A group portrait of the boys in the Chemawa Indian School band, taken soon after the school relocated to Chemawa from Forest Grove in 1885. The students hold their instruments as if they were performing, probably as a posed demonstration for the camera. From left to right, they hold four trumpets (and/or bugles); three euphoniums or similar brass instruments; a tuba; a large drum with cymbal; and a snare drum. The student holding the large drum is probably James Stewart, Nez Perce. The four students on the left may be the same boys noted as being "buglers" on the school roster (not necessarily in this order): George Piute, Warm Springs; George Brown, Tlingit; Philip Jones, Tlingit; and George Blake, Tlingit. For another photograph taken on the same day, see image WCMss261_001_157.
A group portrait of the 1885 graduates of the Forest Grove Indian School. The school relocated from Forest Grove to Chemawa that year and was renamed soon afterwards. This image was probably made at Chemawa based on the white building in the background. It was probably taken at the end of the school year in June. The boys wear their military-style school dress uniforms; several have stripes, epaulets and medals that probably indicated their ranks within the school. The girls wear matching white dresses which the girls probably sewed in the school's sewing workshops. Two students have been identified: James Stewart, Nez Perce (middle row, fourth from right); and Jacob Helm, Paiute of Yakama (middle row, second from left). Emma Kahama may be the fourth student from the right in the top row. Students listed in school records as 1885 graduates, many of whom are probably in this portrait, include: John Alexis, Lummi; George Blake, Stikine Tlingit; David Fletcher and Jennie Fletcher, Snohomish; Jacob Helm, Paiute of Yakama; Etta Hollaquilla, Warm Springs; Thomas Itwis, Puyallup; Levi Jonas, Nez Perce; Emma Kahama, Puyallup; Peter Kalama, Nisqually and Hawaiian; Ella Lane, Puyallup; William Lewis, Tlingit; William Martin, Puyallup; George Meacham, Wasco; Lizzie Olney, Warm Springs; Emma Parker, Wasco and Warm Springs; Lillie Pitt and Sallie Pitt, Pit River and Warm Springs; Rosa Price, Nez Perce; Peter Sherwood, Squaxin Island; John Smith, Skokomish; James Stewart, Nez Perce; Susie Winyer, Nisqually.
A group portrait of mostly Tlingit boys from Alaska who were enrolled at the Forest Grove Indian School in 1881 or 2. The photograph was taken by an employee of the I.G. Davidson Studio of Portland, outdoors on the school campus. The Davidson studio took several other group portraits of students on the same day. Copies of the photographs were sold as albumen print cabinet cards to the public, with a portion of the proceeds going to the school coffers. This arrangement was made as an agreement between the studio and the school's first superintendent, Captain M.C. Wilkinson. The caption reads: "Davidson Photo. No. 37. Indian Training School, Forest Grove, Oregon. Group of Alaska Boys. Capt. M. C. WIlkinson, U.S.A., in charge."
The boys wear their everyday school clothes and caps from the school's military-style uniforms. Most of them have tucked small tokens into their button holes: oak leaves and wildflowers. Students in this image probably include those listed in the school roster as having come from Alaska by 1881: William Lear, George Brown, Frank Shattuck, Samuel Goldstein, Walter Burwell, Arthur Jackson, Harry Kadeshan, Charles Lott, Philip Jones, George Blake, and William Lewis. Of these, William Lear and Frank Shattuck appear to have actually been Samish and Coast Salish from northern Washington; the others were Tlingit of Chilkat, Sitka and Stikine. Based on another confirmed photograph, the second boy from the left in the bottom row is probably Walter Burwell. A swing can be seen hanging from the trees in the background, possibly identifying the location as the school's play area, which was just west of the campus.
A group portrait of the boys enrolled at Chemawa Indian School, very soon after the school relocated there from Forest Grove in 1885. The boys stand at attention, demonstrating a military drill for the camera. The student standing in front of the others may have been leading the drill. One student holds the United States flag aloft on the right. A woman stands in the doorway of the white building on the left. Trees, which had not yet been cleared from the campus, lie behind a fenced area in the background. The boys in this portrait were taken to the school from tribes across the Pacific Northwest as part of a government plan to force them to assimilate into white culture. For another photograph taken on the same day, see image WCMss261_001_176.
A group portrait of 62 Native American students from Pacific Northwest tribes who were enrolled at the Forest Grove Indian School. It was likely taken between May-June 1881, by which time a total of 64 students had enrolled.
