Woman of the Century/Adelia Antoinette Field Johnston

JOHNSTON, Mrs. Adelia Antoinette Field, educator, born in Lafayette, Ohio, 5th February, 1837. When eleven years old, she was sent to a good academy, and at fourteen she taught a country summer school. In 1856 she was graduated from Oberlin, and went to Tennessee as principal of Black Oak Grove Seminary. She returned to Ohio in the autumn of 1859, and became the wife of Janus W. Johnston, a graduate of Oberlin, and a teacher by profession. He died in the first year of the war, just as he was entering active service. Mrs. Johnston again became a teacher, and was for three years principal of an academy in Kinsman, Ohio. She then devoted a year to the study of Latin under the direction of Dr. Samuel Taylor, in Andover, Mass., and taught three years in Scituate. R. I. In 1860 Mrs. Johnston went to Germany for two years of study, giving her attention to the German language and European history. On her return to America she was called to her present position of principal of the woman's department in Oberlin College. In addition to the regular duties of her office, she has taught one hour a day in the college, in the meantime continuing her historical studies. She has made three additional visits to Europe, and since 1890 has held the chair of mediaeval history in Oberlin College.