Fairchild House

Date

1841-ca. 1916 (private); 1916-1948 (college)

Location

87 Elm Street (demolished)

Architects/Collaborators

Builder unknown

Style

Colonial

History

The house of President James Harris Fairchild (1817-1902) stood on Elm Street near South Professor Street. It was built in 1841 by the College Farmer and purchased by Fairchild when he was a professor in 1849. During the famous Oberlin-Wellington Rescue in 1858, the Fairchilds hid the runaway slave John Price in their home until safe passage could be provided to Canada. Fairchild was elected Oberlin's third president in 1866. The Fairchild family occupied the house until the year of Fairchild's death in 1902. It was bequeathed to the College and remodelled in 1916 as a residence for women, and demolished in June, 1948 to make way for a new dormitory of the same name.

Sources

Oberlin College Archives
          Office of the Secretary Records, RG 5
          James Harris Fairchild Papers, RG 2/3