The Farmhouse has been deemed "not historically significant" and will be demolished to make room for new housing. However, the historic building housed students from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (CIIS), had a classroom, and is one of the last remaining structures of CIIS history.

The CIIS was the first all-Indian off-reservation boarding school in the U.S. where thousands of Native children were sent to be "civilized" in order to "Kill the Indian, save the man."  CIIS had a devastating effect on the lives, cultures, and language of these children, their families, and descendents.  

Many CIIS students were sent on summer Outings where they would learn the skills of white society while forced to give up their traditional ways of life.  Some students were sent to nearby farms to work and received their training at the CIIS farm and stayed at the historic Farmhouse. 

The site is historically signficant because:

- CIIS students actually lived at the Farmhouse during the summers while learning agricultural skills. The building is the only structure left on the grounds where students actually lived.

- CIIS attended class in the Farmhouse.  The building is the only structure left on the grounds where students attended classes.

- The Farmhouse is depicted in various historic CIIS catalogs and brochures.

- The Farmhouse not only represents the forced assimilation of Native children into mainstream Euro-American culture, but it also stands as a place of memory for the descendents of those who endured the stripping away of their culture.

- Once the building is torn down, it erases the memory of the CIIS students and it becomes easy for the public to forget the legacies that boarding/residential schools left behind for Native peoples.

 

The Farmhouse is still structurally sound but is slated for DEMOLITION in August or September, 2012. 

Please join our petition to stop the U.S. Army from tearing down this historic property!

THE PATRIOT-NEWS, HARRISBURG COVERS STORY!

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/08/indian_school_farmhouse_could.html?fb_action_ids=4404618123061&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map={%224404618123061%22%3A10151017227381625}&action_type_map={%224404618123061%22%3A%22og.recommends%22}&action_ref_map=[]

 

 INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY news:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/08/18/carlisle-indian-school-descendants-fight-to-preserve-a-part-of-that-painful-history-129689

 Farmhouse History - documented by Carolyn Tolman who recently lived there and has headed up the efforts to save the house.
https://www.sites.google.com/site/thefarmhouseatcarlislebarracks/home

 

 The Sentinel Newspaper article about the Farmhouse being destroyed: 

http://cumberlink.com/news/local/article_a015b708-5819-11e0-a166-001cc4c03286.html?mode=story

Carlisle Indian Industrial School - by historian Barbara Landis
http://home.epix.net/~landis/

CIIS Descendants, relatives, and friends Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/168544626516258/

Carlisle Friends Facebook group:  PLEASE JOIN US!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CarlisleFarmHouseFriends/