The Documents section features digitized copies of documents relating to the history of the school. These documents include correspondence, graduation pamphlets, and other forms of ephemera, and have been digitized by Digital Resource Center staff. Today, these documents are preserved in a number of locations, including the Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections as well as private collections.
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November 12, 1879
Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz authorizes Richard Henry Pratt to visit New York City and spend $2,000 to purchase a cooking range, clothing, furniture, and supplies.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Authority to Purchase a Cooking Range, Clothing, and Furniture274.07 KB
November 13, 1879
Richard H. Pratt provides updates on the progress he's made since Sunday. Most notably, Pratt has organized the male students into companies, and they now occupy eight rooms instead of five, the bedding has arrived, and they've started building…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Organization of Boys into Companies, Arrival of Bedding, and Construction on Chapel174.39 KB
November 13, 1879
Captain Richard Henry Pratt writes to Ezra H. Hayt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, regarding the first groups of Sioux, Menominee Ponca, Pawnee, Kiowa, Comanche, Wichita, Seminole, Cheyenne, and Arapaho children and young adults brought to the…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence, Reports
View Document: Report on First Three Parties of Students Brought to the Carlisle Indian School3.67 MB
November 15-17, 1879
Samuel Wetzel, Superintendent of Building and Repairs, prepares a blueprint and estimate of cost, amounting to $1,165.94, for the chapel and assembly room. Richard H. Pratt forwards both documents to Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt and…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics: New Building Construction
View Document: Estimate of Cost and Blueprints for Chapel and Assembly Room1.01 MB
November 15, 1879
Refers to proceeding of a Board of Survey at Carlisle Barracks of Public Property transferred to Indian Department.
Note no document is attached.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234),…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics: Founding of the School
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Refers to Board of Survey Transferring Public Property to Indian Department41.36 KB
November 16, 1879 - December 24, 1879
Richard Henry Pratt forwards two letters to Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt and gives his side of the story regarding a disagreement over the price of beef supplied for the students recruited for Carlisle while they waited at the…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics:
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Dispute over Beef Pricing for Recruited Students at Rosebud Agency384.33 KB
November 17, 1879
Richard Henry Pratt forwards to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs a letter, penned by James E. Rhodes of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Rhodes asks if the son of one of his Seneca friends, John Kennedy, might be allowed to enroll at Carlisle. Pratt…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics: Request for Enrollment
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Request to Enroll Seneca Student1.84 MB
November 19, 1879
Surgeon J. H. Frantz informs Richard Henry Pratt that only 30 of the 158 students have been vaccinated. Pratt forwards Frantz's comments to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and requests to purchase 140 vaccines.
Note: This item was…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Request to Purchase 140 Vaccines for Students161.5 KB
November 20, 1879
Richard H. Pratt notifies Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt that he's going to New York on Friday and Saturday to make purchases.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics:
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Notification that Pratt is Going to New York85.2 KB
November 24, 1879
Lea Lugner asks the Commissioner of Indian Affairs if she can send a small Christmas box to the Carlisle Indian School.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Request to Send a Christmas Gift to the Carlisle Indian School118.35 KB
November 27, 1879
Richard Henry Pratt requests authority to purchase a horse and asks Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt when he's going to send him the spring wagon that he promised.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Request to Buy a Horse149.81 KB
November 27, 1879
Richard Henry Pratt informs the Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt that he has found a method of siding frame buildings with lumber designed exclusively for that purpose and asks him if he can use this new lumber to build the chapel and…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics:
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Request to Use New Lumber for Siding Frame Buildings143.74 KB
December 1, 1879
Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz grants Richard Henry Pratt authority to purchase one spring wagon and one horse.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Authority to Purchase One Spring Wagon and One Horse144.7 KB
December 1, 1879
Richard Henry Pratt provides Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt with a variety of updates about the Carlisle Indian School: everyone is in good health, he will send Hayt a uniform sample in a few days, his corps of assistants is almost…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Variety of Updates on the Carlisle Indian School173.94 KB
December 3, 1879
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra A. Hayt's response to a request from Indian Agent S. A. Russell from the Mescalero Agency in New Mexico about if Hayt could help find care for an orphaned boy at his agency. Hayt explains that the Carlisle…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics: Recruitment of Students
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Letter Discussing Sending Orphan from Mescalero Agency to Carlisle Indian School3.22 MB
December 3, 1879
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra A. Hayt's response letter to donor Lea Lugner offering to send a "Christmas box" to the students at the school. Hayt suggests that gifts would be welcome as there are 158 children at the school, but government…
Repository: National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Letter to Donor About Sending a "Christmas Box"3.22 MB
December 3, 1879
Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz approves plans and an estimate for constructing a building that will function as a chapel and assembly room at the Carlisle Indian School. Schurz grants authority to spend $1,165.94 on the project. …
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Permission to Build Chapel and Assembly Room146.86 KB
December 4, 1879
Richard Henry Pratt forwards a receipt for copy ink and copy books.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics: Office Supplies
Format: Financial Documents
View Document: Invoice for Shipment of Copy Ink and Copy Paper296.5 KB
December 4, 1879
Richard Henry Pratt requests to visit Washington, D.C. to discuss the Carlisle Indian School with the Department of the Interior. A note on the bottom notes that Pratt has telegraphed to cancel the request to visit.
Note: This item was…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics: Employee Travel
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Request to Visit Washington, D. C. to Discuss the School143.19 KB
December 5, 1879
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra A. Hayt's letter to James E. Rhoades in response to a letter Rhoades sent to Captain Richard Henry Pratt requesting that he transfer a Seneca student to the Carlisle Indian School. Hayt denied the request on…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics: Student Transfers
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Letter Denying Transfer of Seneca Student to Carlisle Indian School2.92 MB
December 5, 1879
Letter where Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra A. Hayt encourages Captain Richard Henry Pratt to replace the physician at Carlisle, feeling that the Army surgeon may not know best how to treat younger people. Hayt tells Pratt to seek a…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics: Medical Care at School
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Letter Ordering Pratt to Hire a Homeopathic Physician for Carlisle4.58 MB
December 5, 1879
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra A. Hayt's response to Edward Bloedon suggesting that he should send his inquiry about employment directly to Captain Richard Henry Pratt at the Carlisle Indian School.
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Letter to Edward Bloedon Instructing Him to Send Application to Captain Pratt1.47 MB
December 5, 1879
Commissioner of Indian Affairs writing to Captain Richard Henry Pratt about the application of Edward Bloedon of Saginaw, Michigan for appointment as steward at the Carlisle Indian School. Hayt told Bloedon that he should send his application…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Letter to Pratt about Boarding School Positions1.54 MB
December 6, 1879
In both a letter and telegraph, Richard Henry Pratt withdraws his request to visit Washington, D.C.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in…
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Topics:
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Withdrawal of Request to Visit Washington, D. C.222.34 KB
December 9-18, 1879
W. H. Stevens applies to be a physician at the Carlisle Indian School. Stevens includes four letters of recommendation to support his application.
Repository: National Archives and Records Administration
Format: Letters/Correspondence
View Document: Application for Employment from W. H. Stevens581.05 KB