This collection contains 85 glass plate negatives depicting Iroquois students and student life at the Thomas Indian School on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in New York state, circa 1900-1945.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 85 glass plate negatives depicting Iroquois students and student life at the Thomas Indian School circa 1900-1945. The images depict student and class portraits; school activities such as school plays or performances, basketball, football, and Girl Scouts; classes such as woodworking, cooking, and agriculture; and campus buildings and grounds. The photographer is unknown, but was probably affiliated with the school. Iroquois children from Seneca [Cattaraugus], Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora communities attended the school.
Arrangement:
This collection is intellectually arranged in 3 series. Series 1: Student and class portraits, Series 2: School activities and classes, Series 3: School buildings and grounds. The collection is physically organized by negative number.
Biographical / Historical:
Located on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in New York State, the Thomas Asylum for Orphaned and Destitute Indian Children was established as a private institution in 1855 and named after benefactor Philip E. Thomas. Orphaned and poor American Indian children from the Seneca [Cattaraugus], Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora communities were sent to the asylum for boarding and care. In 1875 the institution was transferred to the State of New York and run under the New York State Board of Charities. It was charged with the education and vocational training of American Indian children in their care, which is reported to have included acculturation and assimilation of Native students by means of prohibiting use of Native languages and traditional cultural practices. In 1905 the institution was renamed the Thomas Indian School. By this time, eight grades were offered at the school, which had a half-day system with students attending classes for part of the day and working the other half. By 1930, the School was classified as a junior high school, but it was eventually closed in 1957 by the State.
Related Materials:
The New York State Archives in Albany, NY holds the Thomas Indian School Agency History Records and a collection of photographs.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by the grandchildren of Victor and Ethel Bissell Seneca.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Thursday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Indians of North America -- New York (State) Search this
Genre/Form:
Glass negatives
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Thomas Indian School glass plate negatives, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
1 Linear foot (1 photograph album containing 42 prints)
Container:
Box 1
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Photograph albums
Date:
circa 1930-1934
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 1 photograph album containing 42 snapshot photographs and photographic postcards from circa 1930-1934. The bulk of the photographs depict Haskell Institute students including members of the football team Arnes Barlow, Paul Edge, Leonard Barlow, Guy Bush, Charles Bernard, Led Wilson, and coach John Levi [Inunaina (Arapaho)]; other unidentified students; buildings on campus including Hiawatha Hall (Chapel); a 1930 pageant and pow-wow; and athletics including archery, baseball, and track, among other scenes.
Other photographs depict the University of Kansas and Memorial High School both in Lawrence, Kansas. Some photographs were also shot at an unidentified Wyoming Indian school.
Many photographs have handwritten captions on the back of the prints. The album has a soft leather cover that features a painting of an American Indian man in a headdress.
One photographic postcard may provide a clue as to the album's creator; the postcard was sent in 1932 from a Haskell teacher named Mary to a teacher named Elsie C. Ramage (Mrs. J. C. Ramage) of Denver, Colo. This postcard may have been sent by Mary Louise Breuninger who was a Haskell teacher according to the 1929 Lawrence, Kansas City directory. The photographs in the album may have been shot, collected, and/or assembled by either Mary or Elsie.
Arrangement:
Original order was maintained when processing this collection, however it does not appear that the photos were assembled in chronological order. Some of the photographs are attached to the album pages via photo corners. The loose are stored in folders in the original order in which they were found.
Biographical / Historical:
Located in Lawrence, Kansas, the United States Indian Industrial School opened its doors in 1884. The school soon changed its name to Haskell Institute after the passing of Dudley Haskell (1842-1883)- a U.S. Representative and chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs- who was instrumental in opening the school in his hometown of Lawrence.
The first twenty-two students that attended Haskell Institute were from the Ponca, Chilocco, and Ottawa communities. The school initially taught trades such as blacksmithing, farming, cooking, and sewing, among other industrial skills. As the school grew and expanded its curriculum, American Indian and Native Alaskan students from communities across the country enrolled in the boarding school. The student population grew from 22 to 400 pupils in just one semester. Similar to other Indian boarding schools of its time, Haskell Institute's mission in part was to "civilize" American Indian students and the school employed militaristic techniques in its teaching and discipline. By 1927, the school taught both high school and post-graduation courses.
From 1896-1930, the school also sustained prominent athletic teams, including its nationally recognized football team. Fullback John Levi [1898-1946; Inunaina (Arapaho)] led the football team to many victories in the mid-twenties and eventually went on to coach the team from 1926-1936.
