| Finding information about former
Carlisle
Indian School
students is now much more simplified using web
resources. Thanks to the diligent efforts of Genevieve Bell, this information is now more accessible. In preparation for her doctoral dissertation for Stanford University, Bell spent many months at the National Archives in Washington DC (NARA), poring over the 8,000+ student folders of the Carlisle Indian School documents in Record Group 75. NARA is the only repository where the actual Carlisle Indian School records are housed. Bell organized a database of statistical information found in these records. Various university, military and historical archives house the school publications and a variety of photograph collections, but only the NARA holds the actual records of the Carlisle Indian School. These files contain the official documents of the school; any correspondence kept between school, agent and parents or guardians; photographs; original enrollment applications which include lineage, blood quantum, home agency or address, and physician's report; Outing Reports including patrons' names and locations and students' dates of service; runaway information; number and sex of siblings; and occasional follow-up surveys of the students whereabouts after 1910. These folders may be photocopied by writing to NARA. Here is a listing of names and folders. Note: in many cases, there is an index-sized file card in the folder, which may contain only a fraction of the above information. Those names are not included in the listing, but the information is available by emailing Barb Landis. If you know
there is a NARA
folder for a
particular student and have the number from this
list, the complete
record may be ordered by
contacting:
archives1reference@nara.gov
When you write to NARA, be sure to emphasize that you know the folder number for the student in the Carlisle Indian School student files of Record Group 75 based on Genevieve Bell's index. The archives staff will photocopy the folder for a fee. As of this notice, the copy charge is $.70 a page, and the minimum mail order fee, for less than 20 pages, is $15.00. When people contact NARA, the pages are counted and an order form is sent. Inquiries may be made via email, on archives1reference@nara.gov If you want to order a newspaper search for a particular student, email Barbara Landis. Be sure to include the student's name and nation and she will email you the web page listing the students of that nation. These pages of lists are not publicly linked out of respect for those nations who prefer their relatives' names be treated in a good way. In some cases, biographical pages are linked to the student name lists.
|
Barbara
Landis
can
also provide a search for a particular student through
her transcribed newspaper files. She has hundreds of
newspaper files in
text format, saved from the weekly publications
distributed to
researchers
and relatives. Landis also has access to the Bell
database and will
include
that information if you prefer more immediate results.
Turnaround time
for this information is about six weeks and there is a
fee. A search
will include copies
of
newspaper references, census search (1880, 1900 and
1910), and the
NARA student
record basic template.