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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings
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HAMPTON INSTITUTE
Virginia
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Location: Just off I-64 (U.S. 60),
Hampton.
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This private school is primarily significant in the
growth of black education and culture in the United States, a topic
treated in other volumes of this series, but for many years it also
educated small groups of Indians. Founded as the Hampton Normal and
Industrial Institute in 1868 by Gen. Samuel C. Armstrong, a white whose
interest in black education was stimulated while leading a colored
regiment during the Civil War, it became a model for the numerous black
normal and industrial schools subsequently established. It also
influenced Lt. Richard H. Pratt in his founding of Carlisle Indian
School, Pa.
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The "Wigwam," Hampton Institute.
(Hampton Institute) |
In 1878 a group of about 17 young Indians who had
been released as prisoners of war from Fort Marion, Fla., began to
attend Hampton, the only school that had responded to Pratt's appeal for
their further education under Government auspices. That same year Pratt
recruited 49 additional Indians in the West, including 9 girls. Indians
attended the school until 1923, though the Government discontinued
appropriations in 1912. Hampton's distinguished alumnus Booker T.
Washington returned to his alma mater in 1879-81 as secretary to
Armstrong, and among his duties in 1880 took charge of the Indian
dormitory.
Numerous buildings on the campus date from the 19th
century. Pertinent to Indian education is the Wigwam, erected in 1878 to
house the students from Fort Marion. A museum in the Administration
Building is devoted to Indian cultural displays, contributed mainly by
ex-students.
NHL Designation: 05/30/74
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/soldier-brave/siteb35.htm
Last Updated: 19-Aug-2005
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