Description: This photograph shows Olympic athlete and professional football player Jim Thorpe, ca. 1920-1929. Jim (James Francis) Thorpe was born in 1888 in Oklahoma to Hiram P. and Charlotte Thorpe. Both Hiram and Charlotte were of European and American Indian heritage and Jim was raised in the Sac and Fox tribes. In 1904 he was sent to a boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for American Indian children. While at Carlisle he played multiple sports, including football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and track. He left Carlisle in 1909 and 1910 to play professional baseball with teams in Eastern Carolina League in North Carolina. He returned to Carlisle in 1911 for two successful football seasons. In both 1911 and 1912 he was an All-American halfback for football. In 1912 he became the only person to win gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. His Olympic celebrity propelled him a three year contract playing professional baseball for the New York Giants. He also played baseball with the Boston Braves and Cincinnati Reds. However, it was as a professional football player that Thorpe was more successful and strongly tied to Ohio. He was associated with four professional or semi-professional football teams in Ohio as a player and coach: the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Oorang Indians based in LaRue, and the Portsmouth Shoe-Steels. His greatest success was with the Canton Bulldogs, which he led to win national championships in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1919. From 1922-1923 he was a player and coach for the Oorang Indians, a National Football League team comprised of all native players. The majority of the Oorang Indians team members, like Thorpe, had played at Carlisle. The team owner, Robert Lingo, used the team and Thorpes celebrity to advertise his Oorang Kennels Company, particularly his Airedale terriers. Thorpe played another season with the Bulldogs in 1926 and then went to Portsmouth as a player-coach for the semi-professional Portsmouth Shoe-Steels in 1927. This was Thorpes last athletic job. During the 1930s and 1940s he worked a variety of jobs until he died of a heart attack in 1953. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02916
Subjects: Thorpe, Jim, 1887-1953; Football--Ohio--History; American Indian athletes--United States--History
 

Description: Dated ca. 1907-1912, this photograph shows the Carlisle Indian Industrial School football team, possibly in pregame warmup. One of the players pictured here is Jim Thorpe, a Sac and Fox Native, who was an American athlete, playing professional football and baseball, and an Olympic track gold medalist. Founded by the United States government in 1879, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School was a boarding school for American Indian peoples. Students were taught common school subjects, such as English, history, and math, and also learned professional trade skills for their careers after school. Many American Indians criticized the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, and other boarding schools for native youths, because the schools forced children to leave their families and abandon their native language and culture. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV235_1_23
Subjects: Carlisle Indian Industrial School; Thorpe, Jim 1887-1953; American Indian athletes--United States--History; American Indian history; Education
Places: Carlisle (Pennsylvania); Cumberland County (Pennsylvania)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1907-1912, this photograph shows a classroom at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. One of the students pictured here is Jim Thorpe, a Sac and Fox Native, who was an American athlete, playing professional football and baseball, and an Olympic track gold medalist. Founded by the United States government in 1879, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School was a boarding school for American Indian peoples. Students were taught common school subjects, such as English, history, and math, and also learned professional trade skills for their careers after school. Many American Indians criticized the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, and other boarding schools for native youths, because the schools forced children to leave their families and abandon their native language and culture. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV235_1_25
Subjects: Carlisle Indian Industrial School; Thorpe, Jim 1887-1953; American Indian athletes--United States--History; American Indian history; Education
Places: Carlisle (Pennsylvania); Cumberland County (Pennsylvania)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1907-1912, this photograph shows the barracks at Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Founded by the United States government in 1879, the Carlisle Indian Industrial School was a boarding school for American Indian peoples. Students were taught common school subjects, such as English, history, and math, and also learned professional trade skills for their careers after school. Many American Indians criticized the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, and other boarding schools for native youths, because the schools forced children to leave their families and abandon their native language and culture. Jim Thorpe attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School as a young man. Jim Thorpe, a Sac and Fox Native, was an American athlete, playing professional football and baseball, and an Olympic track gold medalist. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV235_1_9
Subjects: Carlisle Indian Industrial School; Thorpe, Jim 1887-1953; American Indian athletes--United States--History; American Indian history; Education
Places: Carlisle (Pennsylvania); Cumberland County (Pennsylvania)
 

