< Osage Mission and School Records Index

OSAGE MISSION AND SCHOOL RECORDS

Records pertaining to the Osage Mission and Manual Labor School for Osage Indian boys and girls at present-day St. Paul, Kansas. Included is a pupils' attendance and account book, 1847-1866; a pupils' account book, an English-Osage dictionary, ca. 1885; and a pupils' attendance, accounts and reports, and correspondence book, 1855-1881. The principal correspondent was John Schoenmakers, S.J.

Gift of the Congregation of the Passion (Passionists), St. Paul, Kansas, 1982.

Processed by Mark G. Thiel, 1986, and microfilmed, 1986.

From 1825-1871 the Osage lived on a reservation in Kansas, which was then replaced by the current reservation in Oklahoma. By the 1840s, the U.S. government promoted English language literacy and Euro-American life skills and agricultural practices. Under government sponsorship, Jesuit missionaries (Missouri Province, St. Louis, Missouri) and Sisters of Loretto (Nerinx, Kentucky) taught Osage and Quapaw Indian boys and girls at the Osage Mission and Manual Labor School on the Osage Reservation, in Kansas,1847-1872. For further information, see "Osage," by Garrick A. Bailey, Vol. 13 Plains, Handbook of North American Indians, Smithsonian Institution, 2001.

Subsequent Catholic schools were located in Oklahoma on the Osage (near Fairfax, Pawhuska, and Skiatook) and Quapaw (Miami, Oklahoma) Reservations, which is detailed in the Guide to Catholic Indian Missions and School Records in Midwest Repositories.

The records list pupils' names, dates of attendance, and tuition payments along. Some comments are included. While most are brief, a few are extensive, noting tribal affiliation, family background, scholastic achievement, and practice of the Catholic faith.

The records are restricted indefinitely due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974. However, archives staff will conduct genealogical searches for patrons who fill out the Genealogical Request Form as well as visitors are advised to consult with archives staff in advance.

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