Tenney: Base Ball at the Tucson Indian Boarding School
From SABR member John Tenney at Base Ball in Arid Land on June 15, 2013:
Tucson, like most towns on the frontier, followed the national directive set forth by President Ulysses S. Grant in the creation of boarding schools for Native American youths with the aim of integrating them into anglo culture. Giving the students skills based training and using sports to help assimilate them into white America. The National Pastime would help play an integral part of bridging a cultural gap between White culture and Native American Culture.
Established in 1888, the Tucson Indian Boarding School started in a humble adobe building on the corner of Congress Street and 6th Street in present-day down town Tucson. From there, as enrollment grew and the need for more space was required, the school moved and under the direction of the local Presbyterian church, the school grounds would be built and expanded where the site of the Roskrudge Elementary School is now. The grounds were north of the school and adjacent to the University of Arizona. The final resting place for the school, would be on 16th Avenue, near Pueblo High school as it would close its doors in 1960.
The Federal Government would subsidize the costs for educating each student, paying a total of $31.25 to the Presbyterian Church for each successive quarter of enrollment. At one time the school had more students than the fledgling University of Arizona. The photo below highlights the base ball club from the school and has some interesting features that challenge the date of 1925.
Read the full article here: http://baseballinaridland.blogspot.com/2013/06/base-ball-at-tucson-indian-boarding.html
Originally published: June 17, 2013. Last Updated: June 17, 2013.