Victor Obenhaus Papers, 1930-1985 | Oberlin College Archives

Title: Victor Obenhaus Papers, 1930-1985

ID: RG 30/391

Extent: 0.2 Linear Feet

Victor Obenhaus was born on September 26, 1903 in Superior, Wisconsin to Herman Frederick Arnold Obernhaus, who completed a graduate degree at the Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1892, and Grace May Dexter (Obenhaus) who graduated with the Oberlin College Class of 1894. Frederick and Grace were married in 1897. Herman Obenhaus held pastorates in Congregational churches in the upper Midwest, taught at the Chicago Theological Seminary, and later was Superintendent of German Congregational Churches in the U.S. and Director of Foreign Speaking Churches in the U.S.

Victor Obenhaus also pursued a career as a minister and educator of theology. He earned undergraduate degrees at Oberlin College (Class of 1925) and Union Theological Seminary, and doctoral degrees at Columbia University and Chicago Theological Seminary. He was Professor of Social Ethics at Chicago Theological Seminary from 1944 until his retirement in 1973. In 1973 and 1974, he served as acting president of the seminary.

Dr. Obenhaus wrote a number of books on religion, including Hebrew Prophets and American Conscience (1948), The Responsible Christian (1957), Church and Faith in Mid-America (1963) and Ethics for an Industrial Age (1965).

In addition to his academic work, Dr. Obenhaus was active in ecumenical affairs with the National Council of Churches and in efforts to revitalize rural churches. Following his retirement, he worked on behalf of prison inmates as head of the Illinois Prisons and Jails Project. He was a member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees for many years beginning in 1948.

Obenhaus married Marion Pendleton in 1938; Marion had a career as the Executive Director of the Chicago Child Care Society during the 1960s and 1970s. They had three children: Constance (Oberlin Class of 1961), Helen, and Mark (Class of 1968).

Victor Obenhaus died in Hyde Park, Illinois on April 2, 1994.

Sources Consulted

Student files of Herman Frederick Arnold Obenhaus, Grace May Dexter Obenhaus, and Victor Obenhaus (RG 28/2). Trustee file of Victor Obenhaus (RG 28/3).

Emily Gurnon, obituary for Victor Obenhaus, Chicago Tribune, April 7, 1994.

Author: Anne Cuyler Salsich

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Scope and Contents:

The papers of Victor Obenhaus comprise fifty-eight letters concerning the careers and families of Victor Obenhaus and Erwin N. Griswold, and the Oberlin College Class of 1925. Obenhaus was a member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees, as was Erwin N. Griswold, his college roommate at Oberlin. This collection includes letters sent to and received by Erwin N. Griswold, whose papers are also held by the Oberlin College Archives (RG 30/101). Griswold was also the U.S. Solicitor General from 1967-73; those records are located at the National Archives and Records Service.

INVENTORY

Box 1

Series I. Correspondence, 1930, 1936-38, 1975, 1977-85

Erwin N. Griswold, sent and received, 1930,

1936-38, 1975, 1977-85 (39 letters)

Harriet Griswold, sent and received, 1979,

1980-81 (8 letters)

Mrs. James H. Griswold, sent, 1938 (2 letters)

“Honest Roy,” sent, 1938 (1 letter)