Indigenous Leaders Demand Removal of a Boarding-School Superintendent
Agent Lynch suspended Rev. Maxwell Phillips from the Wilbur boarding school; the paper called him mentally and morally deficient, and Indigenous leaders called a council to demand an account of his conduct and his removal.
Agent Lynch suspended yesterday Rev. Maxwell Phillips, superintendent of the Wilbur boarding school. There seems to be no doubt of the man's insanity. He is totally deficient mentally and morally. There has been strong talk of a tar-and-feather party in the immediate future for his especial benefit, so by leaving now he saves his skin. The more prominent among the Indians had already arranged for an Indian council to be held on Saturday, Dec. 5, demanding an account of his peculiar conduct and his removal by the agent.
“The more prominent among the Indians had already arranged for an Indian council to be held on Saturday, Dec. 5, demanding an account of his peculiar conduct and his removal by the agent.”
Indian boarding schools were instruments of assimilation and too often sites of abuse; this item shows Indigenous leaders organizing to hold a superintendent accountable. The paper's contempt for Phillips should not obscure the agency of the people who demanded answers.
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