Indian Training School campus in Forest Grove

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Description

An image of the Indian Training School's original campus in Forest Grove. This photograph was likely taken in 1880 or early 1881, looking west from what is now 22nd Place in Forest Grove. The girls’ dormitory is on the right; the boys’ dormitory is on the left; and the workshop is in the center. Plank sidewalks connect the buildings. In contrast to later photographs, the dormitories have not yet had dormers or porch roofs added; the foundations have no skirting; and the workshop does not yet have the addition that would later be added on the right side. None of the buildings pictured here have survived. The photograph is numbered 35 in a series of photographs by I.G. Davidson, a photography studio based in Portland. The series shows how the school taught the children to behave according to the norms of white society, including learning trades and wearing Western clothing. This scan is of a later black-and-white print based on a negative held by the Oregon Historical Society (negative no. 58774).