Connected Schools
The Presbyterian School for Indian Girls did not exist in isolation. Efforts to assimilate Indigenous people across North America were happening on a grand scale, and PSIG was one of many mission schools for Native children established in and beyond Indian Territory. Trustees, boards, and employees of these schools corresponded with each other. Employees and students also moved, or were moved, from one school to another. Most of these connected schools were church-based institutions (primarily Presbyterian) in Indian Territory. However, at least one federal school, Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, was part of this network, because before she directed PSIG Alice Robertson worked as personal secretary to Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt, the founder and superintendent of Carlisle. Twenty-five Mvskoke students were transferred to Carlisle from Tullahassee Manual Labor School (Tullahassee Mission) after the school burned down in 1880. The histories of these church-based schools versus the larger federal boarding schools that began with Carlisle’s founding in 1879 are distinct and yet overlapping, especially regarding their structure, the degree of control Indigenous governments and communities could exert over the schools, and the long-lasting effects of the residential school experience on students and their families. It is significant, for example, that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation established their own educational system in the 1850s and certified instructors such as Alice Robertson before they were allowed to teach in mission schools in Muscogee territory. Highlighting these connected institutions in addition to PSIG is important to preserving and honoring the history of the many Native students who experienced boarding school life. Because the Robertson and Worcester family papers have provided the starting point for our research, we have found names of students who, after further research, turn out to have attended other mission schools connected with Alice Robertson and her family. We are including those biographies here. As our research continues, these biographies are subject to corrections and revisions. We especially welcome information from descendants and are happy to share what information we have been able to gather.
Profiles of Students at Schools Connected to PSIG
A note on terminology:
“Mvskoke” is one of the traditional, non-Anglicized spellings of the more widely known “Muscogee.” We use it here to describe the language, people, and culture.
“Muscogee (Creek) Nation” is the constitutional name of the Muscogee government and nation. We use it here to describe the government or specific offices.