[Indigenous History – Carlisle School] Various Authors

The Arrow. [Four Issues]

Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Carlisle Indian Industrial School, October 1906–May 1907. Four issues. 12 x 17 ¾ inches folio, folded as issued. Folded again vertically, with some folded vertically twice. Wear and some tears and loss at folds, with toning and stains, some with marginal damage. Very good to excellent. Item #List3875

The Carlisle Indian Industrial School had a number of publications including The Indian Helper, The Red Man, The Red Man and Helper, The Indian Craftsman, and The Arrow. The latter was founded in 1904 when William A. Mercer became superintendent after the school’s founder, Richard Henry Pratt, left the position. The paper’s motto describes it as “A Paper Devoted to the Interest of the Progressive Indian”, and the very first edition states that its aim is to “become a medium for the best thought obtainable upon all sides of the Indian question” (Vol. I, no. 1, August 25, 1904).

Offered here are four issues of The Arrow, all Vol. III: no. 9 (October 26, 1906), no. 11 (November 9, 1906), no. 16 (December 14, 1906), and no. 40 (May 31, 1907). Contents include sports news—Carlisle was known for its football team—news from current and former students, school events, poetry, and short articles. Football is almost always front-page news, and the paper typically reports big wins for Carlisle, which one article describes as “Bring[ing] Home Another Scalp” (Nov. 1906). Football news is also a place to emphasize the importance of obedience (for instance, “‘Pop’ Warner had his men under good control and as event after event was pulled off the value of efficient coaching and strict compliance with instructions was plainly manifested”; May 1907), a theme which is reiterated in a number of the articles. Students provide updates on school events, both religious and secular, and brief updates on individual students at home and away, such as “Louise Hardin who is out in the country at Mt. Airy, Penn., writes that she likes her place very much. William Garlow, one of our baseball twirlers, is under the weather. His friends wish him a speedy recovery.” The Arrow also reprints articles from other newspapers about the school, such as a November 1906 article from the New York World which describes the school:

“The Indians in the school range from little tots six years of age to grown men and women, who have been at the institution for a dozen years. They represent every tribe in the United States. Many of the youngsters are just entering the state of civilization, while those in the graduating class are fine specimens of the modern educated Indian.”

Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center hosts digitized copies of the school’s publications; we find no physical holdings on OCLC. Of interest to historians of Carlisle and the assimilationist project.

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Price: $450.00