Dateline:


The New York Times--Oberlin is known for its ground-breaking alumni. But one alum has slipped out of the public eye. He is Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first African American to play major-league baseball. Walker was a catcher for the Toledo Blue Stockings after finishing college. In 1884 he became the first and the last African American to play in the major leagues until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier 63 years later. He played 42 games for Toledo before being injured by a foul tip.

The Washington Post--"What would become of Washington's classical music scene if the stream of fine Oberlin players ever dried up?" asked music critic Joe Banno in his review of the Washington Bach Consort's concert. The four members--Risa Browder, John Moran, Kenneth Slowik, and James Bolyard-- are all "products of Oberlin Conservatory's Baroque Performance Institute." Each earned very favorable reviews by playing period instruments in challenging ways.

Fayetteville Observer-Times (Fayetteville, N.C.)--In the 1850s, wagonloads of free blacks poured out of North Carolina and into Ohio. Many of them ended up in Oberlin, where they could gain an education for themselves and their children. Several important figures in African-American history arrived in Oberlin during this time, including the parents of Charles Waddell Chestnut and a young couple, Lewis Sheridan Leary and Mary Patterson, who married shortly after arriving in town. Chestnut went on to become one of the country's first widely appreciated African-American writers. Leary was a member of John Brown's 1859 raiding party on Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Patterson married again and raised a grandson who gave her credit for being the most important influence on his life--Langston Hughes.

The Christian Science Monitor--Education advocate Brian C. Mitchell took the news media to task for focusing on negative stereotypes about liberal arts education. For example, in an NBC segment, reporter Fred Francis claimed that "the six key words for employment for someone graduating from a liberal arts college are, 'Do you want fries with that?'" Mitchell's response began with President Dye's comments in the NBC segment. "To her credit, the president of Oberlin, Nancy Dye, responded that because the average worker changes careers so often, a good, broad liberal arts education is still a good, long-term value." Mitchell found ample information to support President Dye's statement to NBC. According to his survey, liberal arts graduates do very well throughout their careers. That's good news for Obies.

Ohio Magazine--The art museum earned an extremely positive review. "The Oberlin College Allen Memorial Art Museum's collection reads like an all-star lineup of artists." After listing a few outstanding works in the AMAM's notable collection, the praise continued. "Its wide-ranging, multicultural exhibits span the range of art history like an encyclopedia."

Architectural Record--A recent article provided a preview of the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies, soon to be built on the Oberlin campus. By using a combination of experimental and more proven technologies, Professor David Orr believes the center will be "a laboratory for closed-loop sustainability and a model for what the human role in the natural environment ought to be." Many of these mechanisms will be monitored and maintained by students, so the building will be an education in itself.

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