Additional Resources
Mention “Carlisle” and invariably the response will include some reference to Jim Thorpe or the Carlisle Indian School. Founded by Richard Henry Pratt, the school was the first off-reservation government boarding school for Native American Indian children. Carlisle served as the model for dozens of schools throughout the U.S., some of which are still in existence.
The Cumberland County Historical Society houses an extensive collection…
The collection also includes several letters from James E. Rhoads, employee in the Indian Service, to Richard H. Pratt of the Indian Training School, Carlisle, 1883-1894, and copies of a few letters from Pratt to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1913-1921, on Indian matters.
The Collection on Richard H. Pratt consists of materials collected by the U.S. Army Military History Institute documenting the life of Brigadier General Richard H. Pratt and his connection to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The collection spans the years 1862-1972, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period between 1862 and circa 1931. The collection contains correspondence, personal papers, and printed materials. The…
This collection contains a series of letters received by Dr. Cornelius Rea Agnew, a noted surgeon from New York City who was a strong supporter of, and significant donor to, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The majority of the letters were written by Richard Henry Pratt, and discuss a number of topics including donations to the school, renovations and purchases for the campus, Pratt’s attempts to gain further support and funding from…
The Dr. Ferdinand Shoemaker Papers (MS 068) at the McCracken Research Library of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West contain Shoemaker's professional papers and photographs. Shoemaker served as physician at the Carlisle Indian School from 1904 to 1910, at which point he became the Assistant Medical Supervisor of the Indian Service. This collection contains a number of Carlisle-related documents, including correspondence, publications,…
This website features interactive storyboard content chronicling the lives of Jack and Kesetta (Lipan Apache), also known as the "Lost Ones." Audio and video content is combined with dynamic images and mapping to highlight various elements of Jack and Kesetta's lives, as well as the story of Kesetta's son Richard.
Research on the "Lost Ones" was performed by Professor Jacqueline Fear-Segal of the School of Art, Media and American…
Finding aid for photographs of the United States Indian School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in the Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection at the Library of Congress.
"Includes individual and group portraits of faculty. Classroom scenes, including art and science classes. Vocational training of women in home economics; training of men in farming, blacksmithing, shoemaking, and carpentry. Student activities, including sports, band, and indoor…
"Indian School Outings along the Railroad, Carlisle to Gettysburg" a talk by Barbara Landis, CCHS Archives and Library CIIS Specialist, for the Wednesdays in Winter program. A presentation of the Cumberland County Historical Society.
This collection contains 39 glass plate negatives, dating from the 1880s, from the studio of John Nicholas Choate. Choate was a photographer based in the town of Carlisle who took thousands of images of Carlisle Indian School students, buildings, and related subjects. The images in this collection are portraits, mostly of single subjects or groups of two people. Some of the images are identified with captions. The negatives in this collection…
This sketchbook was made by Koba (Kiowa), a member of the group of 72 prisoners that Richard Henry Pratt educated at Fort Marion in Saint Augustine, Florida in the late 1870s. Koba later became a student at the Carlisle Indian School. This sketchbook includes multiple sketches related to education and captivity at Fort Marion.
This sketchbook is held by the Plains Ledger Art Digital Publishing Project, Department of Ethnic Studies,…
The Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog contains digitized prints and photographs of the Carlisle Indian School and its students. Images from the Johnston (Frances Benjamin) Collection show students in class and carrying out their daily activities. Other images include photographs of students and illustrations from publications. To search the online catalog select the link above and type…
The Naomi Greensky Collection has been organized into two sections, Papers and Photographs. Most of the Papers can be categorized as ephemera and reflect extracurricular activities that Naomi participated in while at Carlisle. The papers include dance cards, holiday cards, a commencement program, and materials from Mercer Literary Society. There are also several calling cards or business cards from the Great Northern Railway and Glacier…
The National Archives American Indian Records Index provides a comprehensive list of all records housed in the National Archives for researchers interested in learning more about the Carlisle Indian School or an individual, family, or nation.
The Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania was established in 1879 and was closed in 1918. It was the first Government operated nonreservation boarding school for Indians. An outstanding feature of the school was the "outing" system, which permitted students to live and work outside the school and to attend public school while still enrolled at Carlisle. Although there are now in the National Archives more records of the…
The Richard Henry Pratt Papers at the Yale University Beinecke Library (WA MSS S-1174) includes letter-press books, writings, diaries, notes, photographs, and drawings. The papers largely relate to Pratt's work with and theories on the education of American Indians and his involvement with the Carlisle Indian School. Included is material relating to the controversies surrounding his work and much relating to Indians and Indian life in general…
The 27 photographs in the Speck-Choate Photograph Collection were taken by J. N. Choate, a local commercial photographer in Carlisle, Pa., and collected by the anthropologist Frank G. Speck. Choate advertised "Photographs of all the Indian Chiefs that have visited the Indian Training School at Carlisle Barracks, also of children in native and school costumes" and were intended to document the benefits of civilization that the school brought…
Some examples of academic work done by students while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School are housed in the collections of the Cumberland County Historical Society. The historical society has made some of those materials available online through their Carlisle Indian School History portal. As few examples of student work survive today, this collection is worthy of specific mention for the benefit of descendants, researchers, and…
The Western Americana Collection at Princeton University Library Department of Rare Books and Special Collections "consists of photographs of Indians of the Americas and views of the American West." Included in this collection are 103 photographs taken by John Nicholas Choate of the Carlisle Indian School between 1879 and 1902. These photographs include images of students, visitors, and buildings at the school.
Xwi7xwa Library, located at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is the only Aboriginal academic branch library in Canada, and is dedicated to the study of Indigenous peoples and experiences in Canada. Researchers and educators may find their collections, especially their Research Guides Portal and freely…
This sketchbook was made by Zotom (Kiowa), a member of the group of 72 prisoners overseen by Richard Henry Pratt at Fort Marion in Saint Augustine, Florida in the late 1870s. Zotom later became a student at the Carlisle Indian School. This sketchbook includes multiple sketches related to education and captivity at Fort Marion.
This sketchbook is held by the Taylor Museum at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and was digitized by…