The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, a private, independent conservatory, was founded in 1865 in Oberlin, Ohio and, two years later, it became a part of Oberlin College.  The College, which was originally established as the Oberlin Collegiate Institute in 1833, was renamed Oberlin College in 1850. Now, Oberlin, a private liberal arts college and conservatory, is among the inaugural participants in the Denyce Graves Foundation's Shared Voices. 

The Institute was founded by a Presbyterian minister, the Reverend John J. Shipherd, and a missionary, Philo P. Stewart, who decided to create a college and a colony based on their religious beliefs in the town of Oberlin.  The college and community thrived on progressive causes and social justice initiatives and was a stop on the Underground Railroad during the 1840s and 1850s.  From its founding, Oberlin was co-educational and was the first American co-educational college.  Beginning in 1835, the college regularly admitted black students. Once the conservatory was acquired by the college in 1865, it was recognized as the first conservatory in the United States to admit African-American students.