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Oberlin College Commencement Award Recipients and Speakers

This guide contains listings of Commencement speakers, including for the Baccalaureate ceremony. This also contains listings of Distinguished Award and Honorary Degree recipients.

Honorary Degree Recipients, 1852-1900

Honorary Degree Recipients, 1852-1900
Name Honorary Degree Year Career if Known
John M. Vincent, enr. 1841-1843 A.M.

1852

Lawyer
Quincy Adams Gillmore A.M. 1856 American Civil Engineer, Union Army General
William Bryant Brown, OC 1841 A.M. 1861 Reverend
Samuel Stanford Ashley, OC 1849 A.M. 1865 American Christian Minister, North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction
John Manning Barrows, OC 1838 A.M. 1865 Preacher
Sarah Foster Waldo Branch A.M. 1865 Educator
Joseph Taylor Cook A.M. 1865 Chaplain
Heman Geer, OC 1848 A.M. 1865 Pastor
Larmon Blakelee Lane, OC 1847 A.M. 1865 Missionary, Pastor
Stephen Cornelius Leonard, OC 1844 A.M. 1865 Educator, Pastor
Almeda Dunn Reynolds Matson A.M. 1865 Educator
Albert Milton Richardson A.M. 1865 Clergyman, Missionary, Temperance Activist
Ebenezer Tucker, OC 1844 A.M. 1865 Educator, Pastor
Joshua J. Childs A.M. 1867 Educator
Daniel Fowler DeWolf A.M 1867 Author, Farmer, Soldier
Hamilton Andrews Hill A.M. 1867 Author, Politician
Edwin Sidney Williams, OC 1865 A.M. 1868 Co-founder of Carleton College, Pastor
George North Carruthers, OC 1862 A.M. 1870 Chaplain, Missionary
John Paul Morgan A.M. 1870 Educator, Organist
Bradford Smith A.M. 1870 Educator
John Wesley White, OC 1857 A.M. 1870 Minister
James King Newton A.M. 1873 Educator, Soldier
John Phelps Cowles A.M. 1874 Government Work, Tea Merchant
Francis Albert Chatfield A.M. 1876 Postmaster, Druggist
George Frederic Thompson Cook A.M. 1877 Educator, Businessperson
David Wilson Harlan A.M. 1877 Educator
John Melville McPherron A.M. 1877 Educator, Mathamatician
Antoinette Brown Blackwell, OC 1847 A.M. 1878 Minister, Women's Rights Activist
Mary Parker Dascomb, OC 1860 A.M. 1878 First Principal of the Oberlin Female Department
Mary Ann Wattles Faunce, OC 1868 A.M. 1878 Abolitionist, Civil War Nurse, Professor of Anatomy
Martha Ellen French, OC 1870 A.M. 1878 Educator
Elisha Gray, enr. 1860-1862 A.M. 1878 Developer of Early Telephone Prototype, Electrical Engineer
Thomas F. Hicks A.M. 1878 Reverend
Ruth Estelle Hoppin, OC 1856 A.M. 1878 Educator
Adelia Antoinette Field Johnston, OC 1856 A.M. 1878 First Woman Faculty Member at Oberlin College, Oberlin College Dean of Women
Mary Atkins Lynch, OC 1845 A.M. 1878 Educator
Helen Elizabeth Martin, OC 1860 A.M. 1878 Educator
Thomas Jefferson Pringle A.M. 1878 Lawyer, Ohio State Senator
Helen Almira Shafer, OC 1863 A.M. 1878 Educator, President of Wellesley College
Mary Martha Wright, OC 1870 A.M. 1878 Assistant Principal of the Oberlin College Ladies Department, Educator
Henry Matson, OC 1861 A.M. 1879 Educator, Librarian
George Kilbon Nash A.M. 1879 Governor of Ohio, Lawyer, Soldier
Lucy Jane Rider Meyer, OC 1872 A.M. 1880 Educator, Social Worker, Co-founder of the Chicago Training School for Home and Foreign Missions
Caroline Amelia Dickson Ripley, OC 1852 A.M. 1880 Educator
John Bean Upton, enr. 1850-1853 A.M. 1880 Lawyer
Orris Hubert Warren, enr. 1854-1857 A.M. 1880 Editor, Preacher
