Dylan, Finch, Val, Lily

 Carlisle Indian Industrial School Archive Project

#1 Postcard: Student Plays Taps

Front Side:

Sepia toned image, two young boys are on a grassy hill, one stands (possibliy in school uniform) and plays a bugle, the other boy sits in the grass and leans on a drum

Caption: “Student Plays Taps” (Carlisle Indian School, c. 1908)

Description: The postcard features a photograph, showing a Native American student in uniform playing the bugle. The reverse side includes designated spaces for a message and address, indicating its use for personal use. The formal composition and the subject matter suggest an intention to showcase the success of the school’s assimilation policies.​

1. Describe the physical object in as much detail as possible (including dimensions, medium, appearance).

  • The front of the object is a black and white photograph printed on a medium-sized postcard. The image shows a student playing a bugle and the boy lying on his drum. It was likely taken during or after a ceremony. The postcard is labeled Taps, Indian School, Carlisle, PA. There is no color, and the image is a real postcard. The edges are slightly worn, consistent with the age of the postcard.

2. What is most interesting to you about this object and why did your group choose it?

  • What stood out most to us was the contrast between the formal image and the personal use of the postcard. It captures a moment that seems ceremonial or official—playing “Taps”—yet it was also a tool for communication. We chose this object because it connects visual documentation with individual voices and gives a glimpse into how life at the Carlisle Indian School was represented and remembered.

3. Who is the creator? How do you know?

  • While the specific photographer or publisher isn’t named, the image comes from the records of the Carlisle Indian School. We found it in the archives hosted by Dickinson College’s Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center, which preserves materials from the school. The creator was likely affiliated with the school or its documentation efforts around that time.

4. Who is the intended audience(s)? On what evidence do you base your answer?

  • The postcard appears to have had multiple audiences. One was likely the general public, as postcards served to circulate images and promote a certain image of the school to outsiders. Another audience may have been the families of Native American students or alumni, who would have used it to stay connected. The message section, stamp, and address lines suggest it was meant to be sent and read personally, while the posed photo and official label show a more public-facing intent.

Quotes:

“One hour before breakfast, we would go out and drill. I would stand over there and blow ‘Reveille’ in the morning to wake them up and blow ‘Taps’ at night for the lights to go out. Strictly military! Oh god, we might as well be at West Point!”

— Troutman, p. 120​

 

“And the bands served as the principal disciplinary engine.”

— Troutman, p. 120​ 

 

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Reverse Side:

Text on back: “To Donald from Catherine, we had an indian boy take us all through the Indian school”

Description: The back of the postcard features a short message from Catharine to Donald saying “To Donald from Catharine, We had an indian boy take us all around the Indian school. In the top right corner there is an area marked for a stamp, yet there is not stamp.

1. Who is the intended audience(s)? On what evidence do you base your answer?How might this item have been used? How do you know?

  • The postcard is intended for Donald and was supposed to be sent from someone named Catharine which can be seen by reading the text on the back of the postcard “To Donald from Catharine. We had an indian boy take us all through the Indian school.” According to the Dickinson College Archive the postcard was never sent from the school. The postcard text on the back is not in perfect grammar with indian boy spell with normal “i” instead of a capitalized I as well as she states that she was touring the school could indicate that the sender is most-likely a child far away from home and might have tried to use the postcard as a way to communicate to her family possible her mother. I also find it particularly interesting that she writes “us” meaning she was not touring the school alone but alongside others which might be because she is on some kind of tour to find an Indian school, all around the country.
  • Additionally, we worked on the idea of it to be force written because the text is simple and short, it is not set up for opening a convocation with Donald but instead more of a statement, This could either be because the school forced them to write some sort of postcard to someone or that she was upset with Donald. In support of this theory the postcard is written in english and if Catharine was forced to write this postcard by the school they would have forced her to write in english rather than his native tribal language. Furthermore Catharine might have been upset with Donald because there is no sentence asking him how he is or no induction of emotion in the postcard, maybe Donald could be the girls father and he send her on a journey to find a Indian School for Catharine and she might be upset that she got sent away from home. All though these ideas are interesting . we don’t have any evidence to support these theories because there is simply nothing on either person in the archives.
  • We tried doing a search on both names but it is impossible with no last name to identify these people. All the kids enrolled named Catharine that there was any record of was all before the time of the postcard with the latest student named Catharine graduation year 1893, eight years before the postcard was written.