By 1965, the school discontinued its high school courses and in 1970, it transitioned into the Haskell Indian Junior College. The school was renamed Haskell Indian Nations University in 1993 and began offering a four-year baccalaureate degree program with a mission dedicated to Indian cultural preservation, research, and education. The University continues to teach students from federally recognized tribes.
Separated Materials:
The photograph album in this collection was purchased at an auction in 1985 along with a pair of bookends that were probably made by a Haskell Institute student. The bookends are in NMAI's object collection, catalog number 25/2220. A 1931 Haskell yearbook was also purchased at the auction and is now located in the Huntington Free Library Collection at Cornell, call number E97.6.H34.
Provenance:
Purchased from New Durham Auction Barn, Inc. in 1985.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Haskell Institute photograph album, NMAI.AC.105; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The Joseph C. Park collection of lantern slides contains 31 lantern slides and 1 poster that were used by Joseph C. Park for his lectures on Indians of North America. Park was the Principal of the Cherokee Baptist Academy located at Tahlequah Indian Territory (today Oklahoma) from 1896 to 1901.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 31 lantern slides and 1 poster that were used by Joseph C. Park for his lectures on Indians of North America. Park was the Principal of the Cherokee Baptist Academy located at Tahlequah Indian Territory (today Oklahoma) from 1896 to 1901.
The lantern slides depict Cherokee Baptist Academy students including the 1899 football team; female seminary building in Tahlequah; as well as the gallows (for public hangings) at Tahlequah. Other lantern slides depict portraits of Set-Imkia, also known as Stumbling Bear (Kiowa Chief); Sitting Bull (Lakota); Pe-ji (Grass Blackbear); A.L. Lacie and Wolf Coon; a Wahpetonwan Dakota (Wahpeton Sioux) man with an amputated leg; a Paiute man; a Cheyenne boy; Dr. J. S. Murrow, and General George Armstrong Custer.
A few lantern slides depict drawings such as the capture and death of Sitting Bull; the battle of Big Horn and Custer's last charge; and a drawing depicting an Indian burial (restricted). Several lantern slides also depict wigwam or wickuup structures and scenes in Alaska including totem poles.
Some slides were produced by the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Kurz and Allison, Pub. in Chicago.
The poster depicts a photo of Joseph C. Park and reads, "Illustrated lecture / Joseph C. Park / Subjects 1. The Indians of North America / Illustrated by beautiful calcium light views. Many of these pictures were taken from life by the lecturer during his sojourn among the Indians in Indian Territory. 2. The life of our Savior, or Jesus, the Nazarine / Illustrated by beautiful calcium light views taken from the world's greatest paintings. / Mr. Park was Principal of Cherokee Baptist Academy, a large Indian School located at Tahlequah, Ind. Ter., for a period of five years. He has made an extended study of the "Indian Problem" and comes highly recommended as a lecturer."
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged by subject matter.
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph Charles Park was born in Big Flats, New York in 1872 and went on to graduate from Cornell University and Syracuse University. From 1896 to 1901, Park served as the principal of the Cherokee Baptist Academy. This Indian boarding and day school was located on a 160-acre farm in Tahlequah, Indian Territory (today Oklahoma) and was run by the American Baptist Home Mission Society.
Provenance:
Gift of Donald Weber, 2019.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Some images in this collection are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Cultural assimilation Search this
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Joseph C. Park collectino of lantern slides, NMAI.AC.387; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution
Not for school, but for life* : lessons from the historical archaeology of the Phoenix Indian School / by Owen Lindauer ; with a foreword by Peterson Zah and a contribution by Todd Bostwick
Not for school, but for life : lessons from the historical archaeology of the Phoenix Indian School / by Owen Lindauer ; with a foreword by Peterson Zah ; and a contribution by Todd Bostwick
Native traditions in the postconquest world : a symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 2nd through 4th October 1992 / Elizabeth Hill Boone and Tom Cummins, editors
Indigenous persistence in the colonized Americas : material and documentary perspectives on entanglement / edited by Heather Law Pezzarossi and Russell N. Sheptak
4 videodiscs (approximately 720 min.) : DVD video, sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 course guidebook (vi, 206 pages : black and white illustrations ; 19 cm)
Indians, soldiers and civilization being a report upon fatal obstacles to the Christian civilization of the Indian, adopted by the representatives of religious and philanthropic organizations, co-operating with the government in care of the Indians, at a meeting held in New York, February 29th, 1872
