The Public Relationship Between Dickinson and the Indian School

Introduction

In order to understand the Indian School, it is imperative to that we understand Carlisle at the time. According to the 1880 US census, one year after the School was established, Carlisle was a thriving midwestern town, with a population of 6,209 people. The shoe factory in town employed over 800 residents. There were two railroads, three banks, and ten hotels in Carlisle by the time Pratt established his school. By the late nineteenth century, there were 1,117 "colored residents" in Carlisle (Van Dolsen). Carlisle boasted a low unemployment rate and a high literacy rate at the time of the census.

Carlisle was an ideal location for the Indian School for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was west enough of the east coast so that the Indians would not be overwhelmed with urban life. However, it was not so west that the students would be able to run away back to their families. One of the problems with the day schools that existed on the reservations in the years preceeding the Indian School was that at night, the students would return to their families and be reimmersed in their Indian culture, effectively discounting all the work done to Anglicize them that day. Therefore, when Pratt envisioned a boarding school for Indians, he wanted to make sure that they would be far enough away from Indian culture that they would have no choice but to stay and be made like the white man. Secondly, there were vacant army barracks in Carlisle, making the town an ideal location for Pratt's school. Thirdly, the barracks were only 2.01 miles from an already well established institution, Dickinson College.

The first Indian School students arrived in Carlisle from Fort Marion on October 6, 1879. They were still dressed in tribal uniform; “for the people of Carlisle it was a gala day and a great crowd gathered around the railroad” (Rockwell). The older Indian boys sang songs aloud in order to keep their spirits up and remain courageous, even though they were frightened.