Territorial Governor Orders Segregated Schooling
Governor Isaac I. Stevens enforces new restrictions on Indigenous student access to public education in Olympia.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Notice is hereby given that the purchase or use of school books or the reading of books of the kind commonly used in their intercourse with white people or the use of American-style school houses by Indigenous persons is prohibited. The defiance of this order by any person or persons will be severely and promptly punished. The names of those who report any violation of this commodity shall be kept by the undersigned. The Superintendent will be at all times prepared to investigate any violations of this regulation, which are based on the requirements of the Territorial statutes.
“The defiance of this order by any person or persons will be severely and promptly punished.”
This 1854 notice reflects the brutal exclusionary policies of Washington’s first territorial governor, Isaac I. Stevens, whose tenure was marked by the forced dispossession of Indigenous land and systematic efforts to dismantle Indigenous culture. It serves as a stark reminder of the state’s role in codifying white supremacy into the very foundation of its public institutions, a legacy that modern Washington still grapples with in its educational and political spheres.
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