This photograph was taken by an employee of the I.G. Davidson Studio of Portland. The tribes then present at the school included Puyallup, Warm Springs, Spokane, Chehalis, and Alaskan (primarily Tlingit). The caption reads: "Davidson, Indian Training School, Forest Grove, Oregon, Photo." The Davidson studio took numerous photographs of the school to sell to the public as cabinet cards. However this image, which is printed on different stock than the other Davidson cabinet cards and with a handwritten rather than printed caption, appears to have been made in smaller quantities, possibly for a smaller audience.
Several students have been identified based on other confirmed portraits. The two students in the top row wearing plaid are Nugen and Augustus Kautz, whose mother was a Nisqually woman named Tenas Puss and father was General August Valentine Kautz of the U.S. Army. The fifth student from the right in the third row from the top is David Brewer, Puyallup. The student standing furthest to the left in the third row from the top is Samuel "Spott" McCaw, Puyallup.
A detail from a larger image of the Forest Grove Indian Training School Campus, focusing on the school's first superintendent, Melville C. Wilkinson. At the time this photograph was taken, Wilkinson was an officer in the United States Army who had been given a special assignment allowing him to serve as superintendent of this school. In this view, he is wearing his military uniform and is standing in front of boys from the Forest Grove Indian School. They are standing on the Forest Grove Indian School campus. It is from a photograph originally captioned, "Indian Training School, Forest Grove, Oregon." The original is numbered 36 in a series of photographs by I.G. Davidson, a photography studio based in Portland. The series shows how the school taught the children to behave according to the norms of white society, including learning trades and wearing Western clothing. It was probably taken in 1881 or 1882, based on other dated photographs within the series. See the original photograph, PUApic_008607, in the Forest Grove Indian Training School Collection, Pacific University Archives.
A family portrait of the Minnie and Samuel Ammon Thurston Walker Family of Forest Grove, Oregon. From left to right: Minerva ("Minnie") Jane Knighten Walker, Raleigh Clay Walker, Charles Lovell Walker, Pearl May Walker, and Samuel Ammon Thurston Walker. Around the time this portrait was taken, Samuel and Minnie were working as instructors for the Forest Grove Indian School and its successor, the Chemawa Indian School. Most of the family members pictured here were also known for their music and formed several popular bands in later years. This photograph is part of the Charles Lovell and Winnette Sears Walker Collection. Winnette was a 1906 alumna of Linfield College. Charles was an alumnus of Tualatin Academy who later became a musician and an insurance agent in Hillsboro, Oregon.
A letter dated April 24, 1885 providing a final report on the accomplishments of the Forest Grove Indian School as it was being moved to its new site near Salem, Oregon. The letter is from George H. Atkinson, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Pacific University, to L. Q. C. Lamar, Secretary of the Interior of the United States. In this letter, Atkinson makes a final argument in favor of keeping the school in Forest Grove, principally due to how the Native children were integrated with the white community. He describes the original aims of the Indian School and how it was established; the advantages of its site in Forest Grove; the difficult transition of the first students to the school which included resistance from their parents; accomplishments in vocational and academic skills among the students; and advantages to securing 'hostages' against Indian wars. By the time that this letter was written, the school was already in the midst of being relocated to its new site in Salem.
A letter dated December 4, 1884 regarding additional lands added to the campus of the Forest Grove Indian School in an attempt to keep the school from being moved. The letter is from George H. Atkinson, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Pacific University, to H. Price, Commissioner for Indian Affairs within United States Department of the Interior. At the time this letter was written, the government was already perparing to move the school to a new site.
A brief newspaper article noting that the former boys' dormitory of the Forest Grove Indian Training School would soon be demolished in order to make way for a more modern residence. The building had been used as the boys' dormitory at the Indian School from about 1880-1885, and then in the 1890s through early 1900s it was used as the first men's dormitory for Pacific University. The article notes that a local man named T. Wiggman wanted to construct a newer building in the same location. The newer building which replaced the Boys' Dormitory may be the apartments that currently stand at 2210 C St. in Forest Grove. This article was originally published on April 9, 1908 in the Washington County News. The image is derived from a microfilm copy of the newspaper.
A letter dated May 26, 1884 regarding reasons to keep the Indian School in Forest Grove, Oregon. The letter is from George H. Atkinson, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Pacific University, to H. Price, Commissioner for Indian Affairs within United States Department of the Interior. Atkinson provides twelve reasons for keeping the school open in Forest Grove rather than closing or moving it to a new location. His reason include positive conditions in the town of Forest Grove, academic and vocational successes of the students, happiness of the students' parents with the school, moral qualities of the school and advantages to the land chosen for its farm.
