aksimonart

Gone Co-ed
#91

©A.K.SIMON - "Gone Co-ed" - oil on linen - 8"x8" - $125

Thirty Days Hath September”  – 30-day Painting Challenge, Day 5 - follow the challenge at lesliesaeta.blogspot

Historical Event: September 6, 1837: Oberlin Collegiate Institute of OH goes co-ed (4 women & 30 men)

This idea came about because when thinking about going co-ed the biggest deal for me would be SHARING THE BATHROOM - yikes! But of course we all know this just meant co-ed classrooms.

I’m getting really far behind because of the magnitude of this self-imposed super challenge so I may have to do a few quick filler pieces to catch up!.

This little piece of trivia popped out at me because I am from Ohio and just happened to take an “engagement counseling” workshop at Oberlin. My soon-to-be husband and I read about a pre-marriage counseling workshop that was going on at Oberlin and decided to attend. That was almost 34 years ago (did I say that out loud?). Though I graduated from Ohio University (est. 1803) my husband is from Lorain, which is a city close to Oberlin. It is really a charming school and is known for being the first college in America to adopt a policy to admit students of color (1835) and the first to grant bachelor’s degrees to women (1841) in a co-educational program. Not to mention their awesome art museum!

Here are a few tidbits: 

Oberlin, Ohio, population 8,300; 35 miles southwest of Cleveland, Ohio

440-acre residential campus

Architecture by Henry Hobson Richardson, Cass Gilbert, J.L. Silsbee, Clarence Ward, Wallace Harrison, Minoru Yamasaki, Hugh Stubbins, Warner, Burns, Toan & Lundy, Robert Venturi, Bostwick Design Partners, Krill Company Inc., Westlake Reed Leskosky

Arts and Culture

The Allen Memorial Art Museum, with collections that place it among the top five college art museums in the nation, was established in 1917.

The Apollo Theatre, one of the few continuously running, single-screen movie houses in the country, was established in 1913.

The Main Library in Mudd Learning Center, and three other campus libraries specializing in music, art, and science , house more than 2.4 million items.

The college and conservatory sponsor more than 500 concerts and recitals, about 40 theater and dance productions, and two operas each year.