These materials include correspondence regarding a question from Hattie Martin, of Haverford, Pennsylvania, on whether Indian students with black heritage were excluded from enrolling in the Carlisle Indian School. School and federal officials debated on how to respond. Carlisle Superintendent Moses Friedman argued that those students often…
BIA Policy and Policy Changes


Commissioner of Indian Affairs Cato Sells writes a lengthy letter to G. McM. Ross in which he thoroughly disagrees with Ross' claim that Carlisle Indian School students should be paid for their labor, reasoning that the government pays for their lodging, food, and education, that students can earn money on outing, and that their labor at the…

These materials include a draft and final letter to Oscar Hiram Lipps, Supervisor in Charge of the Carlisle Indian School, regarding a new form, Form 5-249, for method reporting. The letter also explains new reporting procedures regarding enrollment and outing students.

Two memos between government officials which discuss what laws or court cases are relevant to the investigation into the mishandling of money of the students of Carlisle. These were compiled in the wake of the 1914 Congressional Investigation at Carlisle where it was discovered that certain funds deposited for students for transportation were…

These materials include correspondence regarding the education of members of the Cherokee Nation from Robeson County, North Carolina.

These materials contain correspondence regarding the need for superintendents of nonreservation schools to communicate when students attempt to re-enroll in a different school, using two former Carlisle students as examples.

These materials include correspondence regarding the view of Oscar H. Lipps that Carlisle and other non-reservation schools should focus on educating only those who do not have access to education near their homes and that truly desired further instruction. Lipps cites that he has worked to remove many pupils he felt were not deserving from…

Carlisle Indian School Superintendent John Francis Jr. writes to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Cato Sells regarding the Declaration of Policy, which he believes may prohibit any students from Oklahoma - particularly members of the "Five Civilized Tribes" - or New York from enrolling at Carlisle because they have access to public schools.…