Haskell Institute

A non-reservation Indian boarding school was opened in Lawrence, Kansas in 1884 with 15 students. It was renamed for Dudley Haskell, the U.S. Representative from Kansas, who was instrumental in getting the school located at Lawrence. It became Haskell Institute in 1890 and by 1894 had over 600 students from 36 states.

Haskell Institute began offering college level classes in 1927. It and graduated its last high school class in 1965. Haskell Institute became Haskell Indian Junior College in 1970. In 1993, it became Haskell Indian Nations University.

Many of the records of Haskell Institute are located at the Central Plains Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) at Kansas City, under Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In addition to the regular administrative files found for most schools, the following records of interest to family historians are included:


 * Student case files, ca. 1884-1958. These case files are also available on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
 * Daily attendance reports, 1897-1960
 * Enrollment records, 1899-1901
 * Employment record cards, 1897-1960

For a time, Haskell Institute was supervised by the Anadarko Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Records of that office are found in the Southwest Regional Archives of NARA in Fort Worth, also under Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Microfilm copies of “Narrative and Statistical Reports” for Haskell are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, beginning with their film number 1724219.