St. Joseph Indian Normal School, Schule in den Vereinigten Staaten
St. Joseph Indian Normal School was an educational facility in Rensselaer, Indiana, established in 1888 and closed in 1896. The four-story red brick building with a central courtyard housed approximately 70 students and contained classrooms, a chapel, dormitories, and service buildings.
The school was founded in 1888 by the Catholic Church and financed by Katharine Drexel to educate Native American boys. It closed in 1896 after the federal government stopped providing funding, and the building was later converted to serve St. Joseph's College as Drexel Hall.
The building is named after Katharine Drexel, the wealthy benefactor who funded the school. The red brick structure with its central courtyard still stands as a reminder of the role religious institutions played in shaping educational practices during that era.
The building stands today on Saint Joseph's College campus and can be viewed from outside. Its location on South College Avenue in Rensselaer makes it easily accessible, and the red brick walls and original exterior architecture remain clearly visible.
The building was converted in 1937 to serve as a dormitory for the college. In the 1940s, the Chicago Bears football team used the structure for summer training, an unexpected chapter in the site's history.
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