The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

FREEDMEN SCHOOLS.

Anyone wishing to establish schools for Freedmen in Oklahoma after the Civil War faced serious challenges because of Indian Territory's unusual status in the United States. In addition to the common problems of white opposition and lack of money, those who wanted to educate former slaves also faced the reality of different problems and reactions within each of the Five Tribes. In 1866 the U.S. government concluded new treaties the tribes, requiring that each recognize its former slaves as tribe members. The national Freedman's Bureau, created by Congress in 1865, operated in Indian Territory for several months under the leadership of Gen. John Sanborn but ceased operation when the new treaties were negotiated. As a result, most of the effort to educate Freedmen originated within each tribe and differed from group to group.

Among the Five Tribes the Seminole most easily adjusted to postwar circumstances, quickly assimilating their former slaves into the tribe. Of the other four groups, the Cherokee did the best job of educating their Freedmen, at least at the primary level, maintaining seven schools in 1872. However, not until 1890 did the Cherokee provide a high school for their former slaves. The Creek also provided a basic education, with five schools in existence by 1874. In 1881 the Creek Council gave Freedmen the task of operating a school near Muskogee. It opened in 1883 as Tullahassee Manual Labor School, and Creek Freedmen ran it with help from the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Also in 1883 these two groups established a second institution, known as Evangel School, on the old Union Agency grounds in Muskogee. The Choctaw failed to provide education for former slaves directly but promoted schools through various missionary organizations using federal funds. The Freedmen supplied the building, and the missionary groups provided the teacher and supplies. The first of these schools, run by the Baptist Mission Board, opened at Boggy Depot in 1874; the building later burned. Eventually several high schools, such as Tuskalusa Academy in Talihina and Oak Hill Mission near the Red River, were established in this way, but they did not last past the 1890s. The Chickasaw did not provide any support for schools for their former slaves, and the Freedmen proved unable to meet the need themselves.

As was true throughout the South, most of the schools for Freedmen in Indian Territory were small, poorly built, and lacking in equipment, but the people involved worked diligently to provide basic literacy skills to the former slaves. These efforts provided a firm foundation for the future growth of literacy and education among the Freedmen of Oklahoma.

Carol Sue Humphrey