Oberlin Academy Records

Collection

Identifier: RG 23

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Student admissions records (1904-16) and a variety of printed materials (1850-1916) comprise the records of the Oberlin Academy (1833-1916). Documentation for the years from 1833 to 1892, when the school was known as the Preparatory Department, is limited to printed material (found in Series II) dated 1850-92 and a small number of grade certificates from 1855-56. There are no records for the years 1833-49. The bulk of Series I, Operating Records, provides a fairly detailed and consecutive record of Academy operations from 1904 to 1916. During this period, a number of strategies were employed to increase enrollment and prevent the Academy from closing. A series of bound committee reports (1901-09), commissioned by the Board of Trustees of Oberlin College, provides an account of the Academy’s self-assessment during the final years of its operation. Of special interest in Series II, is a Report of the Secretary of the Academy (1912), housed with “Academy Publications,” and the Descriptive Pamphlet of Oberlin Academy (1912), a special pamphlet brought out to publicize the recent Charles Martin Hall donation. Programs include senior class exhibitions (1850-1916), commencement (1902-16), and debates and declamation contests (1898-1914).

Dates

Creation: 1850-1916
Creation: Majority of material found in 1901-1916
Other: Date acquired: 07/06/1967

Creator

Oberlin Academy (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Items in Series I restricted; accessible by permission of Archivist only.

Administrative History

Oberlin Academy (1833-1916), governed by the Board of Trustees of Oberlin College ("Collegiate Institute" before 1850), served as both a private secondary school and as the first of four departments of Oberlin College to admit students. Known as the Preparatory Department from 1833 to 1892, when its name was changed to the Oberlin Academy, the school prepared boys and girls beyond the elementary grades to undertake advanced work in other departments or colleges, to enter technical schools, or to begin working. For older and returning students, the Academy offered a belated secondary education or special training to advance professional careers. Academy students enjoyed the use of College facilities, but after 1891, an effort was made to go outside the College to hire Academy instructors.

Academy enrollment began to decline after 1900, reaching its lowest level in 1901-02. In 1901, Oberlin College President John Henry Barrows appointed a special committee to review the work and mission of the Academy. The position of Secretary of the Academy was created in 1909 specifically to determine the cause for the continuing decrease in enrollments. Trustee Charles Martin Hall's 1911 donation of $25,000, making possible the Academy's move to the twenty-six acre Albert H. Johnson estate on South Professor Street, failed to reverse the trend. In 1914, the faculty was cut from twenty-one to fourteen and the curriculum reduced. Rather than allow the Academy to dwindle away, the Board of Trustees voted in June of 1916 to close its doors.

Note written by Valerie S. Komor.

Extent

6.00 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The records of the Oberlin Academy were transferred to the College Archives in four separate accessions. The Academy catalogs (Oberlin Academy Calendar), attendance ledgers, and bound committee reports were received from the Secretary's Office in 1967. The typescript Papers Relating to Oberlin Academy was received from the President's Office in 1970. Student admissions records were transferred from the Registrar’s Office came in 1981. Additional material was transferred from the Oberlin College Library, Special Collections, in 2001.

Accruals and Additions

Accession No: 12, 109, 1981/19, 2001/94

Related Materials

See RG 19/3/4 for material related to the Acme and Cadmean literary societies and RG 19/3/3 for the Academy Glee Club. Also, consult the Alumni Magazine Index, located in the Special Collections card file, for issues relevant to Oberlin Academy. A report on the Preparatory Department to the Alumni, 1887, by Principal George H. White, is filed in the James H. Fairchild Papers, 2/3/1, Box 30.