Arapaho Manual Labor and Boarding School

From Asylum Projects
Revision as of 14:18, 30 December 2021 by Jessogrady (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to: navigation, search
Arapaho Manual Labor and Boarding School
Opened 1867
Current Status Closed
Building Style Single Building
Alternate Names
  • Cheyenne-Arapaho Boarding School



History[edit]

The first school was opened at the Darlington Agency on the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation in 1871 by the Hicksite (Liberal) Friends and Orthodox Quakers and was called the Cheyenne-Arapaho Boarding School. In 1872, the facility was built with federal funds,[9] but run by the Quakers. Few Cheyenne children attended the school. In an effort to attract them, the Quakers erected partitions to divide the classroom into separate areas for the Arapaho and Cheyenne students.

In 1879 the facility was renamed as the Arapaho Manual Labor and Boarding School. A new facility was built at Caddo Springs for the Cheyenne students; it was called the Cheyenne Manual Labor and Boarding School . The Indian Service began its policy of forced assimilation through manual arts training and religious education (the "Pratt system"), and within 5 years, the agency schools reported that the student children were raising 211 cattle and hogs and cultivating 130 acres of land.


In 1875 John Homer Seger was appointed Superintendent. Seger was very successful in helping the students build up a herd of cattle to supplement meager institutional income. He remained with the schools until May 1882.

In 1908 both the Arapaho and Cheyenne boarding schools were closed, and the government sold these facilities.[14] The Darlington Agency was also closed and was relocated to the new Concho Indian Boarding School in 1909.