Archives and Records
1888: St. George's Indian School
Father Charles De Decker, the Sisters of St. Francis, and students of St. George's School
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In the 1880s while on a trip to Rome, the Reverend Peter Francis Hylebos, pastor of St. Leo's Parish in Tacoma, met Sr. Katherine Drexel (later St. Katherine Drexel, canonized in 2000 by Pope John Paul II), who shared his devotion to native peoples. With her encouragement, Fr. Hylebos secured land for the establishment of an industrial school for the Indians. The Sisters of St. Francis were enlisted to teach, along with a lay schoolteacher. Father Charles De Decker was made superintendent. The school was originally supported partially by government subsidies in addition to generous contributions by Mother Drexel and Father De Decker himself. The school began as a single large structure, but expanded to become a small campus with several outbuildings. Half of each day was used for school and the other half for chores and vocational training. Met with only measured success, the school faced declining funds and inadequate facilities. Despite improvements to the facilities between 1930 and 1935, the school was closed permanently in 1937.
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