Burney Institute
LEBANON, Okla. - A jewel of Chickasaw history is soon to return to its rightful place with the Chickasaw Nation.
The peaceful acres of woods and pasture lands that contain the historic Burney Institute, a school for Chickasaw boys and girls, and later for Chickasaw children orphaned during the War Between the States, have been purchased by the tribe.
Established by an 1854 Act of the Chickasaw Council, Burney Institute was the boarding school for scores of Chickasaw children through about 1910. The boys learned agriculture and horticulture; the girls homemaking, sewing, knitting, cooking and housekeeping. All, according to Chronicles of Oklahoma, were provided “first class instruction of finished English education.”
For many Chickasaws, the Burney Institute is a treasured link to a storied past.
“We are very pleased this historic piece of the Chickasaw story is returning to our tribe,” Gov. Bill Anoatubby said. “Many Chickasaws living today have ancestors who lived, worked and attended school at Burney. Burney represents the tribe’s historic commitment to education, and to its children.”
Legislation approving the purchase of Burney and its 176 acres near the Red River was unanimously passed by the Chickasaw Tribal Legislature during a November special session. Tribal land committee chairman Dr. Judy Goforth Parker shepherded the legislation, which was brought forward by Gov. Anoatubby.
“Very rarely, if ever, have we had the opportunity to acquire something like this that has such incredible historic value to the Chickasaw Nation,” Dr. Parker said.
A tour of the Burney buildings convinced Parker the property should return to the Chickasaw Nation.
“Just walking in, we felt the sense of history,” she said. “It was designed to last through the ages. It demonstrated to me that Chickasaws planned for the future, and a very big part of that future was education.”
Burney Institute is located approximately one and one-half miles east of Lebanon, Oklahoma near State Highway 32 in Marshall County. The historic property contains the two-story brick school, plus the first floor of the three-floor school dormitory. The dormitory has been converted into a living quarters, but the school building is much as it was at the end of the 19th Century. Restoration of the buildings is planned.
Initiated by the Chickasaw Council in 1854 with total funding of $3,000, another appropriation of $5,000 in 1857 was required to complete the school. Burney Institute, named for a Chickasaw family who settled nearby, opened in 1860. Originally a school for Chickasaw girls and classic education, the school, in 1872, accepted Chickasaw boys for education. The school was affiliated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which supplied its original superintendent and teacher, Rev. Robert Bell and his wife, Lucy James Bell.
A frame construction dormitory was added to the south of the school. It consisted of 18 rooms, each with a central fireplace. The kitchen and dining areas were on the first floor, where the girls also lived. On the second floor were the teachers, and the boys lived on the third floor and in the attic.
The school was reopened in 1887 as the Chickasaw Orphans Home and Manual Labor School. The facility was home to 60 orphans, and school began the first Monday of each October. In 1895, the original school building burned and was replaced by the current brick structure.
The school continued in operation until about 1910. The property was sold at public auction to the L.E. Wood family in 1914.
