Oberlin College Graduates Significant Black Cohort Through the 1850s

Oberlin College in Ohio, which admitted Black students since 1835, graduated dozens of African Americans through the 1850s when virtually no other American college would accept them. Oberlin alumni included John Mercer Langston, Mary Jane Patterson (first Black American woman to earn a bachelor's degree, class of 1862), and many future educators and ministers. The college's Lorain County was also a major Underground Railroad hub, and students participated in the Wellington Rescue of 1858.