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Ebenezer Meriam Letters on Onondaga Nation Education

An inventory of his letters at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 19 Jul 2007

Biographical History

Ebenezer Meriam (1794-1864) was a white New York meteorologist, pamphleteer, and philanthropist who contributed regularly to the schools for Oneida and Onondaga Nation children in Central New York.

Samuel J. May (1797-1871), a white graduate of Harvard University, a Unitarian clergyman, and social activist. Although his primary interest was in civil rights and particularly abolition, he also raised funds to help build a meeting house and school for the Onondaga Nation and arranged government funding for a teacher.

The Onondaga Nation School began as Onondaga Indian School around 1850, and under an agreement with New York State, it started as a one room schoolhouse on Kennedy Road on the far eastern border of the Nation. In 1910, the school relocated to a two-story house on the present site on route 11A. In 1940, a fire demolished the building, and a brick building was erected to take its place. While the school is exclusively for Onondaga Nation students, in 1954 the school entered into a contract with New York State to be part of the LaFayette Central School District. Although there have been disagreements between the Nation and LaFayette about school leadership and control over the curriculum, that partnership remains today.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Ebenezer Meriam Letters on Onondaga Nation Education consists of twelve letters to Ebenezer Meriam. Eight are from Samuel J. May; the remainder are from Archibald Campbell, New York Deputy Secretary of State; E.W. Leavenworth, New York State Secretary's office; Charles E. Mix, Acting Commissioner for the Office of Indian Affairs; and J.D. Torry, missionary. The letters concern Meriam's support for a school for Oneida and Onondaga Nation children in Central New York.

Arrangement of the Collection

Letters are arranged alphabetically by correspondent (by chance this also happens to be a chronological ordering).

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

The library also has a small collection of Samuel J. May Letters.

Subject Headings

Persons

May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871.
Meriam, Ebenezer, 1794-1864.

Corporate Bodies

Onondaga Nation.

Subjects

Education, New York (State)
Indian children, North America.
Indians of North America, Cultural assimilation, New York (State)
Indians of North America, Education, Law and legislation.
Indians of North America, History, 19th century.
Indians, Treatment of, North America.
Oneida Indians, Education.
Onondaga Indians, Education.
Philanthropists, New York (State)

Genres and Forms

Letters (correspondence)

Occupations

Educators.
Philanthropists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Ebenezer Meriam Letters on Onondaga Nation Education,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Purchase, 2007.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Inventory