WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:
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DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE
Profile America - Sunday, December 8th. Oberlin College in Ohio has a distinguished reputation among American institutions of higher learning. Its fame would be secure just for its leadership before the Civil War in coeducational instruction and in admitting black students. But Oberlin added to its luster on this day in 1850 when it awarded the nation's first four-year degree to an African-American woman, Lucy Stanton. She headed the school's Ladies Literary Society, and her anti-slavery commencement address - titled "A Plea for the Oppressed" - can be found on the Internet. There are around 44 million African-Americans in today's population and well over 18 percent of those over the age of 25 have a bachelor's degree or higher. For women, that figure is over 20 percent. You can findmore facts about America's people, places and economy from the American Community Survey at www.census.gov.
SOURCES:
Kane's Famous First Facts, 30
http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/exhibits/african_american_heritage/photographs.html
http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=SLA
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/sessions-lucy-stanton-day-1831-1910
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb13-ff02.html
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml'src=bkmk
Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).
CONTACT:Rick Reed of the U.S. Census Bureau, +1-301-763-2812, fax: +1-301-763-3762, richard.thomas.reed-at-census.gov
SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau
