A Place Called Oakwood

Oakwood Timeline

The Early Years: 1891-1915

This chronological outline of key events pertaining to Oakwood covers the 25-year period from 1891 to 1915, the year of Ellen White's death (July 16, 1915). PCO vi.1

1891

Ellen White delivers historic address “Our Duty to the Colored People” to the General Conference session in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1891 in which she urges the church to develop the work in the South. PCO vi.2

1893

Edson White reads Our Duty to the Colored People for the first time in tract form and dedicates his life to the black work in the South. PCO vi.3

1894

Edson White and Will Palmer via the Morning Star steamship begin to educate and evangelize Southern Blacks and found mission schools that later became feeder schools for Oakwood. PCO vi.4

1895

Premier black SDA pioneer Charles M. Kinney recommends the Beasley estate as the site for Oakwood. PCO vi.5

Southern Missionary Society, devoted to working for Blacks in the South, is begun, headed by Edson White. This organization is the precursor to the Southern Union Conference and was a strong supporter of Oakwood. PCO vi.6

Ellen White encourages General Conference leaders to move forward with the Oakwood School. PCO vi.7

Autumn 1895

The General Conference sends Ole A. Olsen, George A. Irwin, and Harmon Lindsay to assess the Beasley estate. PCO vi.8

January 23, 1896

The Huntsville property is purchased by the General Conference. PCO vi.9

April 3, 1896

Solon Jacobs arrives to become the first principal of the Oakwood Industrial School. PCO vi.10

November 16, 1896

Oakwood Industrial School opens. PCO vi.11

Boys’ dormitory opens. PCO vi.12

1897

Henry H. Shaw becomes principal of Oakwood. PCO vi.13

1899

Chapel/Study Hall built. PCO vi.14

Benjamin E. Nicola begins as principal. PCO vi.15

Colporteur work begun in earnest by Oakwood students. PCO vi.16

1901

Oakwood's agricultural sales pay all of school's expenses and net a profit. PCO vi.17

1902

West Hall is finished. PCO vi.18

1904

Name changed to Oakwood Manual Training School. PCO vii.1

Fred R. Rogers becomes principal. PCO vii.2

Summer institutes and workshops begin at Oakwood. PCO vii.3

Lottie Blake, the first Black Seventh-day Adventist MD, joins the Oakwood teaching staff as the first Black teacher and the first with a doctorate. PCO vii.4

Louis Sheafe and William Brandon are the first blacks to sit on the Oakwood School Board. PCO vii.5

Late June 1904*

Ellen White's first visit to Oakwood; she delivers two addresses to the Oakwood student body.* PCO vii.6

1905-1906

G.H. Baber starts as principal. PCO vii.7

“Sunnyside” (a teacher's cottage) completed. PCO vii.8

“Hilltop” (a faculty cottage) completed. PCO vii.9

“Oaklawn” (principal's housing) completed. PCO vii.10

Print shop completed. PCO vii.11

1906

Walter J. Blake assumes principal position. Oakwood fire: Chapel Hall burns to the ground. PCO vii.12

1908

Butler Hall erected. PCO vii.13

1909

Oakwood's first graduates. PCO vii.14

Sanitarium building finished. PCO vii.15

Late April: Ellen White visits Oakwood again. PCO vii.16

Summer 1910

Oakwood sanitarium opens. PCO vii.17

1911

Oakwood orphanage opens. PCO vii.18

Clarence Boyd begins as principal. PCO vii.19

Dining hall finished. PCO vii.20

1912

Oakwood graduates first ministerial student. PCO vii.21

“The Pines” (a teacher's apartment building) is erected. PCO vii.22

1914

Henderson Hall (women's dormitory) is built. PCO vii.23

1915

New laundry built. PCO viii.1

Barn and silo added. PCO viii.2

Ellen White dies. PCO viii.3