Mary Jane Nettleton Ball, OC 1873 A.M. 1882 Assistant Principal of the Oberlin Women's Department, Educator
Martha Jane Maltby, OC 1874 A.M. 1882 Educator
John Wesley Powell A.M. 1882 Explorer, Geologist, Soldier
Leonore Congdon Schutze A.M. 1882 Geographer, Rancher
Margaret Elizabeth Stratton, OC 1878 A.M. 1882  
Emma Irene Crumrine Bishop, OC 1875 A.M. 1883  
Lyman Beecher Sperry A.M. 1883  
Ann Moody Potter, OC 1857 A.M. 1884  
Fenelon B. Rice A.M. 1884  
Lucretia Celestia Wattles A.M. 1884  
William Richards Castle A.M. 1885  
Abbie E. Cushman Hine A.M. 1885  
William Raymond Comings A.M. 1886  
Mary Helen Smith A.M. 1887  
Frederick Burt Avery A.M. 1888  
John Martin Vincent, OC 1883 A.M. 1888  
Charles Finney Cox, OC 1869 A.M. 1889  
George Eugene Albrecht, OC 1882 A.M. 1890  
Frances Cochran Hudson A.M. 1890  
Mary Louisa Patterson Manley, OC 1880 A.M. 1890  
Elizabeth Storrs Billings Mead A.M. 1890  
Sarah Candace Pearse Parker, OC 1851 A.M. 1890  
Charlotte E. Patchin Bickford, OC 1869 A.M. 1891  
Martha Ann Robinson Canfield, OC 1868 A.M. 1891  
Julia Chapin Jump, OC 1865 A.M. 1891  
William Henry Scott A.M. 1891  
Mary A. Thompson Springer A.M. 1891  
Delia Ray Whipple Wheelock, OC 1853 A.M. 1891  
Charles Bennett Wood A.M. 1891  
Anna Holland Jones, OC 1875 A.M. 1892  
Mortimer Dormer Leggett A.M. 1892  
William Myron Brooks, OC 1857 D.D. 1893  
John Milliot Ellis, OC 1851 D.D. 1893  
George Thompson Fairchild, OC 1862 LL.D. 1893  
James Harris Fairchild, OC 1838 LL.D. 1893  
Emily C. Huntington Miller, OC 1857 A.M. 1893  
Thomas Edwin Monroe, OC 1855 D.D. 1893  
Helen Almira Shafer, OC 1863 LL.D. 1893  
Edwin Buritt Smith A.M. 1893  
John Milton Williams, OC 1839 D.D. 1893  
Joseph Estabrook, OC 1847 D.D. 1894  
Franklin Solomon Fitch, OC 1870 D.D. 1894  
William Goodell Frost, OC 1876 D.D. 1894  
Russell Thaddeus Hall, OC 1865 D.D. 1894  
Orange Scott Runnels A.M. 1894  
Charles Jackson Ryder, 1875 D.D. 1894  
Walter Eugene Colburn Wright, OC 1865 D.D. 1894  
Amzi Doolittle Barber, OC 1841 D.D. 1895  
Mary Evans A.M. 1895  
William Newell Hull A.M. 1895  
Jonathan Edwards Ingersoll, OC 1845 LL.D. 1895  
Leonard Fletcher Parker, OC 1851 D.D. 1895  
Leonard Stickney Parker, OC 1838 D.D. 1895  
Howard Hyde Russell, OC 1888 A.M. 1895  
Nathan Stone Scott A.M. 1895  
Lucia Stickney A.M. 1895  
Cassius Eugene Wright, OC 1867 D.D. 1895  
Florence C. Nichols Benson Baier, OC 1875 A.M. 1896  
Cyrus Grandison Baldwin, OC 1873 D.D. 1896  
Anna Amelia Light Biddle, OC 1870 A.M. 1896  
Lucy Anne Cross, OC 1862 A.M. 1897  
Henry Churchill King, OC 1879 D.D. 1897  
William Scott Ament, OC 1873 D.D. 1898  
Homer Wright Carter, OC 1870 D.D. 1898  
Alfred Vance Churchill A.M. 1898  
John Guiteau Welch Cowles, OC 1856 LL.D. 1898  
Roselle Theodore Cross, OC 1867 D.D. 1898  
Hastings Hornell Hart, OC 1875 LL.D. 1898  
Charles Edward Jefferson D.D. 1898  
Sydney Dix Strong, OC 1881 D.D. 1898  
Frederick Alphonso Noble LL.D. 1899  
Denton Jacques Snider, OC 1862 Litt.D. 1899  
George Eugene Albrecht, OC 1882 D.D 1900  
George Whitfield Andrews, Cons. 1879 A.M. 1900  
Theodore Elijah Burton, OC 1872 LL.D. 1900  
Samuel Billings Capen LL.D. 1900  
William Benton Chamberlain, OC 1875 D.D. 1900  
Franklin Henry Giddings LL.D. 1900  
Harriet Louise Keeler, OC 1870 A.M. 1900  
Jonathan Sprague Upton, enr. 1859-1861 A.M. 1900  
Lucien Calvin Warner, OC 1865 LL.D. 1900