Newberry Library - Autograph album Chemawa (Salem, Or.), 1888-1911

Title Autograph album Chemawa (Salem, Or.), 1888-1911

Date 1888-1911

Subjects Autograph albums, Chemawa Indian School, Indians of North America, Nez Perce Indians, Off-reservation boarding schools

Description Four small die-cut glossy illustrated stickers--mainly symbols of friendship, good luck, and remembrance such as bouquets of roses and forget-me-nots, doves, horseshoes, and rings--affixed by signers to their entries, with remnants of several other stickers visible on other pages.
Maroon paper boards; upper board stamped in black and gilt, with gilt title "Autographs"; large gilt oval medallion frames a colored portrait of a small boy surrounded by palm fronds and holding a nosegay of flowers and a sealed envelope; a smaller octagonal medallion contains a drawing of a frog playing a lute; lower board blind-stamped with ornamental borders and centerpiece; all edges gilt; textured white endpapers.
Accompanied by photocopies (7 folded leaves) of Amera's service records from the National Archives, which confirm the information contained in the album.
In box.

Summary Autograph album belonging to Nez Percé Indian Charles Amera, containing notes and signatures of fellow students and teachers on the occasion of graduation day at the Chemawa Indian School, with most entries dated June and July 1888. Charles Amera, born on White Bird Creek, Idaho, on Dec. 25, 1870, was one of many Nez Percé Indians sent to the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon, where he was also known as Caleb Charles. This is his graduation autograph album with inscriptions from both male and female classmates, some of them Nez Percé, and related to Amera, others from different reservations in Oregon, such as Umatilla, Klamath , Grand Ronde, and Warm Springs. All entries include date and writer's full name, as well as school identification number. On blank pages, Amera has added personal information, including a transcription of his honorable discharge from the army, where he served as trumpeter in Troop "L" of the 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment from Sept. 28, 1892-Aug. 2, 1893 at Fort Walla Walla in Washington. Later entries in different hands include death dates of some of the students mentioned, including a note under Amera's name: "Died Jan. 1897." An entire page is devoted to the death and burial dates of 11 people who died between Dec. 1910 and March 1911, apparently as a result of one of the frequent epidemics to hit the reservation in the early 1900s. Names of the deceased include Sarah Hines, Cornelius Lookingglass, George Moses, Dick Moses, Corbett Frank, Thomas Gould, and Amelia Parsons.

Extent [32] leaves, bound : col. ill. ; 15 x 23 cm

Format Autograph albums, Genealogies

Archival Collection Title Edward E. Ayer Collection

Link to Catalog View record

Call Number Ayer MS 3241

BibID 279132

Rights Status No Copyright - United States

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

Newberry Open Access Policy The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to these terms and conditions.

IIIF Resource Type Canvas

Size 2679px × 1753px 13.47 MB

Filename 992791328805867_Ayer_MS_3241_00001.tif

Unique Identifier NL11E29E