case
                         (Kristen Marzolo)
                         1. Transcript of Hearing, December 12, 1853
                         2. Report of Congregational Church, February 8, 1854

               b. Cornelia Bardwell's Charges against Mrs. Rice: A Report on a Hearing Before the Ladies Board, October 17, [1859]
                         (Alexis Milinusic)

 

Content questions? Contact Carol Lasser

Technical questions? Contact Courtney McGee