Oklahoma Education
Glossary
agriculture: The science of farming, includes the cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.
Americanization: To make a person or group more “American” in character, culture, and nationality.
apprenticeships: When someone learns an art, trade, or job under the advisement another.
arithmetic: The part of mathematics that involves the adding and multiplying, etc. of numbers.
assimilate: To become part of a group, country, society or to make someone or something become part of a group, country, society.
baccalaureate: Four-year college degree; also known as bachelor’s or B.A.
boarding schools: A school where students live on campus during the semester.
civics: The study of the rights and duties of citizenship.
compulsory: Mandatory.
convict: Declaring someone to be guilty of breaking a law.
curriculum: The subjects that make up a course of study in a school.
diploma mill: A term for a place that sells medical diplomas without any training.
dugouts: A hole dug into the ground, used as a shelter, that can be dug into a hillside or fully recessed under the earth with a flat roof covered by ground.
Fourteenth Amendment: All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
hygiene: The practice of keeping yourself and your surroundings clean.
ink wells: Small container to hold ink used for writing in the past.
integration: Bringing together or mixing something previously separated.
lynching: The killing of someone by a mob without a trial.
memorize: To commit to memory.
mission school: Schools developed by Christian missionaries, in order to “Americanize” the local people.
nonsectarian: Not connected or restricted to a specific religious group.
outhouses: A small building separate from the main building containing a toilet, typically with no plumbing.
penmanship: The art or skill of writing by hand.
physiology: The science of the individual mind and behavior; today, known as psychology.
recite: To repeat aloud from memory.
school consolidation: Combining two or more schools for educational or economical benefits.
segregation: The enforced separation of different racial groups with a community.
strike: A refusal to work organized by a body of employees as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to improve working conditions or salaries from their employer.
subscription school: Schools funded by a monthly tuition fee paid by the students’ parents.
tribal school: A school that is controlled by an American Indian tribe, band, or nation.
urbanization: Movement of people from rural areas and farms to cities and towns.
