Bloomfield Academy Site | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Chickasaw_Nation%27s_Bloomfield_Academy.jpg) Bloomfield Academy prior to January 1914 fire, exact date of photograph unknown | |
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| Nearest city | Achille, Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°47′58″N 96°23′1″W / 33.79944°N 96.38361°W |
| Built | 1852 |
| NRHP reference No. | 72001055 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | November 15, 1972 |
Bloomfield Academy was a Chickasaw school for girls founded in 1852 by the Reverend John Harpole Carr, located in the Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory, about 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of the present town of Achille, Oklahoma. A boarding school funded by both the Missouri Conference of the Methodist Church and the government of the Chickasaw Nation, it operated there until 1914, which a major fire destroyed most buildings. Now privately owned, the site of the former academy near Achille was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The academy relocated to a new facility in Ardmore, Oklahoma. In 1934 it was renamed as Carter Seminary. In 2004, Carter Seminary moved to a new campus on Lake Texoma, where it continues to operate. It is part of the Chickasaw Children's Village, which offers a variety of programs for youth.
The Academy and all other boarding schools in Indian Territory had closed during the Civil War. The property was taken over by the Chickasaw Battalion, a Confederate Army unit. After the war, Carr was appointed to a new position by the Methodist Church South. (The church had split into regional organizations before the Civil War, largely over the issue of slavery.) Carr's second wife died and, after he married for a third time in 1865, the couple moved to Texas.
The Chickasaw Nation government took control of Bloomfield Academy and reopened it in 1867, establishing it as coeducational. A series of superintendents directed the school. In 1876 a school for boys was authorized by the Chickasaw council, and Bloomfield returned to serving girls only. Perhaps the most notable superintendent was Douglas H. Johnston, a Chickasaw alumnus who served in the post from 1880 until 1895. In 1897, Johnston was elected as governor of the Chickasaw Nation, a position he held until the Chickasaw government was abolished in 1907 by Oklahoma Statehood.