Ohio University
An examination of education in Athens would be incomplete without mention of Ohio University. Three Black men attended Ohio University before the Civil War: John Newton Templeton (1824-8), Edward James Roye (1833), and Joseph Carter Corbin (1853).[1] Despite the rising Black population during this era and Ohio University’s lack of rules regarding race, these are the only Ohio University students before the Civil War.[2] It is possible that Oberlin College, located in a vocally abolitionist Ohio community and which did not limit admission by gender, held a greater appeal.[3]
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Ohio University’s students went on to be exceptional. John Newton Templeton was freed from enslavement by a will in 1813. While he was a student, he lived with Ohio University president Robert Wilson, who employed him.[4] Although he was free, Templeton was determined to speak up for the rights of other Black Americans. At his commencement, he delivered a speech titled “On the Claims of Liberia”, a speech advocating for a Black colony in Liberia. He became the recording secretary of the Chillicothe Colored Anti-Slavery Society in 1834, and while in Chillicothe he taught at an all-Black public school.[5] Later, he was involved in publishing The Mystery, a Black newspaper in Pittsburgh.[6] Templeton’s college education helped him find work to help his fellow Black Americans. His education also gave him authority to speak to white Americans about abolitionist causes, which allowed him to influence local politics despite being unable to vote. Learn more about Templeton's political activism here.
John Newton Templeton lived in Ohio University President Robert Wilson's cabin while he pursued his degree. Courtesy of Ohio University.
Edward James Roye, a Newark native, transferred to Oberlin University. He emigrated to Liberia in 1846[7] and became the fifth president of Liberia. Once he emigrated, Roye set to work building his life as a merchant. He enjoyed great success “not only in Monrovia, but along the African coast, and in England and the United States, running a vessel owned by himself, and carrying the flag of his adopted country.”[8] Roye was also a politician. He served as Chief Justice from 1865 to 1869, and in 1870 he became the fifth president of Liberia.[9] Learn more about the colonization of Liberia here.
Joseph Carter Corbin, who was fluent in six languages, published and edited Cincinnati’s The Colored Citizen and went on to serve on several education committees in Arkansas before becoming president of Branch Normal College.[10] Like John Templeton and Olivia Davidson, Corbin used the education he pursued in Athens to educate other Black Americans. Ohio University provided its three Black students with the means to have successful careers and to be active in their own communities.
Edward James Roye. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
It is unclear to what extent the Ohio University staff welcomed Black men on their campus, either as students or trustees. Writing in 1924, former university president Charles William Super saw “no apparent objection to their appearance as part of either teachers or taught.” Despite this, Super’s review of former Black trustees gives a mixed picture of the reality:
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"One of them is said to have been a graduate of Dartmouth College; at any rate he was fully qualified for the position both by education and character. Another was reported to be totally unfit, for reasons that are not known to the writer. His term of service was comparatively short. The third member could hardly be taken seriously, though he seems to have been a man of good character." [11]
Super does not give further information on these trustees’ terms, or even their names, so it is impossible to evaluate their performance. The first Black Ohio University trustee, John R. Blackburn, served Ohio University from 1885 to 1892.[12] The first Black trustee, who Super portrays positively, was John R. Blackburn. Once an enslaved man, Blackburn was a respected man and had a successful career as an educator. Learn more about Blackburn's career here.
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John R. Blackburn. Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections.
Notes
1. Connie Perdreau, “The History and Status of Black Americans at Ohio University”, August 1974, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, 1.
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2. Perdreau, “The History and Status of Black Americans at Ohio University,” 2.
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3. J. Brent Morris, Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism: College, Community, and the Fight for Freedom and Equality in Antebellum America (Chapel Hill: University Of North Carolina Press, 2014), 1-11.
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4. Connie Perdreau, “Blacks in Southeastern Ohio: An Historical Perspective.” Perdreau Collection, MGC.
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5. “Chillicothe Anti-Slavery Society,” Liberator, September 13, 1834. Perdreau Collection, MGC; E. S. Adby, Journal of a Residence and Tour in the United States of North American, from April, 1833, to October, 1834, vol. 3 (London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1835), 85. Hathi Trust. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044021224183&view=1up&seq=95.
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6. Perdreau, “The History and Status of Black Americans at Ohio University,” 2.
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7. Connie Perdreau, “Blacks in Southeastern Ohio: An Historical Perspective.” Perdreau Collection, MGC.
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8. “Liberia,” New Orleans Tribune, April 18, 1867. Readex.
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9. Association for the Study of African American Life and History, “Edward James Roye: Fifth President of Liberia,” Negro History Bulletin 16, no. 2 (November 1952), 45. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44214502.
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10. Perdreau, “The History and Status of Black Americans at Ohio University” 2.
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11. Charles William Super, A Pioneer College and its Background (The Ohio University) (Salem: Newcomb & Gauss, 1924), 63.
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12. Robert E. Mahn, The Presidency of Claude R. Sowle, August 1, 1969 to September 1, 1975. Ohio University Libraries, Athens Ohio. Mahn Center Digital Archives. https://media.library.ohio.edu/digital/collection/archives/id/1542
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Photo 1: Silas Bingman House. Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections.
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Photo 2: "Edward J. Roye, three-quarter length portrait, standing, with hand raised," DAG no. 1012, Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004664425/
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Photo 3: John R. Blackburn. Courtesy of William Kimok, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections.
