Forest Grove Indian Training School photographs

Collection

Identifier: Org. Lot 1408

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of 24 black and white photographic prints taken by Portland photographer I. G. Davidson. The photographs depict Native American students and grounds at the Indian Training School in Forest Grove, Oregon, circa 1882. Most photographs show groups of children posing; other images show the buildings and grounds at the school, as well as students engaged in blacksmithing, homemaking, carpentry, and shoemaking.

Some of the photographs have printed captions identifying Native children as being from the Spokane, Paiute, Wasco, and Alaska tribes.

Dates

Creation: 1882-1884

Creator

Davidson, Isaac Grundy, 1845-1922 (Photographer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Historical note

The Indian Training School in Forest Grove, Oregon, opened in 1880. The first pupils to arrive were children from the Puyallup Reservation in Washington Territory. Federal policies supported the use of Indian training schools to assimilate Native children into Euro-American culture. The school was directed by Capt. Melville C. Wilkinson, who was a strict enforcer of federal assimilation policies and a believer in manual labor training. Native children were brought from Washington Territory, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Idaho, and enrolled at the school, but were not welcomed by the community in Forest Grove. The community's response, coupled with damage to school buildings from a large fire, eventually led to the relocation of the school near Salem in 1885, where it was renamed the Chemawa Indian School.

Extent

0.2 Cubic Feet (2 folders in a shared document case)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection consists of 24 black and white photographic prints depicting Native American students and the grounds at the Indian Training School in Forest Grove, Oregon, circa 1882. The school opened in 1880 and eventually moved to a location near Salem in 1885, and was renamed the Chemawa Indian School.