Levering Manual Labor School
| Levering Manual Labor School | |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1881 |
| Location | Wetumpka, Ok |
| Alternate Names | |
On September 1, 1881, the Levering Manual Labor Mission School, under the auspices of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and partially supported by the Creek Nation, opened in Wetumpka, Oklahoma to provide education for Creek children. It had a start-up cost of around $10,000 and at first had only crude log buildings. The school was gradually upgraded to framed buildings, with a 2-acre campus and additional 80-acres for fields and orchards. 10 acres were cleared for 1000 apple trees, and around 450 peach trees. In 1885 the school built it's only stone building; a hospital with the cost of $1400.
By 1891, grounds had been improved and a white fence separated the girls and boys sides of the campus. (The boys on the South side, the girls on the North.) The pupils were not segregated during classes but were segregated most all other times, including church. One common punishment for girls was to have rags tied to their feet and be made to mop whole floors of the dorms this way.
In an account written in 1887 inside "The Gospel in All Lands" produced by the Methodist Episcopal Church, there were approx. 100 boys & girls in attendance, all of whom lived at the school. In addition to the "English education" the students received, this book also recounts many girls being trained as teachers and young boys as preachers of the Methodist faith.
In 1883, the minutes of the 16th Annual Session of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, names Major J.G. Vore as Superintendent and claims over 100 Indian pupils.
In 1888, the 20th Annual Report of the Board of Indian Commissions reported Brother James O. Wright as Superintendent; saying the institution was "never more prosperous". This document also reports "more than 150 students" in attendance.
Buildings in 1891 included the hospital, a 2-story boys dorm, admin building, a doctor's home & office, several smaller girls dorms, commissary, meat house, smoke house, laundry, and ice house. The boys dormitory burned in 1909, no reports of if any deaths were associated with this fire.