2. How might this item have been used? How do you know?

  • We believe that this postcard has been supposed to be used as some kind of communication from Catharine to Donald because of the text written on the back. But it is impossible to tell the reason for the postcard. It is extremely short written and feels like it is emotionless. 

3. How might this object been distributed?

  • The postcard was never distributed; there was no stamp on it for it to be sent. It was most-likely put away in some drawer or archive at the Carlisle Indian School.

4. Why might this item have been saved?

  • Dickinson College Archive emphasises on the postcard being believed to have been produced at the school after the establishment of a photo studio, so it could have been kept safe because of the history aspect of the school with this postcard photo possibly being one of the first and therefore kept for safekeeping.

4. Questions:

  • While the postcard gives little information about the time being, it still leaves me with many questions such as why was it never sent, who is Donald and Catherine, where are they from, why was the text so short and simple, what was the objective of the postcard.

 

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#2 Commencement Program:

(order of images reflects order of Commencement Concert book pages)

Front Page:

 

  • Description: Small, rectangular booklet with a red cover page, listed songs with the accompanying musician or soloist, and lists of membership, which includes a list of everyone in the band. Program of the Commencement Concert, played by the United States Carlisle Indian School Band, directed by George F Tyrrell, Tuesday evening May 18 1915. Most pieces seem to be America themed, although they do play a selection from Guiseppe Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore.” There were also 2 solo pieces, for cornet and chimes. 

 

The front emblem below “COMMENCEMENT CONCERT”:

  • On the front red page of the program, “COMMENCEMENT CONCERT United States Carlisle Indian School Band George F. Tyrell, Music Director” is shown with black text, varying in size. The emblem of scrolls, two lyres on each and an organ player and an organ between the scrolls is displayed. The instruments shown in this symbol reveal the importance of instrumentation and the continued control over the students in all aspects (Troutman 2009, 127). The male organist is front and center, forcing your eyes to be drawn towards his artistry. This figure may resemble the likes of prominent musicians like Mozart, which showcases what music the school promotes students in learning–classical. In Troutman’s introduction, student learning of expressive culture through Americanized musical forms included “semiclassical music” (Troutman 2009, 10). The scrolls may focus on the educational and schooling approaches more, revealing how students both partake in bands and school.

 

 

Musical Director George F Tyrrell

  • According to his obituary found in the May 28, 1917 edition of the Reading Daily Eagle Newspaper, George Tyrrell was born in England, and served as a musician for 11 years in the British Army. He then traveled to America, where he lived and directed for 22 years. He lived in Reading Pennsylvania, about 75 miles east of Carlisle, where he worked as a band director. He also worked in Carlisle, directing the Indian School Band from 1914 until his sudden death on the 26th of May, 1917. (Reading Daily Eagle 1917)

Why We Chose This Artifact

  • We chose this artifact because of our interests inspired from class conversations about the way the school manipulated sound to further mobilize Americanized, white ideals, effectively silencing the Indigenous voices and their origin stories. It is captivating to analyze the type and genre of music students actually played and question the reasoning behind those choices made by authority figures pushing their assimilation agendas.

 

Other Emblems:

 

 

USIS emblem:

This red symbol is marked with the letters USIS, read from left to right, row by row. This acronym perhaps translates to US Indian School. Central to the emblem is the silhouetted bird with arrows breaking apart each letter. That same bird appears in larger form on the next page with the “Apprentices” mentioned.

 

 

 

 



 

“Printed by Apprentices of the School Carlisle Indian Press Carlisle PA”:

  • The creators of this Commencement program are the printing apprentices of the school. Various professions were learned during schooling through the Carlisle’s Outing Program. It is interesting that a physical marking of the creators was left to signify student work and the long lasting effects of students involved in the workforce post-graduation. What does it mean that student printers could contribute to the creation of sound and commemoration of their fellow students graduating? Though, the general identifying of the creators as “Apprentices” with little specification to names fails to individualize the students and distinguish their work. 
  • Additionally, the symbol of the headdress at the heart of the bird form continues to perpetuate harmful Indigenous representations. Sonja Dobroski, an anthropologist, explains “why feathered headdresses became a standard means of representing American Indian people; it was a process of ‘othering’ via material culture” (Dobroski 2023, 104).

