Collections

The Chilocco Indian School collection consists of 1 piece of realia, 1 school yearbook, 1 pamphlet, 1 manuscript, 1 graduation certificate, and 107 photographic images in various formats related to the Chilocco Indian School in northern Oklahoma.

The Chilocco Indian School collection consists of 1 piece of realia, 1 school yearbook, 1 pamphlet, 1 manuscript, 1 graduation certificate, and 107 photographic images in various formats related to the Chilocco Indian School in northern Oklahoma. Many of the images are portraits of individuals, structures, and activities associated with the Chilocco Indian School; most are individual and group portraits of Native Americans, but there are also several images showing school buildings, agricultural activities, sports teams, and white American adults and children. The majority of the images are real photo postcards from the 1910s.

A total of 16 tintypes (mostly 8 x 5 cm) are present in the collection. Included are studio portraits of Native American men, women, boys, and girls wearing western clothing. Many of the tintypes have been moderately hand-colored. None of the subjects nor their tribal affiliations have been identified.

Also present are 18 photographic prints (6 unmounted and 12 mounted). The 6 unmounted prints are all 11 x 6.5 cm snapshots taken in 1920 that appear to have been taken by tourists and were once stored in a photograph album. Inscribed captions include the following: "Gold Fish Pond Chilocco OK 1920"; "Three Indian Boys"; "View of the lake at Chilocco"; "Little Girls Dormitory at Chilocco Government School 1920"; "Dairy at Chilocco"; "Chilocco OK Indian School Stadium 1920." Of the mounted photographs, there are 10 of approximately the same size (8.5 x 6.5 cm; all albumen prints) that show individual and group studio portraits of Native American men, women, boys, and girls. The remaining two mounted photographs (12.5 x 8.5 cm and 10.5 x 6.5 cm respectively; both albumen prints) are studio portraits of a very young Native American girl and a Native American boy with his mother which bears the verso inscription "T. Wolf." None of the subjects nor their tribal affiliations have been identified.

Real photo and photomechanical postcards (mostly 14 x 8.5 cm) make up the remaining 73 photographic images in this collection. Most images consist of individual and group portraits of Native American and white people, the latter of which many appear to have been affiliated with various Indian Agencies and/or boarding schools.

Items of particular interest include an image of a young Native American boy captioned "Jim McKay's kid"; a studio portrait of an unidentified Native American man by George B. Cornish; a studio portrait of a man possibly identified as "Red Fox" through an inscription on the verso; a studio group portrait of an unidentified married Native American couple captioned "New Year Eve. 08-09" in which the photographer appears to have edited the negative by painting fake snowflakes on the subjects; a group portrait of Umatilla Agency superintendent E. L. Swartzlander's children Lawrence and Inez; views of Chilocco Indian School buildings such as Haworth Hall, Home One, the Printing Department, and the inside of a classroom; and three photographs showing young men dressed in World War I-era army uniforms.

Sports-related images include group portraits of the 1912-13 Chilocco men's basketball team, the 1906 and 1915 Chilocco women's basketball teams, the 1945-46 Chilocco men's football team, and a Chilocco men's baseball team from an unknown year.

A relatively small number of postcards have been signed. Of the postcards that have signatories, there are eight signed by Samson B. Harjo (Seminole; name also spelled "Sampson B. Harjo"); one signed by "John Wolf" (tribal affiliation unknown); one signed by "Silas Beal Brown"; three signed by Chief Tishomingo's grandson Joe F. Factor (Chickasaw); and five signed by Umatilla Agency clerk Alvin Barbour.

The Alvin Barbour postcards (6 in total) are the only postcards in the collection that contain correspondence. Writing from Pendleton, Oregon, Barbour was in communication with a girl at the Chilocco Indian School named "Anna" of unknown tribal background who appears to have come from the Umatilla Agency. In one postcard with a view of a school building dated March 4 1914, Barbour expresses delight that Anna was "pleased with the pennant" he sent her and that he hopes it will "remind you of home and of the sender." In another postcard bearing an outdoor portrait of Barbour dated April 18 1914, Barbour states that he is glad Anna has recovered from an illness and that he sent her some Easter lilies. Two postcards dated April 27 1914 show images of Barbour and a Native American girl from the Umatilla Agency identified as "Ruth" taking turns sitting on a fallen tree trunk. Two postcards do not bear any correspondence and include an outdoor portrait of Barbour (signed "Yours very truly, Alvin Barbour") and an unsigned outdoor group portrait of Barbour with two other men posing on a bridge.

The realia item is a double-handled silver basketball trophy (10 x 15 x 6 cm) bearing the engravings "Chilocco Basket Ball League 08" and "Bird's Head - Escudero - Du Bois - Taylor - Jones." The trophy was awarded to "Team Jones" in 1908 after they won all four of their matches in their five-team intramural league. "Bird's Head" may possibly be Jesse Bird's Head, while "Escudero" may possibly be Cipriano Escudero (approximately 1882-?).

