HASKELL INDIAN NATIONS UNIVERSITY
CULTURAL
CENTER & MUSEUM
Preserving
Our Past to Ensure the Future
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circa 1903 view from the Haskell
farmlands
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155
Indian Avenue, Box 5013 ~ Lawrence, Kansas 66046
Phone: 785-832-6686 ~ Fax: 785-832-6687
Email Contact: ltapahonso@haskell.edu
Hours of operation: Open Monday - Friday from 8:00 am - 5:00
pm
Research Hours - Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Closed Weekends and Federal Holidays
The
Cultural Center offers tours and limited research
services.
Please
call to make appointment at least one week in advance or email Lori Tapahonso.
EXHIBIT SCHEDULE:
"Honoring Our Children through Seasons of
Sacrifice, Survival, Change, and Celebration", on-going
This exhibit seeks to honor the first students at Haskell as well as all of the
students that attended boarding schools across the country. The exhibit
celebrates the strength and resilience of the students and their contributions
to what has become Haskell today. Additionally, the exhibit honors all of the
Haskell men and women who have served in the U.S. Military services. Funding
for this landmark exhibit was provided through a contract from the Department
of Defense, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center—Construction
Engineering Research Laboratories.
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Home of the Haskell
Cultural Center & Museum Archives
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Haskell is a very unique and special
place. Although it originally started as another assimilation school as
other Indian boarding schools were, Haskell’s destiny was different than that
of other schools. Haskell is the only government boarding school that has
evolved into a four-year university for Native students. It also is the
only tribal college that is inter-tribal and accepts students from all
federally recognized tribes. As Haskell’s students got their education
and training, they stayed on to work as staff or faculty teaching other Indian
students. Slowly, the school’s focus changed. More and more each
year, Native culture was included in the curriculum. Today,
Haskell’s alumni are proud to be from Haskell and return for every commencement
and homecoming. Haskell’s story is one of endurance and survival, and
finally with the opening of our new Cultural
Center and Museum, a
story of celebration.
The Haskell Cultural
Center and Museum
officially opened on September
14, 2002. A proposal to fund the $1.3 million building was
approved by the American Indian College Fund. The first floor of this new
6,000 square foot building made of cypress logs from Florida includes a visitor’s desk and
interpretive displays that explain the history of Haskell and all the changes
it has gone through. The new exhibit called “Honoring Our Children
Through Seasons of Sacrifice, Survival, Change, and Celebration,” looks at the
history of Haskell from the perspective of the first Haskell students and
celebrates what Haskell has become. This exhibit will be on display until
September 2004 when we will install new exhibits made from our collections as
well as showing current student artwork. The display area has a
marmoleum-tiled replica of Haskell’s Medicine Wheel, which is an earthwork
south of the campus where the students go to worship and use the sweat
lodge. The exhibit hangs on aluminum panels that are very flexible that
we can install or take down as needed.
The lower level of the Cultural Center has three HVAC systems to provide
environmentally controlled storage for our collections. We keep the
temperature at 68 degrees F and the relative humidity level at 50% to
accommodate the variety of items in our archival and museum collections.
We also have a state of the art compact storage shelving system to hold the
large museum and archives collections. The research room on the lower
level allows researchers to get access to the archival materials and to access
our museum collections via a computerized database.
Haskell’s vision is to become a national center for American Indian research,
education, and cultural programs. As part of this effort to become a
national center, Haskell has opened to the public its historical museum and
archives collections. The Haskell Archives collection consists of
archival documents such as administrative records, history books, student
rosters, theatre and music programs, photographs, films, and videotapes of
Haskell events, and the student-run Indian Leader newspaper and
yearbook.
Another unique part of the
Haskell archives is the Frank A. Rinehart collection of historical glass plate
negatives. The Rinehart collection consists of 809 glass negatives made
by Rinehart and his assistant Adolph Muhr in 1898, 1899, and 1900 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Many of the images were made at the Trans-Mississippi
Exposition and Indian Congress held in Omaha
in 1898. A new exhibit of platinum prints made from the glass negatives
called “Beyond the Reach of time and Change” recently was displayed at the
Kansas State University Student Union and at the National Conference of
University Student Activities Centers in Nashville,
TN. The University of Arizona Press
is publishing a book with the same title this year. The book includes 100
Rinehart photographs and essays from contemporary Native
American writers, teachers, and artists about the Rinehart
collection.
