Book Review: The Indian Industrial School Carlisle, Penna: 1879-1918

Linda Witmer's chronicle of the Carlisle Indian School makes one feel that he was really there and knew some of the students personally. The story begins with the journey of seventy-two shackled Indian prisoners to St. Augustine, Florida in 1875 under Richard Henry Pratt, the transfer of most of them three years later to Hampton, Virginia, and the establishment of the Indian Industrial School at Carlisle in 1879. Pratt served with distinction as Superintendent of the school for twenty-five years.

Richard Pratt was a man with a mission, the mission being "civilizing the Indian by total immersion." He was called by some "the Red Man's Moses," by others "an honest lunatic." Probably both appellations carry a measure of truth. At a time when most white Americans considered Indians still a savage foe, Pratt respected them and sympathetically wanted to help them survive in the white man's world. In all his years as Superintendent, he battled an opposing and dilatory Indian Bureau, which favored reservation schools rather than the remote school at Carlisle.

By the turn of the century, opinion had shifted. Many Americans by then championed the "noble redman," and Pratt's ideas were considered by many to be wrong. Finally, in 1904, after a publicized verbal attack on officials of the Indian Bureau, Pratt was relieved as Superintendent.

The office of Superintendent changed hands a number of times in the years after Pratt, as changes were made to appease the Indian Bureau. The industrial and academic programs deteriorated, and increased emphasis was placed on athletics, especially football. Indian culture was recognized and fostered for a time, but the school was in decline, as Western senators scrutinized non-reservation schools. 

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