Carlisle History

I came across this article about Puerto Rican children being set to the Carlisle Indian School while I was trying to find out what different immigrant people have been through Carlisle. I became intrigued by this after visiting the Cumberland County Museum. Here I learned about the large influx of Greek immigrants that settled in Carlisle in the early 1900’s. This is also around the same time Puerto Rican children were sent to the school to learn how to become more American. The historical context of all of this is post Spanish-American War when Puerto Rico and Cuba became possessions of the United States. At this time about 60-100 Puerto Rican kids from all over Puerto Rico were sent to the school. Many of these children had a horrible time adjusting to their new environment. Some of children wrote letters to their parents complaining about the harsh conditions at the Indian School. Parents who received these letters spoke directly to a prominent political figure in Puerto Rico at this time, Luis Muñóz- Rivera, who fought for the independence of Puerto Rico. Rivera visited the Indian School and found the conditions to be intolerable.

For further information about this check out the link below:

http://www.kacike.org/SoniaRosa.html

~CT~

In a 1901 Sociology class at Dickinson College, George H. Bonner wrote a paper entitled “Militia, Fire Depts., and Police.”  Bonner described these three groups and their effectiveness, or lack thereof.  Bonner was a student that was not very fond of Carlisle, stating that “[we] are truly sorry that the rebels did not visit this town with fire…” and “it  is an ideal place of exile for students in college, or for training  school for wild Indians or a quiet site for an insane asylum.”  His feelings for the town seemed to coincide with the way Bonner described the police force, militia, and fire department.  The militia had a 58-man regiment in Carlisle, even though the Militia of Pennsylvania numbered about 10,000 men.  The fire department was not that inept of an institution in Carlisle, the only problem was that there were rarely any fires in the town, therefore negating its effectiveness.  The police force at the time was a 5 man squad, 4 choppers and a chief.  However,  when a crime happened in the town, “no policeman are near till the affair is over and the participants have comfortably escaped.”  What changes do you think happened between then and now that made these institutions more effective and what they are today?

-R.V.