Printed publications include a 1932 Chilocco Indian School senior class yearbook as well as an illustrated libretto and associated program from a 1907 Chilocco Indian School production of Hiawatha. The front cover of the libretto bears the inscription "Lulu Gregory, Tonkawa, Okla."

The manuscript item consists of a three-page handwritten document regarding the "Crimson" flag of an unidentified University Preparatory School (possibly the Tonkawa U.P.S.) and its importance being "similar to that of the Stars & Stripes to the United States." The document is unsigned and undated.

Also present is a graduation certificate (51 x 40.5 cm) granted by the Chilocco Indian School in 1897 to Myrtle M. Long (tribal affiliation uncertain). The diploma was signed by Superintendent Benjamin F. Taylor, principal teacher Philena Everett Johnson, and teacher Anna D. Burr.

The Sophie Toclanny Photograph Collection consists of 25 postcards (including 15 real photo postcards and 10 color printed cards) and 2 photographic prints, most of which were sent by Chiricahua Apache woman Sophie Toclanny to a white American family living in Pennsylvania in the early twentieth century.

The Sophie Toclanny Photograph Collection consists of 25 postcards (including 15 real photo postcards and 10 color printed cards) and 2 photographic prints, the majority of which were sent by Chiricahua Apache woman Sophie Toclanny to a white American family living in Pennsylvania in the early twentieth century.

The collection contains postcards and photographs sent by Sophie to the family of George K. (1870-1937) and Susan E. Geiser (1871-1939) living at 731 Moss St., Reading, Pennsylvania. It is unclear how Sophie came to know the Geiser family; it is possible that she made their acquaintance through either of her first two husbands, both of whom graduated from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Her messages to the Geiser family indicate that she had a close, ongoing relationship with them. Sophie inquires about Geiser family members including their son William “Bill” G. Geiser (1891-1924), refers to gifts she is sending them such as a traditional Apache cradleboard, and expresses dismay that they are not writing her as often as she would like. One undated real photo postcard bears an image originally taken by Edward Bates of an unidentified Comanche woman carrying a child in a cradleboard; Sophie's message states that “They [the Comanche] dress all to gather [sic] different from the way we dress. I am sending you one of my self in Indian dress too.” In another undated real photo postcard showing another Bates photo captioned “Apache Babe and Cradle”, Sophie writes that she is “sending you a cradle like the Apache make for their babies. On this card a real one. This was taken out in their hay camp. I am so sorry that I was so long in sending it. But hope you will like it.” A number of postcards show wear or damage on the corners, suggesting that they were likely kept in an album for some period of time.

Sophie identifies herself and other family members in several of the real photo postcards. In one photograph showing six people posing on rocks near a dam waterfall on the Mescalero Reservation, Sophie identifies herself as the individual at left “sitting down by my little sister.” The young girl in this photograph is likely Sophie’s younger sister Edith, while the “married sister” standing at right is likely Emma. Both Edith and Emma appear in multiple photographs. Unidentified individuals in the family photos include an uncle, a cousin, the husband of said cousin, and a white woman who apparently married another one of Sophie’s uncles.

Other items of particular interest include postcards with images of Apache camps in Oklahoma and New Mexico; the Apache mission at Fort Sill; the funeral of Comanche chief Quanah Parker; portraits of Indian families (including a group portrait of a Sac & Fox family by W. H. Martin), mothers, and women; and portraits of famous Native American chiefs including Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Eagle Feather, and Red Cloud. The Red Cloud postcard bears the message “From a friend you have forgotten. But she never will forget you. Ft Sill Friend.”, while the Geronimo postcard reads “I received the pretty card to-day. I was glad to get it. So in return I thought I will send you one of Geronimo. I guess you all heard of him. What ever became of William. How is little girl now. From Sophie.” The postcards bearing images of Red Cloud, Eagle Feather, and Sitting Bull are all based on reproductions of original paintings by L. Peterson that were photographed and copyrighted by H. H. Tammen in the early twentieth century. Other color printed postcards include images of Pueblo Indians selling pottery, a Pueblo Indian infant, an Indian camp scene at the 101 Ranch in Bliss, Oklahoma, and an illustrated scene of an Indian woman going over a waterfall in a canoe titled “Red Man’s Fact.”

One color printed postcard bearing a portrait of Mohawk chief Bright Canoe was produced in the 1960s and thus could not have been included by Sophie.

Several real photo postcards include photographs taken by Edward Bates (1858-1941). Based in Lawton, Oklahoma, Bates took numerous portraits of Native Americans living at nearby Fort Sill. Bates is known to have produced at least one portrait of Edith Toclanny, and it is possible that he photographed other members of the Toclanny family.