Indiana’s Indian Boarding Schools and Cemeteries

Article courtesy of the Frankfort Community Public Library

In the late 1800s, the US government began paying religious boarding schools to house indigenous youth.

The intent was to teach the children life skills, including how to be “American” while setting aside their native language and culture. Indiana had two of these schools—White’s Indiana Manual Labor Institute and St. Joseph’s Indian Normal School. When students in residence passed away at these schools, they were buried in the school’s cemetery.

In her presentation at the Frankfort Community Public Library on July 23 at 5:30 p.m., Jeannie Regan-Dinius, Director of Historic Preservation at Crown Hill Foundation, will talk about a project focused on these schools, the children who attended them, those buried in the cemeteries and what will happen to those remains.

Regan-Dinius first gave a presentation on this project for the Clinton County Genealogical Society in June 2023. The upcoming presentation will update the Society on progress and discoveries made over the last year.

This meeting is free and open to the public. It will be held in the lower level meeting room. For more information, contact Jill Garrison at 765-654-8746, ext. 1137.