The Carlisle Indian School Farmhouse Coalition is planning to repurpose the Carlisle Indian Industrial School’s Farmhouse as a Heritage Center dedicated to the school, its students, and the intergenerational impacts of Indian boarding schools.

Indigenous children at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School (CIS), founded on the grounds of an Army Barracks, were subjects in a national experiment in “civilizing the Indian.” Part of the civilization and assimilation process involved training students in agriculture at the schools’ farm.

The Carlisle Indian School Farmhouse Coalition, a small grassroots group of concerned descendants, family, and friends lead efforts to save the schools historic Farmhouse from demolition by the Carlisle Barracks. The Coalition is planning to repurpose the Farmhouse as a Heritage Center dedicated to CIS. Through a descendant survey, the Coalition has learned that healing must take precedence over other forms of interpretation and programming to address the intergenerational impacts of Indian boarding school experiences. Creating a safe space where descendants can remember, honor, and commemorate their loved ones continues to guide the Coalitions efforts to provide a variety of interpretive spaces at the Carlisle Indian School Farmhouse Heritage Center.