Choctaw Academy

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"On October 15, 1825, twenty-one boys left the Choctaw Nation for Choctaw Academy in Kentucky. The chiefs and leading men had successfully pushed for a school outside the Nation noted their departure with satisfaction and pride. Although several mission schools had been established in the Choctaw Nation, the Academy as an elite academic institution where promising youths would pursue advanced studies and acquire the skills needed to assume civic responsibilities in a Nation confronted by an expanding white population."^[1]

Academy History

"In 1818, the Baptist Mission Society of Kentucky started the Choctaw Indian Academy at Great Crossings, Kentucky, located near Georgetown and (Richard Mentor) Johnson's home. The school soon failed, however, from a lack of funding. When some Choctaw Mississippi lands were ceded to the United States, the tribal leaders requested that some of the treaty money be used to fund educational initiatives. Therefore, they reached out to Johnson. The congressman, along with his brother-in-law, William Ward, the U.S. government agent for the Choctaw Nation in Mississippi, had the school restarted in 1821."^[2]

"By request of Choctaw leaders, the school was placed outside Choctaw lands. In doing so, Choctaw people could better control their own direct environment without foreigners living amongst them. The school for native children would still expose Choctaw children to the ways of Euro-Americans without putting them in an otherwise all-white school. ... The overwhelming push for education by the Choctaw people was strategic. Armed with the proper skills, the next generation of Choctaws would defend the people’s rights and lands going forward. Funded by the government money and sponsored by the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, the Choctaw Academy began in 1825 and closed in 1845 with the last students leaving in 1848."^[3]

"The Choctaw Academy was the first racially integrated, non-military, secular school funded by the U.S. government. This was only the second school funded by the federal government, the first being West Point military academy..." - IIBEC.org Choctaw Academy Restoration Project

Academy Proponents

• Greenwood (LeFleur) LeFlore, Choctaw

• Peter Pitchlynn, Choctaw - 1840 appointed teacher and superintendent

• Richard Mentor Johnson, Kentucky
  • U.S. Congressman and U.S. Vice President
  • Provided buildings and grounds at his Blue Springs Farm to house the school

Academy Students

"The students of the Choctaw school’s day began with the beating of the drum calling them to the classroom. They opened class with singing and a prayer. At nine o’clock they were given a half an hour for breakfast. At 12 o’clock they dismissed for two hours. Later in the afternoon, they were give(sic) half an hour for dinner. School ended at sundown."^[4]

Although the school was funded by the Choctaw, there were students from upward of twenty tribes educated during the years in operation. There may have also been some local students from the surrounding Kentucky families. After completing their course work most students returned to their homes, but some continued to advanced studies, several at nearby Transylvania University.

Historian Carolyn Foreman who wrote a series of articles on the Academy and transcribed several lists of students who attended in the years 1829-1839. These were published in the Chronicles of Oklahoma:

• Vol VI, #4, December 1928 pp. 453-480, list of students 1829
• Vol IX, #4, Dec. 1931, pp. 382-411, list of students 1834
• Vol X, #1, March 1932, pp. 77-114, lists of students 1835, 1836, 1838, 1839

Note: The names listed below are just a sampling from each year.

Students 1825^[5]

• Alfred Wade*, 17
• Jacob Folsom, 16
• Lyman Collens, 16
• John Riddle, 16
• Peter King, 15
• Silas Pitchlynn, 15
• John Adams, 15
• James M King, 14
• William Riddle, 14
• John Everson, 14
• Charles Jones, 13
• Lewis McCan, 13
• Daniel Folsom, 13
• Hiram King, 13
• Robert Nail, 13
• Charles King, 13
• Picken Wade, 12
• William McCan, 12
• Allen Kearney, 10
• Alexander Pope, 10
• Morris Nail, 8
• Zadoc Harrison
• William Harrison

Students 1826^[5]

• James Barbour 12
• George Durant 18
• Jackson Leflore 17

Students 1827 Foreman

• Adam Christy 13
• David Folsom 16
• Lewis Garland 13
• James Henry 15
• David M Webster 13
• Simeon Wade 15

Students 1828 Foreman

• George Harkin
• Pierre Juzan
• Samuel Garland*

Students 1829

• Forbis LeFlore
• David Wall
• Daniel Folsom
• Charles Jones
• Peter King
• James King
• Henry Graves

Students 1834

• Devereaux Jarrett Bell

*Appointed as Governor or elected as Chief of the Choctaw Nation.

