Lincoln Institute of Philadelphia v. Lincoln University of Chester County
Over the past eight years that I have worked in the Lincoln University Archives, I have received two or three queries about Native American women students attending Lincoln Institute, Philadelphia. The researchers were all under the impression that Lincoln Institute and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania were one and the same institution. I knew that they could not have been, aside from all else, because in the nineteenth century, the era that these women attended Lincoln Institute, Lincoln University most certainly had no female students!
Several attempts to find more information about this elusive Lincoln Institute in Philadelphia proved fruitless, but last night I serendipitously came across some answers! My first clue came (unsought) while I was browsing a copy of our online Lincoln University Herald alumni newsletters. On the last page of the 1899 issue, in a brief note about two common mistakes made about Lincoln University was mention of Lincoln Institute, "an academy for Indians," whose name was often misapplied to Lincoln University. Prompted by this note, I was motivated to go back to Google (as my last search had been several years ago), and this time, thanks to Google Books, I came up with information! The search terms [Lincoln Institute Philadelphia Indian ] brought up History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 by John Thomas Scharf, Thompson Westcott - Philadelphia (Pa.) - 1884 - 2399 pages.
On page 1698 the Lincoln Institute is described as having been founded in 1866 by Miss Mary McHenry in her home at 1902 Chestnut Street as a home for orphaned children of soldiers, and then transformed (after the original orphans had grown up and left) into an institute for "some seventy Indian girls, under an arrangement with the government of the United States." Interestingly, the Lincoln Herald note, published over a decade later, indicates that the Lincoln Institute had been recently denied an appropriation by Congress. So perhaps it was on its way to oblivion by that time. I hope that anyone with additional information will contact me, so that I can help the next researcher investigating The Lincoln Institute in Philadelphia!
Several attempts to find more information about this elusive Lincoln Institute in Philadelphia proved fruitless, but last night I serendipitously came across some answers! My first clue came (unsought) while I was browsing a copy of our online Lincoln University Herald alumni newsletters. On the last page of the 1899 issue, in a brief note about two common mistakes made about Lincoln University was mention of Lincoln Institute, "an academy for Indians," whose name was often misapplied to Lincoln University. Prompted by this note, I was motivated to go back to Google (as my last search had been several years ago), and this time, thanks to Google Books, I came up with information! The search terms [Lincoln Institute Philadelphia Indian ] brought up History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 by John Thomas Scharf, Thompson Westcott - Philadelphia (Pa.) - 1884 - 2399 pages.
On page 1698 the Lincoln Institute is described as having been founded in 1866 by Miss Mary McHenry in her home at 1902 Chestnut Street as a home for orphaned children of soldiers, and then transformed (after the original orphans had grown up and left) into an institute for "some seventy Indian girls, under an arrangement with the government of the United States." Interestingly, the Lincoln Herald note, published over a decade later, indicates that the Lincoln Institute had been recently denied an appropriation by Congress. So perhaps it was on its way to oblivion by that time. I hope that anyone with additional information will contact me, so that I can help the next researcher investigating The Lincoln Institute in Philadelphia!
posted by Susan Gunn Pevar | 9:46 AM
2 Comments:
Hi Susan,
Thanks for you reply! The only reason I didn't post it on your blog, was because I couldn't remember my Google account info and wanted to write you immediately.
I assume there was only one Lincoln Institute for Indians in PA. His records only state Lincoln Institute. I initially assumed it was a school in northern NY or Ontario. The little research I've done so far states a few others Native Americans as attending a 'Lincoln Institute' for Indians in PA. So I assume it's the same one. He lived on the St. Regis reservation, bordering Canada and the U.S. At least one other Mohawk also attended a Lincoln Institute for Indians in PA around the same time. And since my grandfather was then sent to Carlisle which was also in PA, it seems that it was from the Lincoln Inst in PA. He would have been very young at the time, the Carlisle records show he was around 8 years old when sent there, but there are also discrepancies in the records, so he might have been older or the dates are incorrect.
But I suppose there may have been 2 separate Lincoln Institutes in PA, perhaps both in Philly, one for girls and one for boys.
Hello:
I hope that this note reaches you.
I am a photograph collector and student of the Assimilation of the American Indian. Today (2/5/2016) I have been researching the Lincoln Institute for Indians.
I have a wonderful photograph c.1890 of a group of young Indian children (6 boys and 3 girls) with their teacher. It was taken in a photo (JHL) gallery located at 56 N. 8th Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The boys are dressed in very distinct uniforms which I have never seen worn by the boys in all the images that I have seen of the Carlisle Indian School.... I contacted a friend at the Carlisle Indian School and she suggested that they may be from the Lincoln Institute.
Have you been successful in finding any more information about Lincoln? Please email me at calipna@aol.com.
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