page_title: Carlisle Indian Industrial School
section_title: Carlisle, Pennsylvania
hierarchical_section_title: Carlisle Indian Industrial School / Community / Carlisle, Pennsylvania
caption_attribution_description: Carlisle, Pennsylvania
context_page_description: The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. All the school's property, known as the Carlisle Barracks, is now part of the U.S. Army War College.
  Founded in 1879 under U. S. governmental authority by General Richard Henry Pratt, Carlisle was the first federally funded off-reservation Indian boarding school. Consistent with Pratt's belief that Native Americans were 'equal' to European-Americans, the School strove to immerse its students into mainstream Euro-American culture, believing they might thus become able to advance themselves and thrive in the dominant society.
  In this period, many white Americans believed that the only hope for Native Americans, their population declining in number, was rapid assimilation into White culture.
  After witnessing the initial success of the Indian students at Hampton Normal and Agricultural School, General Richard Henry Pratt decided to establish the first all-Indian school, Carlisle, in 1879, in a renovated military barracks.
context_section_description: In 1880, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was a thriving town as a borough and county seat of Cumberland County, west of the Susquehanna River, 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 19th century, there were 1,117 "colored residents" in Carlisle. Carlisle boasted a low unemployment rate and a high literacy rate at the time of the census. It was considered a good location, as it was not in a big city. It was not so far West that the students would be able to run away back to their families. The historic Carlisle Barracks (established 1757, afterwards site of the U.S. Army War College, [1901], and U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, [1967]) were vacant and available for use. The military site was less than two miles from an already well established educational institution, Dickinson College (founded 1773, chartered 1783). When the first Indian School students arrived in Carlisle on October 6, 1879, they were in tribal dress. "For the people of Carlisle it was a gala day and a great crowd gathered around the railroad. The older Indian boys sang songs aloud in order to keep their spirits up and remain courageous, even though they were frightened." "For years, it was a common event for the people of Carlisle to greet the Carlisle Indian football victors on their homecoming. Led by the Indian School Band, the Carlisle Indians paraded in their nightshirts down the streets of Carlisle and on to the school on the edge of town." Residents of Carlisle stood on their doorsteps and cheered as the Carlisle Band led a snake dance from one end of town to the other.
caption: The people of Carlisle, Pennsylvania,  signed a petition in favor of the proposed school
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