Elisabeth Oesterlein
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Elisabeth Oesterlein
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = September 12, 1749
| birth_place = Bethlehem, Province of Pennsylvania
| death_date = {{death date and age|1802|12|3|1749|9|12}}
| death_place = Old Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
| nationality =
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = Educator
| spouse = Rudolph Christ (1780–1802; her death)
| children =
| resting place = God's Acre Moravian Cemetery, Old Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
}}
Elisabeth Oesterlein Christ (commonly known Elisabeth Oesterlein; September 12, 1749 – December 3, 1802) was an American educator. She founded Salem College in today's Old Salem, North Carolina. She was also the school's first teacher.
Life and career
Oesterlein was born in Bethlehem in the Province of Pennsylvania in 1749. With her fellow Moravians, she relocated to the Wachovia Tract, in the Province of North Carolina, in 1766, settling initially in Bethabara.{{Cite web |title=Salem Academy and College Celebrates 265th Birthday of First Teacher, Elisabeth Oesterlein {{!}} Salem College |url=https://www.salem.edu/news/2014/9/salem-academy-and-college-celebrates-265th-birthday-first-teacher-elisabeth-oesterlein |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=www.salem.edu}} She and fifteen other girls walked the approximately {{Convert|500|mi}} from Bethlehem,{{Cite book |last=Setzer |first=Lynn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZkLAQAAQBAJ&dq=elisabeth+Oesterlein+salem+academy&pg=PA172 |title=Tar Heel History on Foot: Great Walks through 400 Years of North Carolina's Fascinating Past |date=2013-10-01 |publisher=UNC Press Books |isbn=978-0-8078-6988-8 |pages=172 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Grube |first=Bernhard Adam |date= |title=Diary of a journey of Moravians from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to Bethabara in Wachovia, North Carolina, 1753 |url=https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/lhdo13752 |access-date=2023-11-17 |website=collections.lancasterhistory.org}} on the Great Wagon Road,{{Cite web |title=Moravian Story {{!}} City of Winston-Salem, NC |url=https://www.cityofws.org/2159/Moravian-Story |access-date=2023-11-17 |website=www.cityofws.org}} setting out on October 2 and arriving on October 31.[https://journals.psu.edu/phj/article/download/25139/24908/24978 "Women on the Trail in Colonial America: A Travel Journal of German Moravians Migrating from Pennsylvania to North Carolina in 1766]" – Aaron S. Fogleman, University of South Alabama
She moved to Salem, Province in North Carolina, shortly thereafter, where she was elected the first teacher for a "Little Girls' School", which is today known as Salem Academy and College. In 1772, Oesterlein (known as "Sister O"){{Cite web |last=Rauhauser-Smith |first=Kate |date=2019-10-01 |title=HISTORY MAKER: Elizabeth Oesterlein Christ |url=https://journalnow.com/winstonsalemmonthly/twin-city-talk/history-maker-elizabeth-oesterlein-christ/article_3f029eca-e485-11e9-a603-a78d16040ed0.html |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=Winston-Salem Journal |language=en}} began teaching a class containing three students. The enrollment increased over time, and by the early 19th century over eighty students were being taught.
In 1780, Oesterlein married Rudolph Christ, a prominent potter in Bethabara and, later, Old Salem. They had five children together: Anna Elizabeth, Benigna Elizabeth, Friedrich Jacob, Johann Rudolph and Anna Sulamith. Each child died very young, with Friedrich living the longest (to the age of 8).{{Cite web |last= |title=Gottfried Aust (1722-1788) and Rudolph Christ (1750-1833): Moravian Potters in North Carolina |url=https://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entries/gottfried-aust-1722-1788-and-rudolph-christ-1750-1833-moravian-potters-in-north-carolina/ |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=Immigrant Entrepreneurship |language=en-US}}
Death
Oesterlein died in 1802, aged 53. She is interred in the God's Acre Moravian Cemetery in Old Salem,{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2012-04-28 |title=Salem Academy and College celebrates 240th anniversary of founding |url=https://journalnow.com/news/local/salem-academy-and-college-celebrates-240th-anniversary-of-founding/article_6ea7a59d-16dc-5b2a-80e3-45823276e0b7.html |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=Winston-Salem Journal |language=en}} alongside her husband, who survived her by 31 years. He remarried the year following her death.
= Legacy =
Each day, on Founders Day, Salem Academy presents the Elisabeth Oesterlein Award to students who have made notability contributions to the school during their four years. The award was renamed after it was discovered that Oesterlein and her husband purchased an enslaved potter named Peter Oliver.
References
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Category:18th-century American educators
Category:18th-century American women educators
Category:19th-century American educators
Category:19th-century American women educators
Category:People from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania