Jones Male Academy
| Jones Academy | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1891 |
| Opened | 1892 |
| Current Status | Peripheral dormitory school-Choctaw Nation |
| Building Style | Wooden |
| Location | near Hartshorne, OK |
| Architecture Style | Dormitory Style // Victorian |
| Alternate Names |
|
History[edit]
Jones Academy was founded in 1891 by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, one of the first tribes to build its own school. The facility was named after Mississippi-born Choctaw Chief Wilson N. Jones. Jones had traveled with his own family over the Trail of Tears and was a strong advocate for his tribe’s people to become educated. The schools first years were presided over by 26 y/o Simon T Dwight, who was a full-blooded Choctaw and prior National Superintendent of Schools under the tribal government. Simons father, Timothy Dwight, had served as Trustee of the old Pushmataha District of schools until his death and had attended mission schools in Mississippi before removal. Simon Dwight passed away in 1894 (28 y/o, cause unknown), but his wife and young son stayed at Jones Academy. His son, Ben, graduated from Jones Academy and was later appointed Chief of the Choctaw Nation in 1930 by President Hoover.
After the death of Simon Dwight, Jane McCurtain (wife of the Choctaw Chief Jackson McCurtain) was appointed superintendent at Jones Academy. Jane quickly discovered financial issues at the academy and soon found they had no money to pay teacher salaries. Coal strikes had dried up the coal royalties that normally fed the Choctaw Treasury. During this time, Jane used her own money to keep the academy open and the students provided for. In 1899, Mrs McCurtain was finally reimbursed for the interest required to pay on money she borrowed to keep Jones Academy in working order after she had spent all her cash.
Situated on 540 acres near Hartshorne, in southeastern Oklahoma’s Ouachita Mountain range, Jones Academy began as a school for boys. However, in 1955 when the Wheelock Academy, a Native American girls’ school near Millerton closed, it received approximately 55 girls who were transferred in. Jones Academy then became a co-educational boarding facility.
Students who lived at Jones Academy attended Hartshorne Public Schools as early as 1952 when the Bureau of Indian Affairs ceased funding of academic and vocational activities at most Indian boarding schools. In 1972, the Choctaw Nation became the first Native American tribe to operate a tribally controlled grant school. The Tribe then later contracted the school in 1985 from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This school has been in continuous operation for almost 125 years.