In addition to the archival
information, Haskell also owns a valuable collection of museum artifacts from
its 118-year history, which includes traditional clothing, jewelry, basketry,
pottery, beadwork, and art by such well-known artists as Don Secondine, Alan
Houser, Franklin Gritts, and Dick West.
For those who don’t know
much about Haskell’s history, it began as the United States Indian
Industrial Training
School in Lawrence,
KS, in 1884. It opened as a
boarding school for 15 American Indian students, and provided agricultural
education for grades one through five. The emphasis in the
beginning was on assimilation--teaching the Indian boys and girls to become
productive members of the dominant society. In 1887, the school’s name
was changed to Haskell Institute, to honor Dudley Haskell, the US
representative from Kansas
who was responsible for the school being located in Lawrence. A semi-military system was
initiated where students wore uniforms and marched to their classes and
exercised regularly. By 1894, there were 606 students enrolled,
representing 36 states. Haskell expanded its academic training beyond the
eighth grade to include “normal school”.
In 1927, Haskell began offering post high school courses. For
years, Haskell was the only government-funded school for Indians to offer a
full four-year high school course of study. Football has always
been the leading sport of interest at Haskell since it was introduced in
1900. During its early history, the Haskell football schedule included
competition against many of the leading colleges and universities in the Midwest and South. In 1926, Haskell dedicated
its new football stadium--the first lighted stadium in this region. All
of the money to build the stadium and the Haskell arch was donated by American
Indian people. To celebrate the event, Indian people came from all over
the country and a large POW-wow and pageant were held. Today, Haskell is
the home of the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame which recognizes many of
the American Indian athletes who attended Haskell and later became famous-- Jim
Thorpe, George and John Levi, and Billy Mills.
In 1933, Haskell got its first American Indian administrator--Dr. Henry Roe
Cloud. Dr. Roe Cloud was from the Winnebago tribe, and was
the first Native American to
graduate from Yale
University. By
1935, vocational/technical training became part of the curriculum--students
were trained to be auto mechanics, electricians, painters, masons, office
workers, etc. Haskell Institute graduated its last high
school level class in 1965 and by 1970, was accredited as Haskell Indian
Junior College and
offered only college-level classes. Gradually over the years, the
emphasis changed from assimilation to studying and preserving American Indian
culture. In 1993, with the addition of a Bachelor of Science degree in
elementary teacher education, the Board of Regents changed the name to Haskell Indian Nations
University.
Today there are usually 1000 students enrolled, representing 150 tribes, and
coming from 36 states. Haskell is unique in that it accepts
students from all over the country, from all federally recognized tribes.
Haskell offers several baccalaureate degree programs now, in addition to the
two-year junior college degrees. They are American Indian Studies,
environmental science, business administration, and elementary teacher
education. In addition, all of Haskell’s classes incorporate the perspective
of various Native American cultures
into the class curriculum.
Haskell’s students are very
interested in the past and in preserving their culture. They are being
trained to become tribal archivists and tribal museum managers through courses
offered through the American Indian Studies program in Tribal Archives and
Tribal Museum Management. Students can complete the AIS program
internship requirement by getting hands-on experience working with the Haskell Cultural Center’s
museum and archives collections. They can also participate in conducting
and transcribing the history interviews with tribal elders. They not only
get experience in learning how to handle and preserve historical records and
artifacts, but they also get practical experience in grant writing, producing
exhibits, and website development with the Cultural Center website. These
students can also pursue graduate studies in the Indigenous Nations Program or
the Museum Studies Program at the University
of Kansas and get
internship credit working at the Haskell
Cultural Center.
