Oberlin College established the Historic Portrait Collection in 1883 on the occasion of its Jubilee celebration. Beginning with less than 10 portraits, the collection’s focus was “to secure, so far as possible, the portraits of the more eminent men and women connected with our history for a permanent collection.” The College actively sought life sized oil portraits of former professors and instructors, former and present members of the Board of Trustees, founders of professorships and prominent donors, early colonists, treasurers and other officers connected with the institution, and prominent friends of the anti-slavery and temperance movements who have been in any way associated with Oberlin (Jubilee Notes, May 1883). In the early decades the portraits hung permanently in the College Chapel and Peters Hall. 

Over the next one hundred years, the College continued to develop the collection by commissioning individual portraits of each of its presidents. For some individuals, like Charles G. Finney or Asa Mahan, the collection includes more than one portrait. On several occasions, a portrait was created from daguerreotypes or photographs because the subject had died before the College commissioned a portrait. These portraits were made possible by donations from Alumni classes, student organizations, and prominent Oberlin families. In 2004, the collection consisted of more than 50 portraits and continues to grow.