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NATIONAL HISTORY DAY 2016
and “instruction in manners and right conduct.”5 Beginning in the 1880s, the BIA established non-reservation boarding
schools for vocational education beyond what was available within reservation communities: “non-reservation schools…are
to the schools of the Indian Services what high schools and colleges are to the public school system.”6 An additional 25 non-
reservation schools were opened over the next two decades.7 By the late 1920s, nearly half of boarding school enrollments
were in off-reser vation schools.8 These non-reservation schools enrolled students from many different tribes located
throughtout the U.S. Academic classes were offered for primary grades through high school, while advanced students could
choose vocational and commercial training such as agriculture, masonry, carpentry, leatherworking, blacksmithing, printing,
O
homemaking, and, in later years, plumbing, electrical work, welding, mechanics, food services, and office education. The Indian
Affairs Agent at each reservation strongly encouraged student attendance, though it was not compulsory.9
ne of the BIA schools, Haskell Institute, opened its doors over 127 years ago as “a practical education for Indian girls
and boys,” and noted, “institution being located at Lawrence, Kansas, 40 miles west of Kansas City, on the main lines of
the Santa Fe and Union Pacific Railways, is easily reached.”10 Beginning as an Indian Industrial School in 1884, it transitioned
into a non-reservation boarding school shortly thereafter.11 Known today as Haskell Indian Nations University, the school has
served students representing more than 100 tribes from over 30 states.12 Throughout its many iterations and changes, the
school maintained an administrative file for each student in attendance to document the grades, applications for enrollment,
attendance records, class schedules, and medical or disciplinary problems. Some files also include correspondence between
school employees, students, parents, and reservation officials.13 These student case files can provide a unique resource for
exploring nationwide and global events while demonstrating how those larger events have an individual impact.
In the midst of WWI, the school continued to provide academic and vocational training to its pupils. However, some students
chose to actively participate in the war efforts through service in the military or other war-related industries. During the war,
current and former students wrote to friends, teachers, and the superintendent at Haskell describing their role in war efforts.
Depending on the content of the letters, some caught the eye of school administrators. Lutiant (La Voye) Van Wert from
the Chippewa Tribe wrote one such letter.14 Though she was no longer enrolled at Haskell at the time, parts of Van Wert’s
correspondence can be found in her student case file, and under the Haskell subject correspondence file relating to
“Contagious Epidemics.”
The administrative documents in Van Wert’s file describe her as a “nice mannered girl, very kind and considerate” and “one
of the best students…steady and dependable.”15 In October 1918, following graduation, she and a friend volunteered at “Camp
Humphreys ‘Somewher[e] in Virginia’ to help nurse soldiers sick” with influenza.16 After four days of service, the staff at
Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, 1927 Bulletin 9, printed at the Indian Print Shop, Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, Chilocco, Oklahoma, National Archives at
Kansas City.
6
A Practical Education for Indian Girls and Boys, n.d., leaflet, Haskell Institute.
7
David Wallace Adams, Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995). 57.
8
Adams, Education for Extinction, 59
9
Compulsory public education, outside of the BIA’s jurisdiction, was regulated on a state-by-state basis. A major proponent of compulsory education Horace Mann advocated that
free public education would help to eradicate societal evils.
10
A Practical Education for Indian Girls and Boys, n.d., leaflet, Haskell Institute.
11
Haskell did not offer college level courses until 1927, but it did not graduate its last high school class until 1965. “Haskell Institute,” Family Search, accessed January 20, 2015,
familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Haskell_Institute.
12
Haskell Junior College (1991), college catalog, Lawrence, Kansas: Published with the permission of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Haskell Indian Junior College, Bob Martin, President
13
For a full description of these archival records, visit the National Archive Online Catalog for National Archives Identifier 592971: research.archives.gov/description/592971
14
According to the correspondence in the student case file from her time at Haskell Institute, there is some discussion about whether or not she is enrolled at the Indian Affairs
agencies in northern Minnesota.
15
Huskall Institute, Comments of W.E. Lockhart, Principal of the Commercial Department, Undated. Subject Correspondence Files. Lutiant Van Wert, Student Case File
16
Lutiant Van Wert to Louise. 17 October 1918. Contagious Epidemics (Folder 3 of 3), Subject Correspondence Files. Lutiant Van Wert, Student Case File.
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