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My first semester at the University of Texas at Dallas is filled with a variety of academic interests. One of the classes
I am enrolled is Native American Historiography. I will not pretend to be an expert on the subject but with the help of Professor R.David Edmunds I am learning an abundance of American history pertaining to Native Americans. The most recent book I have read for this
class is titled, "Listening to our Grandmothers' Stories; The Bloomfield Academy for Chickasaw Females, 1852-1949" by Amanda
J. Cobb. Since the site of the original schools were located not to far from Dallas, TX; I decided to pack my van and
my dog, Bodhi, and see if I could find the original sites. They were lost to fires a total of four times. With the help of
Donna Mclaren (post master for Kemp, OK), Barbara Bishirs (Woman I met at the Chickasaw Community Building & Descendent
of Levi Colbert, Chickasaw Chief during the early 1800s. Her Grandmother, Mrs. Colbert-Barker attended the school and is buried
at the grave site I visited), and the permission of Bill Mcdonald to walk his land, I spent two days exploring the sites of
the school as well as a burial site for many of the people mentioned in Cobb's book. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
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| Angela Hosmer Carr was wife to Reverend John H. Carr. Both helped establish the first school of 1852 |
More information on the Chickasaws can be found at:
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N. Ippoliti
3/11/03
Bloomfield Windmill
Echoed pasture chorus
Of Chickasaw laughter
And cries,
Like that of whales;
Surfacing through
Charred mortar and lumber,
Sinking into divine
Mother Earth;
Educate me
Without tablets
Without words,
Only winded
Past, present, future.
Tall and slim
Milled skeleton
Protect centered
Pump driving barren
Wells to surface.
Budding apple trees,
Dance winded
Melody of
Tin man;
Bloom Chickasaw.
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| Kemp, Colbert, Carr are all names that are found here. |
The Bloomfield Academy for Chickasaw Females had three distinct periods;
Reverend J.H. Carr founded and built the original school and based his curriculum on Religious, domestic and academic
studies (1852-1867). The Chickasaws based their curriculum on academic literacy. They maintained control from 1865-1907. The
third stage was controlled by the federal government and based curriculum on domestic literacy, cooking was considered domestic
science and sewing was domestic arts. The federal government held control from 1907 until 1949. The school then merged with
the Ardmore school district, located in Ardmore, OK.
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