This position led citizens to establish the Anti-Saloon League, which sought to keep the community tobacco and alcohol free. Oberlin, though progressive in many ways, also had a history of temperance. Upon Heisman’s death in 1936, a national collegiate award given to the most outstanding college football player was renamed the Heisman Memorial Trophy (Heisman Award). Heisman’s successful career at Oberlin and other schools prompted Oberlin alumni and friends to create the John William Heisman Club to strengthen the college’s athletics program. The Cleveland native led the team to a 7-0 record in his second year. The following year, former intercollegiate soccer and football player John William Heisman became the college’s first professional football coach. Intercollegiate sports made their way to Oberlin in 1891. These thick, stately constructions were made of blocks of rough-textured buff Ohio sandstone, removed from a site just six miles north of Oberlin. The town and college continued to grow, adding academic divisions, modern public facilities, a water and sewage system, postal service, and such campus buildings as Peters Hall, Talcott Hall, Baldwin Cottage, Carnegie Library, Severance Chemical Laboratory, and Wilder Hall. After 18 months, they returned with $30,000 in gold, the equivalent of 640 million dollars in today’s terms. Keep and Dawes lectured about Oberlin in private homes, meeting houses, and church halls, raising funds primarily from the abolitionist community. Shipherd went on several fundraising tours out East, while trustees John Keep and William Dawes journeyed to Britain to generate financial support. The college experienced financial difficulties in its early years. Vashon became the first black student to earn a bachelor’s degree from the college, followed by Mary Jane Patterson who, in 1862, earned a BA degree in education, becoming the first black woman to earn a degree from an American college. The college admitted its first group of women in 1837: Caroline Mary Rudd, Elizabeth Prall, Mary Hosford, and Mary Fletcher Kellogg, although Kellogg did not complete her degree in 1841 along with the others. Prior to that, they received diplomas from what was called the Ladies Course. Women were not admitted to the baccalaureate program, which granted bachelor’s degrees, until 1837. John Keep, cast the deciding vote to allow them entry. While Oberlin was coeducational from its founding in 1833, the college regularly admitted black students beginning in 1835, after trustee and abolitionist, the Rev. Among Oberlin’s earliest graduates were women and black people. The college and community thrived on progressive causes and social justice. College of Arts and Sciences Admissions.Resources and Support for Conservatory Students.Resources and Support for College Students.