An illustration of scenes from the Forest Grove Indian School that was published in the magazine Harper's Weekly in 1882, based on photographs from 1881. The school, which functioned from 1880-1885, tried to assimilate Native children into Western culture, teaching them trades and basic academic skills while eradicating their native languages and cultural practices.
The images include: 'Housekeeping' (upper left): female students performing tasks they learned at the school including sewing, laundry, ironing, and making bread, with several younger students holding dolls; 'Carpenters at Work' (upper right): male students in front of the school's workshop performing tasks from carpentry class including sawing and cabinetmaking; 'A School Scene' (lower right): male and female students posed in an academic classroom scene outdoors with teaching equipment such as maps, books, charts, and an organ; 'Shoemaking' (lower left): male students in front of the school's workshop performing tasks from the shoemaking class, accompanied by teacher Samuel A. T. Walker; and 'New Recruits, Spokane Indians' (center): a group portrait of the Spokane students who arrived at the school in July 1881: Alice L. Williams, Florence Hayes, Suzette (or Susan) Secup, Julia Jopps, Louise Isaacs, Martha Lot, Eunice Madge James, James George, Ben Secup, Frank Rice, and Garfield Hayes.
The illustrations were based on a series of photographs that were taken in 1881. The photographer was from the I.G. Davidson studio of Portland. The four classroom scenes were posed outdoors at the Forest Grove Indian School, and are intended to show some of the skills that the students were learning there. The center group portrait was taken at the Davidson studio and was intended to be a 'before' picture of how the students looked when they arrived at the school; an 'after' photograph showing them seven months later was also taken, but not reproduced in this illustration. The photographs were probably originally produced in order to assist in fundraising activities for the school.
This double-page illustrated version of the photographs was drawn by Thure de Thulstrup to accompany an article in Harper's Weekly, which was an American magazine with a very large circulation. The article praised the school and described its accomplishments in assimilating Native children.
This image shows the building which had been used as a dormitory at the Forest Grove Indian School from 1880-1885 as it appeared in 1894, after the Indian School had moved away to Salem. By the time of this photograph in 1894, the building had been converted to housing for male students at Pacific University. As an historian of the university written a decade later recounted, 'One of the main buildings erected for the [Indian] school burned a short time before the removal [to Salem; this is referring to the Indian girls' dormitory, which burned down around 1885], and the other has been fitted up for a boys' dormitory and boarding house [for Pacific University students]. Here some of the young men have clubbed together, and thus boarded themselves for from a dollar and a quarter to a dollar and a half a week.' The historian cross-referenced this image from the Pacific University 1894 yearbook, 'The Heart of Oak,' where this image was first published. See: Eells, Myron, ed. 'A History of Tualatin Academy and Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon, 1848-1902.' Typescript. (1904) p. 83-84. Pacific University Archives.
A portrait of an unidentified Native American girl. She probably attended Chemawa Indian School and/or the Forest Grove Indian School; or she might be the daughter of alumni from the school, such as Katie and David Brewer. The photograph is a small, 43mm x 81mm image in carte-de-visite format. It is stamped on the verso of the photograph as having been taken by W. P. Johnson, and probably dates from between 1886-1888 (See: Robinson, Oregon Photographers, 1993, p. 394). This may be the same girl who is pictured in another portrait in the collection, PUApic_008361.
An image of the Indian Training School's original campus in Forest Grove. This photograph was likely taken in 1880 or early 1881. The view is looking west from what is now the intersection of C Street and 22nd Place in Forest Grove. The girls’ dormitory is on the right; the boys’ dormitory is on the left; and the school workshop is in the center. Plank sidewalks connect the buildings. In contrast to later photographs: the dormitories have not yet had dormers or porch roofs added; the foundations have no skirting; and the workshop does not yet have the addition that would later be added on the right side. None of the buildings pictured here have survived. The photograph is numbered 35 in a series of photographs by I.G. Davidson, a photography studio based in Portland. The series shows how the school taught the children to behave according to the norms of white society, including learning trades and wearing Western clothing. This scan is of a later black-and-white print based on a negative held by the Oregon Historical Society (negative no. 58774).
A letter dated March 5, 1884 regarding land and conditions at the Forest Grove Indian School from George H. Atkinson, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Pacific University, to Professor C. C. (Charles Cornelius) Painter. Painter was an advocate for Native rights and was the Corresponding Secretary for the American Missionary Association's National Education Committee. Both Atkinson and Painter were ordained ministers in the Congregationalist Church. In this letter, Atkinson responds to questions regarding the title to the land on which the Indian School buildings sat. This land belonged to Pacific University but would be deeded, Atkinson said, to the Government for the purposes of running the school. Atkinson closes the letter with his hopes that Painter will help the school to secure more funding.
