EUFAULA BOARDING SCHOOL

An early basketball
(             team from the
Eufaula Boarding
r                          School
r    (McGrath-Benedict
Collection, OHS Re-
search Division).
From that time forward, each girl, even the youngest, worked as
laundress, janitor, gardener, and cook's helper, following the ac-
cepted pattern at Indian Office boarding schools of using student
labor to cut costs.'5 Chores were extensive and were the most un-
popular part of the school program.16
In her 1912 annual newspaper column, Purdom reported an in-
crease in the number of facilities to eight buildings, with the addition
of a laundry, barn, schoolhouse, and cottages for the employees. She
added, "aside from steam heat, modern improvements have been
made," the assumption being that the school finally had indoor
plumbing. The tone of her report revealed a stern but caring temper-
ament and a naive but optimistic outlook. She and the other faculty
were convinced they were bringing a better life to "these children of
Nature," whom they regarded as an "alien race"in need of the knowl-
edge of "white civilization." In Purdom's words, the students were
"ladylike" and "as a whole, trustworthy."7
The curriculum followed "with slight deviation" the state of
Oklahoma course of study, so that girls wishing to continue on to
high school theoretically would have an easy transition. Purdom
admitted, "pupils are somewhat slow in reaching the third grade"
because of language "impediment[s]" including many English con-
cepts that had no Creek equivalent; however, she maintained that
once English was mastered, "with few exceptions [they] advance
one grade each scholastic year." Beyond the third grade, homemak-
ing skills were the primary focus. Students did their own cleaning,
cooking, washing, ironing, and sewing so they might, in the future,
return to their "ill kept unattractive homes" and bring cleanliness
and civilization.18

419