Exhibit Explores Complexities, Tragedies of Native American Boarding Schools

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J.N. Choate; Courtesy of Cumberland County Historical Society, Carlisle, PA

The student body of the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in March 1892.

“To educate and assimilate into “civilized” society.” That was the motive in the 1870s behind taking Native American children to distant residential boarding schools and stripping them of all signs of their culture. “Away from Home: Native American Boarding Schools,” the newest exhibition presented by the Upcountry History Museum – Greenville County, a Smithsonian Affiliate, gives voice to the stories of thousands of children forced into a world that deprived them of their language, contact with their families, and their ethnic identity.

Students in these boarding schools were trained for domestic work and trade in a highly regimented environment through the 1930s with social reform compelling change into the 1970s. While some suffered in silence, some struggled bitterly, and others succumbed to physical abuse. Others, in some cases, found ways to build a new sense of self within this new, wider world. “Away from Home” takes visitors on a journey through stories of student resistance, accommodation, creative resolve, devoted participation, escape, and faith in self and heritage. As noted by Ojibwe tribe historian Brenda Childs, “the boarding school experience was carried out in public but had an intensely private dimension.”

Featured in the exhibition are photographs, artwork, objects, interactive timelines, and interviews, all presented through immersive environments, such as classroom and dormitory settings. Please note there are descriptions of human indignities, hardships and terms that reflect historically prejudiced perspectives and language from past eras. In providing such historical context, this exhibition is advised for more mature audience members, grades eight to adult.

“Away from Home: Native American Board Schools” is on display through October 20, 2024. It is made possible by NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Organized by The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, this exhibit was adapted from the permanent exhibition, “Away from Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories.”

The Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; Sunday, 1:00-5:00 p.m.; closed Monday.