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. 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 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.

A few records for the Haskell Institute are also available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.