Preservation

ca 1942

2025 Will Mark 200 Years from the start of the remaining Choctaw Academy structure being used for students of the school.

It is likely though that the building pre-dates this use. Johnson writes in 1825 about existing structures on his property for the use of the school. However, it is not clear if the remaining building is one he described or later purpose built.

ca 2010's

RCI and RCIF Kick Off Choctaw Academy Initiative

By Tara Wilson

December 1, 2018

Pictured on the cover of this month’s RCI Interface is the last remaining structure of what was once the Choctaw Academy in Georgetown, Kentucky. The Academy was the first federally funded, racially integrated, non-missionary, and non-military school for Native American boys in the U.S.—an institution that brought together students from 18 different tribes, enabling them to later champion for their people in a time when it was needed most.

* Continue Reading *

Recent Choctaw Academy Preservation In The News

READ|Grant match requested for Choctaw Academy restoration Georgetown News-Graphic 16 May 2022

(update) Legal document potentially makes Choctaw grant possible Georgetown News-Graphic 21 Sep 2022

ca 2022

LISTEN|Saving Choctaw Academy WEKU Eastern, KY 23 Nov 2022

WATCH|'Once it's gone, it's gone forever': Efforts underway to save Native American landmark LEX18 Lexington, KY 30 Nov 2022

WATCH|Saving Choctaw Academy, telling its story WKYT Lexington, KY 4 Dec 2022

Resources

• Foreman, Carolyn Thomas, Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. 10, No. 1 1932 The Choctaw Academy pages 77 - 114

• VIDEO Choctaw Academy and RCI, Inc.

• Great Crossings: Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in the Age of Jackson. By Christina Snyder. ( New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. Pp. xiv, 402. $29.95, ISBN 978-0-19-939906-2.)

• Kentucky History: Choctaw Indian Academy

• “The Choctaw Academy.” Kentucky Historic Institutions, 10 Dec. 2020, https://kyhi.org/the-choctaw-academy/.

• Lexington History Museum (via Wayback Machine): Not Just a Hunting Ground: Native Americans in Kentucky - Choctaw Academy PDF version no longer available.

• The People of The Hunting Ground: Choctaw Indian Academy

• An alphabetized list of Choctaw students at the Academy (unsourced) HERE 12 pages

Sources

1. ↑ Drake, Ella Wells. “Choctaw Academy: Richard M. Johnson and the Business of Indian Education.” The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, vol. 91, no. 3, 1993, pp. 260–297. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/23382664. Accessed 28 Mar. 2020.
2. ↑ Tim Talbott, “Choctaw Indian Academy,” ExploreKYHistory, accessed February 28, 2021, https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/594.
3. ↑ “The Choctaw Academy: Investing in Future Choctaw Leaders.” Biskinik, Feb. 2018, https://www.choctawnation.com/biskinik/the-choctaw-academy-investing-in-future-choctaw-leaders/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2023.
4. ↑ “Not Just a Hunting Ground: Native Americans in Kentucky - Choctaw Academy.” Lex History, Lexington History Museum, https://web.archive.org/web/20211026142051/http://lexhistory.org:80/edu/not-just-hunting-ground-native-americans-kentucky-choctaw-academy
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Foreman Carolyn, Chronicles of Oklahoma - Vol VI. #4, Dec 1928 pgs 453-480 https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1826918/m1/51/
6. ↑ Evlen, Tom, Crumbling landmark tells a 'challenging story.' Now, Choctaw Academy will be saved. https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article213579309.html Lexington Herald Leader 21 Jun 2018
7. ↑ Oklahoma Historical Society. Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 6, Number 4, December 1928, periodical, December 1928; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1826918/: accessed March 18, 2023), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.