 

 

 

 

 

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Song Selection

Analysis:

  • This program features lots of musical examples that can show modern day audiences how the school thought of music as propaganda. As James Garvie says while talking about playing the bugle calls in Troutman’s Indian Blues, “Strictly military! Oh god, we might as well be at West Point!” (Troutman 2009, 120). The school specifically chose pieces that could show the transformation of the students to any audience members, from the “savages” they may have been when they first arrived to Carlisle, to changed children, capable of playing Sousa or Verdi. The pieces being played are either European “high art music”, from operas and operettas, or militaristic marches. Interestingly though, not all the marches are American. One example, “With Sword and Lance”, is German. Also, some of the pieces cannot be found on IMSLP or YouTube, so I wonder if they may have been local composers writing pieces specifically for the school or even for that specific commencement.

Song Examples

 

Membership + Solos:

 

Solos (band members):

  • Miss Mae Keller
    • Miss Mae Keller is referenced in an issue of The Arrow in the “BAND AND ORCHESTRA CONCERT” February 20th, 1915 section. Her name appearing in multiple band performances implies she’s a regular performer. The title of courtesy, “Miss,” may imply that Mae is older than most students as the students listed further down in the “Membership” section are not provided these titles (Student Reporters, Feb. 20).
  • James Garvie 
    • Garvie’s name appears in numerous issues of The Carlisle Arrow all connected to his positive and talented contributions to the band. For instance, in the February 12, 1915 issue, Garvie “upheld the school’s usual reputation for ability to produce something good” (Student Reporters Feb. 12). James Garvie was a cornet soloist and a student who graduated in 1915. In the December 11, 1914 issue of The Carlisle Arrow, Garvie was mentioned as being chosen to be the “Principal musician” in the band after his notable experiences in Lebanon while playing with the Military Band (Boutwell 1914). This Commencement Program is special as it was his last concert as a student at the school. His soloist performance at his own graduation ceremony marks an end to his schooling and commemorates his musical contributions and personhood into cultural memory. The emphasis on his musical success at the school adds to Troutman’s point that many students “came to excel on their instruments and began to contemplate a life beyond school that incorporated their newfound talents” (Troutman 2009, 112).

 

Graduating members:

  • Naomi Greensky’s Collection
    • After being bought off of eBay in 2018, this collection of photos and papers owned by Naomi Greensky were archived and studied. From 1903 to 1911, Naomi Greensky was a student at the school and participated in several organizations including the Mercer Literary Society, and the outing program, in which students were sent to live with white families to experience work lifestyles and occupations (Archives and Special Collections). While Naomi—her Indigenous name being Negahuegesheqoqua— may not have contributed to the printing vocational training program called the “Carlisle Indian Press,” she had in possession printed copies of dance cards, business cards from the Great Northern Railway, holiday cards, and various documentation from the Mercer Literary Society (Archives and Special Collection). Part of her possession included this May 1915 Commencement Program. Leaving the school in 1911, Naomi came back in 1912, and graduated in 1915. This 1915 program, then, was Naomi’s own graduation. Her possession of this printed program as a keepsake shows the value she attributed to the object as it marked her completion of schooling. 
    • The usage of this artifact is demonstrated through Naomi Greensky as it was a part of her collection, which stresses the personal importance of this event and print. The distribution was spread to the people graduating and the members of the band—Naomi being a member of this 1915 graduating class.
    • Question: How may Naomi’s possession of a program from her own graduation signify personal self-importance and pride the school instilled in students?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Works Cited:

Citations for sources + images:

Boutwell, Leon. The Carlisle Arrow, Dec., 11, 1914. Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.

 

Dobroski, Sonja. “The Feathered Headdress: Settler Semiotics, US National Myth, and the Legacy of Colonized Artifacts.” In                              Symbolic Objects in Contentious Politics, edited by Benjamin Abrams and Peter Gardner, 101–24. University of                                  Michigan Press, 2023. 

 

Commencement concert program. 18 May 1915. CIS-MC-006, Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.

 

Naomi Greensky’s Collection at Dickinson College. CIS-MC-006, Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle,                 PA.

 

Postcard, Student Plays Taps, Indian School, Carlisle, PA., 1908. CIS-P-0108, Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson                             College, Carlisle, PA.

 

Reading Daily Eagle, May 28, 1917, Reading PA

 

Student Reporters. The Carlisle Arrow, Feb. 12., 1915. Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.

 

Student Reporters. The Carlisle Arrow, Feb. 19., 1915. Archives and Special Collections, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.

 

Troutman, John W. “Preface” in Indian Blues American Indians and the Politics of Music 1879-1934. (University of Oklahoma                   Press, 2009).

 

Troutman, John W. “The Sounds of ‘Civilization’ Music and the Assimilation Campaign in Federal Indian Boarding Schools” in                     Indian Blues American Indians and the Politics of Music 1879-1934. (University of Oklahoma Press, 2009).