Caroline Haven Ober

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Caroline Haven Ober (May 3, 1866 – June 2, 1929) was an American educator who helped shape language study in the United States and abroad. Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, she studied at Wheaton Seminary and the Massachusetts Normal School in Salem, graduating in 1884. She taught in many places, including Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, and California, and she even taught Spanish in San Diego (1896–1897).

From 1889 to 1893, Ober served as Regent and Vice-Directress of Government Normal Schools in Argentina. In 1897 she moved to Seattle, Washington, where she joined the University of Washington as a professor of Romance languages. She founded the university’s Romance Languages department and led it as its head.

Ober was active in many educational groups and worked on international education issues. She supervised Chinese students in the United States and studied education in China and Japan; she was also a charter member and vice-president of the Association for the Promotion of Education of the People of India. She retired in 1929 and died a month later.

She lived at 4558 Thackeray Place in Seattle and is buried at Lake View Cemetery. Her papers from 1897 to 1929 are preserved at the University of Washington Libraries.