Student Uniforms and Clothing

Richard Henry Pratt informs the Office of Indian Affairs that Olga Koerner who was appointed to the position of assistant seamstress is unable to fulfill the duties required from the position. Pratt details the work required of the position including supervising students to produce over 2200 dresses a year. He further details he has lost…

William A. Mercer responds to an inquiry to reenroll Murphy Tarby at the Carlisle Indian School in order for Tarby to attend the Dickinson Preparatory School.

Captain W. A. Mercer requests permission from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to employ twenty female students in the sewing room to make shirts for male pupils. Mercer also includes details on compensation and the number of workdays required to make enough shirts.

William A. Mercer requests authority for the purchase of underwear for the treatment of a student with Brights' disease.

William A. Mercer requests authority to purchase neckties, headstones, and matting.

William A. Mercer requests authority to purchase extra material for graduation dresses' for the Senior Class.

Superintendent William A. Mercer corrects a previous request from 20 gross buttons for $2.40 to 240 dozen buttons for $28.80.

Office of Indian Affairs Chief Clerk F. M. Conser informs Mercer that the contract cannot be changed since it has already been approved. If the buttons have not yet arrived, Conser suggests that they can cancel…

Carlisle Indian School Superintendent Moses Friedman forwards balances of three contracts that total $1,044. The three contracts are for paint supplies, "gym slippers," and lumber.

Carlisle Indian School Superintendent Moses Friedman encloses three claim vouchers for approval. The vouchers are from the B. F. Sturtevant Company, Alfredy Lowry & Bro., and D. Klein & Bro. Makers of Army and Navy Uniforms.

Carlisle Indian School Moses Friedman informs the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that his allowance of $54,668.99 for supplies for fiscal year 1914 should be increased by $15,000. He is basing his request on needing provisions for 600 students and clothing for 800 students. 

Acting Commissioner C. F. Hauke explains how they got to…

Greenhut-Siegel Cooper Co. informs the Department of the Interior that they have an unpaid invoice of $73.80 for blue-check material.

Chief of the Finance Division of the Department of the Interior Frank Govern encloses the letter to Carlisle Indian School Superintendent Moses Friedman and requests that he communicates directly with the…

Carlisle Indian School Superintendent Friedman informs the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that the claim from Greenhut-Siegel Cooper Co. for an unpaid invoice for blue-check material is void. Friedman states that the material was not the same as the sample and was eventually returned. 

Chief of the Finance Division of Indian Affairs…

August Kensler sends Inspector Linnen an inventory of all surplus clothing usually worn by students from 6 to 14 years old. Kensler indicates that these clothes are no longer needed because the students at Carlisle are older.

In Inspector Linnen's main report for the 1914 Congressional investigation at Carlisle, this document is labelled…

The typed transcript of Bertha Canfield's testimony before the Joint Commission to Investigate Indian Affairs. At the time Canfield oversaw the sewing room at the school.

In her testimony Canfield critiques the administration of Superintendent Friedman on the basis that he does not take any interest in the well-being or morality of the…

The typed transcript of Nellie Denny's testimony before the Joint Commission to Investigate Indian Affairs. At the time Denny was not working at Carlisle, but she had previously worked as outing agent, clerk, and teacher, and had attended the school prior to that. Nellie Robertson is the name under which she attended the school.

In her…

These materials detail clothing and shoe purchases made by Carlisle athletes between 1907-1914. Most purchases were made at M. Blumenthal & Co. or other stores in the town of Carlisle.

In Inspector Linnen's main report for the 1914 Congressional investigation at Carlisle, this document is labelled Exhibit F. 

Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. B. Meritt acknowledges receipt of communication from Joseph M. Herman Shoe Co. regarding the Carlisle Indian School Supervisor in Charge refusing to pay a $97.20 bill for delivering shoes to the school. Meritt asks Supervisor in Charge Oscar H. Lipps for a full report on the matter. Lipps encloses all…

Supervisor of Schools H. B. Peairs provides a report on Carlisle's food, dining room, clothing, floors, rooms and decoration, and physical training. Based on his report, Peairs makes a series of recommendations based on his report to Carlisle Superintendent Oscar H. Lipps. Lipps forwards it to various Carlisle employees and endorses the…