The Carlisle campus today is occupied by the U.S.
The Carlisle model spawned 24 more off-reservation schools. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School opened in 1879 and operated for nearly 30 years with a mission to “kill the Indian” to “save the Man.” This philosophy meant administrators forced students to speak English, wear Anglo-American clothing, and act according to U.S. Children from over 100 distinct cultures left home to live at an off-reservation school at Carlisle Barracks, an old military base. They came from the farthest corners of the United States and its territories: Thousands of American Indian children, some barely teens, boarded trains, stagecoaches, and ships bound for Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in the wake of the 19th century’s Indian Wars.
Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections
