Choctaw Freedmen and Oak Hill Industrial Academy

Flickinger, Robert Elliott. Choctaw Freedmen and Oak Hill Industrial Academy, Valliant, Oklahoma. Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen. Pittsburgh. 1914

The Presbyterian Church

The Presbyterian Church from the beginning has been a zealous missionary organization. At the meeting of the First General Assembly arrangements were made to send the gospel to “the regions beyond,

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.

The Native Oak Hill School

The Oak Hill School was established in the late 19th century to provide education to Choctaw Freedmen, formerly enslaved individuals who became citizens of the Choctaw Nation around 1880. Initially, local churches and teachers like J. Ross Shoals and Nathan Mattison organized Bible reading sessions. In 1878, a small schoolhouse was built, later relocated to an “old log house” for better resources. The Presbyterian Board of Missions supported the school, responding to appeals from Freedmen seeking better education. The school played a vital role in improving literacy and opportunities for Choctaw Freedmen in Indian Territory.

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.

Industrial Education

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

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.

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.

Era of Rev. Edward G. Haymaker

On October 1, 1892, Rev. Edward Graham Haymaker became superintendent and continued to serve in that capacity until the spring of 1904.