Changing the world in 1886

Imagine your favorite professor giving a lecture directed at the importance of finding a specific solution, a solution to a problem that would undeniably make life better. Not too hard to imagine, is it? What if that professor directly challenged your class to find this world-changing solution? Little bit harder to imagine, hunh? Okay, here's the hard part: What if you took the professor's challenge to heart, branched out, did the needed research and found a solution to that problem? Now imagine doing all that as an Oberlin student. You imagining it? It's almost unimaginable in our day and time, but what you're imagining are the 111 year-old exploits of Obie Charles Martin Hall and his teacher, Frank Fanning Jewett.

In 1886, an Oberlin student named Charles Martin Hall changed the chemical world forever by extracting aluminum from ore. This isn't some he-did-it-so-you-can-too rant. Of course there were many structural differences between Hall's time and ours. But the impetus for Hall's discovery is one which transcends time: within college environments, it often takes productive and sometimes rigorous teacher/student relationships to change the world. Hall could not have discovered what he did, had the seed of discovery not been planted by Jewett. But seeds don't grow by themselves. They need willing soil and water. Hall wasn't the only student in the class to hear the lecture, yet he was the only one to push on and realize the dream of his professor.

Two days ago, Oberlin became a Chemical Landmark because of Hall's achievement. And at the base of this intricate chemical development was the simplicity of a wonderful working relationship between Charles Martin Hall, a student and Frank Fanning Jewett, a teacher.