Permanent Improvements to Oak Hill Industrial Academy

The improvements of Oak Hill Industrial Academy undertaken and completed by means of the student help began with the removal of old rubbish, the accumulation of years, and the impenetrable briar thickets near the buildings.

Opening of Indian Territory

Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, was a part of the public domain that was reserved for several tribes of Indians whose native hunting grounds were principally in the Southern states.

Industrial Education

A look at the turn of the 20th Century into the possibilities of an Industrial School system.

Indian Schools

The Presbyterian Church played a significant role in the education and evangelization of Native Americans and Freedmen in Indian Territory. Missionary efforts among the Five Civilized Tribes began in the early 19th century, with schools like Spencer and Wheelock Academies established before the Civil War. The war disrupted these efforts, but by the 1880s, schools and churches were reestablished. Freedmen, formerly enslaved by Native Americans, sought education and religious instruction, leading to the transfer of Freedmen’s missions to the Presbyterian Board of Missions. By the late 19th century, mission schools transitioned to government oversight, shaping Native American education.

History of Wheelock Academy

Wheelock Academy for nearly four-score years was the most attractive social, educational and religious center in the southeast part of the Choctaw nation.

History of the Oak Hill Presbyterian Church, Valliant, Oklahoma

The Oak Hill Presbyterian Church was organized about June 29, 1869, with six members, namely, Henry Crittenden, who was ordained an elder, Teena Crittenden, his wife, J. Ross Shoals and his wife Hettie Shoals, Emily Harris and Reindeer Clark. The services at first were held in the home and later in an arbor at the home of Henry Crittenden, one mile east of the present town of Valliant, and now known as the home of James and Johnson Shoals. After a few years the place of meeting was transferred to an arbor about two miles southwest of Crittenden’s, and two … Read more

History of Spencer Academy

This page provides a brief history of Spencer Academy and New Spencer Academy of Choctaw County, Oklahoma.

Grace and Prayers

The following forms of grace and prayer are intended to be suggestive helps to young people, who have the desire to be ready always to lead in prayer and conduct family worship, with interest and profit to others.