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= Adelia Field Johnston, 1837-1910 = Professor of Medieval History Adelia Field Johnston was Oberlin's first female professor and an important voice for women in higher education. Her tireless promotion of art as an academic discipline led to it's early adoption into Oberlin's curriculum as well as the founding of the Allen Memorial Art Museum. As Principal of the Ladies Department and later Dean of Women she helped launch the careers of many female graduates, including those of African American heritage.

Early life and Education
Adelia Antoinette Field Johnston was born to Leonard Field (1809-1849) and Margaret Gridley (1813-1887) in Lafayette, Ohio on February 5, 1837. Her parents had moved west to Lafayette from Rodman, Jefferson County, New York because her father was eager to “take up” land, and her mother was ready to develop a teaching career. Although they had never met in New York, they shared mutual interests in moving to the new colony, and eventually developed a life-long companionship. In 1850, after her father's death, Adelia moved to Oberlin with her mother and younger sister when she was thirteen years old. At fifteen -- against her will -- she entered Oberlin's "Ladies' Course" receiving a diploma in 1856. Johnston yearned for the "Classical Course," leading to a degree of Bachelor of Arts; years later she still regretted the decision: "Had I known what I was to do in life I should never have consented to be overruled in the matter of my education." The "Ladies Course" (later called the "Literary Course") was not as difficult; it did not, for instance include "the highest mathematics" ).  Oberlin College, the first institution of higher education to admit women into a baccalaureate program, had been accepting women for a for well over a decade at this point, the first three women earning a Bachelor of Art sin 1840.

Shortly after graduating Johnston left to pursue a teaching position at the newly opened Black Oak Seminary, a “Female Seminary” in Mossy Creek, Tennessee where she taught from 1856 to 1859. While visiting Oberlin in September 1858 Johnston and her mother participated in the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. In August 1859 Adelia Antoinette Field married James M. Johnston (OC ’58). The couple moved to Orwell, Ohio where he served as Principal of the Orwell School and they both pursued advanced studies until his enlistment with the Union Army in 1861. James died after a brief illness at Harper's Ferry. The widowed Adelia moved to Kinsman, Ohio, in 1862, taking a position as Principal of the Kinsman Academy. It was at Kinsman that Johnston realized she would "rather teach than do anything else in the world" p.43; this became one of her lifelong passions.

Oberlin College: Member of the Faculty
Gaining a bachelor's degree was her focus for the next 12 years; in 1873 she received her L.B. and A.M. degree from Hillsdale College, MI. In the spring of 1865 she left her position at Kinsman to study Latin with Dr. Samuel Taylor in Andover, MA; in the fall of that year she was teaching at the Academy in North Scituate, RI where she oversaw the girls and taught Latin and history. In 1868 she inherited and used the funds to travel Europe and study German, leaving in the spring of 1869.

Upon her return she accepted the position of "Principal of the Ladies Dept." at Oberlin College on the condition she be allowed to teach. Johnston was the woman at Oberlin to insist on and receive membership on the faculty, and at the age of 33, also the youngest.

Writings
Two sides of a shield; a story of the civil war, [Cleveland, The Penton press, 1911]