Education After Central College
Education After Central College
After his time spent at New York Central College, J.P. Osbourn had attended Oberlin College from 1859 to 1861(Annual Catalog of the Officers and Students of Oberlin College for the College Year 1860-1861, 17). Located in Ohio, Oberlin College was the only college other than NYCC to accept and encourage a mixed-race student body in the United States. However, when he was first listed as attending Oberlin College in 1859, he was reduced back down to the preparatory school, and remained so the following academic year (Annual Catalog of the Officers and Students of Oberlin College for the College Year 1859-1860, 19; Annual Catalog of the Officers and Students of Oberlin College for the College Year 1860-1861, 17). As mentioned previously, the NYCC Catalogues for the 1857-1858 and 1858-1859 academic years have not yet been uncovered, so it's unclear if Osbourn had attended NYCC during those years. Given this gap in Osbourn's educational background, it's difficult to say why he was moved back down to the preparatory school when he transfered to Oberlin.
What can be said, however, is that Osbourn was one of 19 male Central College graduates to have attended Oberlin College during roughly the same period. Those students who transfered during the same time as Osbourn's documented attendance included Thomas G. Dorsey, Charles Alexander Dorsey, and Benjamin J. Sampson (Annual Catalog of the Officers and Students of Oberlin College for the College Year 1859-60, 18-19; Annual Catalog of the Officers and Students of Oberlin College for the College Year 1860-1861, 10, 16-17).