Description: This photograph shows the streets of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, decorated for Jim Thorpe's homecoming parade in 1912. Jim (James Francis) Thorpe was born in 1888 in Oklahoma to Hiram P. and Charlotte Thorpe. Both Hiram and Charlotte were of European and American Indian heritage and Jim was raised in the Sac and Fox tribes. In 1904 he was sent to a boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for American Indian children. While at Carlisle he played multiple sports, including football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and track. He left Carlisle in 1909 and 1910 to play professional baseball with teams in Eastern Carolina League in North Carolina. He returned to Carlisle in 1911 for two successful football seasons. In both 1911 and 1912 he was an All-American halfback for football. In 1912 he became the only person to win gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. His Olympic celebrity propelled him a three year contract playing professional baseball for the New York Giants. He also played baseball with the Boston Braves and Cincinnati Reds. However, it was as a professional football player that Thorpe was more successful and strongly tied to Ohio. He was associated with four professional or semi-professional football teams in Ohio as a player and coach: the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Oorang Indians based in LaRue, and the Portsmouth Shoe-Steels. His greatest success was with the Canton Bulldogs, which he led to win national championships in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1919. From 1922-1923 he was a player and coach for the Oorang Indians, a National Football League team comprised of all native players. The majority of the Oorang Indians team members, like Thorpe, had played at Carlisle. The team owner, Robert Lingo, used the team and Thorpes celebrity to advertise his Oorang Kennels Company, particularly his Airedale terriers. Thorpe played another season with the Bulldogs in 1926 and then went to Portsmouth as a player-coach for the semi-professional Portsmouth Shoe-Steels in 1927. This was Thorpes last athletic job. During the 1930s and 1940s he worked a variety of jobs until he died of a heart attack in 1953. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV235_1_7
Subjects: Jim Thorpe (Pa.)--History--20th century--Pictoral works; American Indian athletes--United States--History
Places: Carlisle (Pennsylvania); Cumberland County (Pennsylvania)
 

Description: This photograph shows the streets of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, decorated for Jim Thorpe's homecoming parade in 1912. Jim (James Francis) Thorpe was born in 1888 in Oklahoma to Hiram P. and Charlotte Thorpe. Both Hiram and Charlotte were of European and American Indian heritage and Jim was raised in the Sac and Fox tribes. In 1904 he was sent to a boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for American Indian children. While at Carlisle he played multiple sports, including football, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, and track. He left Carlisle in 1909 and 1910 to play professional baseball with teams in Eastern Carolina League in North Carolina. He returned to Carlisle in 1911 for two successful football seasons. In both 1911 and 1912 he was an All-American halfback for football. In 1912 he became the only person to win gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. His Olympic celebrity propelled him a three year contract playing professional baseball for the New York Giants. He also played baseball with the Boston Braves and Cincinnati Reds. However, it was as a professional football player that Thorpe was more successful and strongly tied to Ohio. He was associated with four professional or semi-professional football teams in Ohio as a player and coach: the Canton Bulldogs, the Cleveland Tigers, the Oorang Indians based in LaRue, and the Portsmouth Shoe-Steels. His greatest success was with the Canton Bulldogs, which he led to win national championships in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1919. From 1922-1923 he was a player and coach for the Oorang Indians, a National Football League team comprised of all native players. The majority of the Oorang Indians team members, like Thorpe, had played at Carlisle. The team owner, Robert Lingo, used the team and Thorpes celebrity to advertise his Oorang Kennels Company, particularly his Airedale terriers. Thorpe played another season with the Bulldogs in 1926 and then went to Portsmouth as a player-coach for the semi-professional Portsmouth Shoe-Steels in 1927. This was Thorpes last athletic job. During the 1930s and 1940s he worked a variety of jobs until he died of a heart attack in 1953. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV235_1_8
Subjects: Jim Thorpe (Pa.)--History--20th century--Pictoral works; American Indian athletes--United States--History
Places: Carlisle (Pennsylvania); Cumberland County (Pennsylvania)