Adelia Antoinette Field Johnston (February 5, 1837 – July 22, 1910) was an American educator and college administrator. She was the first female faculty member at
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
, where she taught history, and the school's Dean of Women from 1870 to 1900.
Early life
Adelia Antoinette Field was born in
Lafayette, Ohio
Lafayette is a village in Allen County, Ohio, United States. The population was 406 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Lima, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The village was incorporated in 1868.
Geography
According to ...
, the daughter of Leonard Field and Margaret Gridley Field.
At age 13, she taught school for three weeks, while the assigned adult teacher was ill with measles. She attended
Geauga Seminary and then
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
. She graduated from Oberlin's literary course in 1856. In widowhood in the 1860s, she pursued further studies in Latin and in German, including an extended study trip to Germany. She later received an honorary master's degree from
Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College is a Private university, private, Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1844 by members of the Free Will Baptists. Women were admi ...
, and in 1906 an honorary
doctor of laws
A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...
degree from
Western Reserve University
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
* Western, New York, a town in the US
* Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
* Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that ...
.
Career
Field taught in
Mossy Creek, Tennessee before she married in 1859, and she taught with her husband in
Orwell, Ohio
Orwell is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,533 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
History
A post office called Orwell has been in operation since 1826. The name Orw ...
. She was principal at schools in Ohio and Rhode Island.
Johnston served as principal and dean of the Women's Department of Oberlin College from 1870 to 1900, and became the college's first female faculty member in 1878, when she began teaching history courses. She was appointed Professor of Medieval History in 1890.
Johnston was also active in the town of
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...
, holding art exhibitions, supporting a natural history club, and cleaning up unsightly lots in the town as a founder of the Oberlin Village Improvement Society. She traveled to Norway, Spain, Egypt and Algeria, and gave a lectures about her travels, including a lecture on Norway at the
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...
in Chicago in 1893. She wrote a novel, ''Two Sides of a Shield: A Story of the Civil War'' (1911).
Personal life and legacy
Adelia Field married fellow Oberlin alumnus James Mix Johnston in 1859; he died in 1862. Adelia A. Field Johnston died in 1910, aged 73 years, at her home in Oberlin.
Harriet Louise Keeler wrote a biography of Johnston, published in 1912.
Oberlin College has a professorship named for Johnston, and a travel fellowship for Oberlin alumni.
References
External links
*
Mrs. Adelia A. Field Johnston from the Electronic Oberlin Group's Oberlin Through History website
“Singular Charm and Superb Character”: The Life of Adelia Antoinette Field Johnston a project at Digital Feminisms
Clarence Ward Art Library Exhibitabout Adelia Field Johnston
*
1903 portrait of Adelia Field Johnston painted by Caroline Nettleton Thurber and owned by Oberlin College, in the
Smithsonian's Catalog of American Portraits
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Adelia Field
1837 births
1910 deaths
Oberlin College alumni
Oberlin College faculty
People from Lafayette, Oregon
Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century