This new Haskell Cultural
Center and Museum is a
living center that celebrates Native culture as a living culture. The
vision statement for our new museum reads:
The Haskell Cultural Center
and Museum is dedicated in remembrance of the first Haskell students in 1884,
and to all students who have attended Haskell. The vision of the Haskell Cultural Center
and Museum is to serve as a national center for the study of living American
Indian traditions. The museum will provide present day and historical
information regarding North American Indian/Alaska Native culture through
exhibitions, educational programs, and research. Drawing upon the Sacred Circle as
the foundation for North American Indian/Alaska Native philosophy, the Museum
will also provide Haskell students with archives and museum classes and
training that are focused on oral traditions and the spiritual dimension of
objects of power needed to prepare them for careers in tribal archives and
tribal museums.
We hope the new Haskell
Cultural Center
and Museum will become a resource for all Native people, as well as the Haskell
community of staff, students, faculty, and alumni; and for researchers around
the world.
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You are invited to join in partnership by pledging your tax deductible
contribution.
Make your contribution payable to:
Haskell
Cultural Center
& Museum
Haskell Indian
Nations University
155 Indian Avenue Box 5013
Lawrence, Kansas
66046
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Wah-Ta-Waso
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The
Rinehart collection, at Haskell, contains more than 800 Images and is one
of only two locations these images can be found. The only other
location, housing the Reinhart negatives, is the National
Smithsonian.
The Haskell Archives
has complied a searchable computer database that contains the images
using the individuals name, tribal affiliation and other criteria.
Bringing these images
to life has involved extensive experimentation with modern photographic
techniques to reproduce the haunting, three dimensional from 19th century
glass negatives.
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No. 1579 Many
Horses Omaha
The beauty of
the collection is remarkable. There is an almost three
dimensional effect. There is such detail you feel as if
you can almost touch them.-- Bobbi Rahder, Archivist
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Types of Materials Available to
Researchers:
Below is a listing of our available resources, if you would like to request
information of any information that is in our archives please download and
use our Research Request form. Click here to download a copy. Simply fill it out and mail or fax it to 785-832-6687.
1. Printed or Published Materials
Haskell Highlights: 1884-1978
Buildings on the Haskell Campus:
Past and Present, 1975
Haskell Institute USA: 1884-1959
Haskell Indian Leader Student Newspaper and Yearbooks, 1997-1997
Haskell Student and Faculty
Publications
Haskell Messenger (staff newsletter)
Publications of Haskell Institute Press—Storytelling Series (see list)
2. Unpublished, Archival, and Manuscript Collections
Haskell ephemera—menus, commencement programs, calendars, etc.
Faculty and student papers
Pageant and play scripts and brochures
Haskell promotional brochures, catalogs, and posters
Haskell Centennial materials
Reports of Haskell’s Presidents
and Superintendents
Haskell historical theses and dissertations
American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame
Haskell Alumni surveys and newsletters
3. Audio/Visual Collections
Frank A. Rinehart Historical Photograph Collection – 809 glass plate
negatives and 5,000 copy images of photographs taken at the 1898 Trans-
Mississippi Exposition and Indian
Congress in Omaha, NE.
Haskell Historical Photograph Collection – approximately 10,000
photographs of Haskell’s campus, buildings, activities, students, faculty,
and
staff.
Bureau of Indian Affairs Photograph Collection – approximately 5,000
photographs made at various Indian schools run by the BIA.
Historical films and videos of Haskell events.
Haskell Oral History Library consisting of videotaped oral history
interviews with tribal elders from various tribes.
4. Microform
Frank A. Rinehart Collection on microfiche.
Haskell Indian Leader on microfilm.
5. Finding Aids
Inventories
Some collections cataloged in computer database
6. Other Campus Displays
American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, Coffin Sports Complex
“Frank A. Rinehart” display, Navarre Hall
Elzea Printshop Display, Navarre Hall
7. Historical Objects
Items related to the history, mission, and activities of Haskell Indian
Nations University.
8. Ethnographic Objects
Traditional materials from several tribal cultures.
9. Fine Arts
Art work by eminent American Indian artist, Haskell students, and
Faculty.
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Haskell Indian Nations University
Haskell Cultural Center & Museum
155 Indian Avenue
Box 5013
Lawrence, Kansas
66046
Ph:
785-832-6686 Fax:
785-832-6687
Email: ltapahonso@haskell.edu
Haskell
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