A posed photograph taken in 1881 of Native American boys in the Forest Grove Indian Training School performing blacksmithing (left) and carpentry skills (right). The names of the children are not identified. The white man is their blacksmithing instructor, William S. Hudson. The building in the background is the school’s workshop, which was on the main campus of the school in Forest Grove. The caption notes that this was number 33 in a series of photographs by I.G. Davidson, a photography studio based in Portland. The series shows how the school taught the children to behave according to the norms of white society, including the teaching of vocational skills such as this one. This photograph was reproduced alongside several other images of the school as an etching in a popular magazine, Harper's Weekly, in 1882. The Pacific University Archives' copy of this photo is a black-and-white reproduction of the original, which would have been a sepia-toned albumen print.
A posed photograph of Native American students sitting at desks outside of one of the dormitories at the Forest Grove Indian Training School. Various maps, drawings, Christian signs and objects such as a music organ, books, blocks, and a globe are arranged around the students, demonstrating the subjects that the students were being taught. The children are separated by gender and organized by age, with younger students at the front. The actual classroom spaces at the school were indoors. The caption notes that this was number 32 in a series of photographs by I.G. Davidson, a photography studio based in Portland. The back of the photograph reads: "Indian Training School, Forest Grove, Capt. M.C. Wilkinson USA, in charge ." I.G. Davidson photoThe series shows how the school taught the children to behave according to the norms of white society. The Pacific University Archives' copy of this photo is a black-and-white reproduction of the original, which would have been a sepia-toned albumen print.
A hand-tinted photograph depicting students at Chemawa School, standing under its entrance arch in Salem in 1905. A caption on the photograph reads: "Entrance to Indian Training School, Chemawa, near Salem, Oregon." The students shown in the image are mostly younger boys, all wearing the military-style school uniform. The Pacific University Archives' copy of this photograph is a reprint made in the late 20th century. The original photograph was issued as a postcard.
This brief history of the Forest Grove Indian School was written in 1904. It was probably by Myron Eells, who edited the text from which it is extracted, 'A History of Tualatin Academy and Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon, 1848-1902.' This text was never published but still exists in a typescript copy at the Pacific University Archives. This brief historical sketch notes Pacific's support for the Indian school, its successes, its removal to Salem, and the fate of the Indian school's buildings afterwards. Particularly notable is the mention that one of the dormitories had been converted into a boarding house for male students at Pacific by 1894. Also of note is the editor's background: Myron Eells was the brother of Edwin Eells, who was an Indian Agent in the Puget Sound area during the time when the Indian School was in Forest Grove, and who likely helped to funnel native students to the school.
A hand-tinted photograph of the entrance arch to Chemawa Indian School in Salem, lettered 'Indian Training School.' It depicts Chemawa as it appeared in 1905. The Pacific University Archives' copy of this photograph is a reprint made in the late 20th century. The original photograph was likely issued as a postcard.
A posed photograph of Native American girls in the Forest Grove Indian Training School performing housekeeping skills. The twenty girls of various ages are in western dress and are showing the skills which the vocational classes offered to girls at the school: washing, ironing, making bread, sewing by hand and with sewing machines, and housekeeping. The photograph was posed outdoors with one of the school dormitories in the background. They did this in order to make use of natural light; the actual classrooms were indoors. The caption notes that this was number 43 in a series of photographs by I.G. Davidson, a photography studio based in Portland. The series shows how the school taught the children to behave according to the norms of white society, including the performance of vocational skills such as this one. This photograph was reproduced alongside several other images of the school as an etching in a popular magazine, Harper's Weekly, in 1882.
A posed photograph of Native American boys in the Forest Grove Indian Training School performing shoemaking skills. The names of the children are not identified. The white man is their instructor, Samuel A. T. Walker, who noted the occasion in his diary on June 6, 1881: 'I went out to the Indian School to work before noon and had my picture taken in front of the shop with my shoe maker boys.' The caption notes that this was number 41 in a series of photographs by I.G. Davidson, a photography studio based in Portland. The series shows how the school taught the children to behave according to the norms of white society, including the teaching of vocational skills such as this one. This photograph was reproduced alongside several other images of the school as an etching in a popular magazine, Harper's Weekly, in 1882.
A posed photograph of Native American boys in the Forest Grove Indian Training School performing carpentry skills. The caption notes that this was number 42 in a series of photographs by I.G. Davidson, a photography studio based in Portland. The series shows how the school taught the children to behave according to the norms of white society, including the teaching of vocational skills such as this one. This photograph was reproduced alongside several other images of the school as an etching in a popular magazine, Harper's Weekly, in 1882.
