Oberlin College Rocks! – Part 2

Oberlin College's two famous boulders on Tappan Square made it into the Lorain Journal a few times beginning in the late 1950s.

The article below, which appeared in the paper on October 3, 1958, features the charming reminisces of A. C. Norris, a member of the Oberlin College Class of 1898. Norris was one of the seniors who moved the seven-ton boulder under cover of darkness from the bank of Plum Creek to its final resting place where it still sits today, opposite the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. It's quite a story.

Note that the article makes no reference to the boulder being painted yet. But by 1962, it seems to have been a common occurrence, judging from the article below, which appeared in the Journal on December 5th of that year. It notes, "The giant boulder placed on Oberlin College's Tappan Square by undergraduates of the Class of 1898 has been the target of many campus pranksters in recent years, but it was not until Tuesday that it became the head of the "Jolly Old Fellow," Santa Claus."

The following year both rocks on Tappan Square were transformed into Easter eggs, according to the article below, which appeared in the Journal on April 15, 1963.

The Class of 1898 boulder became Santa Claus again for the holidays in December 1966. The photo below appeared in the paper on December 14, 1966.

Interestingly, the college artist who transformed the boulder into Santa 'confessed' to the Journal. The small item from the January 20, 1967 edition tells the story.

Lastly, Oberlin College President Robert Carr and Dean of Men Walter Reeves got into the act of painting the rock – and brought along their wives as accomplices. The story below, which appeared in the Journal on October 25, 1967 explains. 

(It appears to be the 1898 rock, judging by the size of the plaque.)