abandon their tribal traditions while there. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, founded in 1879 in Pennsylvania, became the model for federal immersion programs in education. In 1882 the United States Congress authorized three new boarding schools to be established in Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territory (a plan that would cost $150,000), and the Carlisle school was the model for these soon-to-be-constructed institutions, including what became Haskell in Kansas. When Haskell opened in 1884, it was called United States Indian Industrial Training School. It had 22 elementary school-age students the first year. Soon boys were taught skills in tailoring, wagon making, blacksmithing, harness making, painting, shoe making, and farming, reflecting trades common to their mostly rural and small town environments of reservations. Girls studied cooking, sewing and homemaking. As was typical of many such rural schools, most of the students' food was produced on the associated Haskell farm. Older students were expected to work while at the school, as in the model of Tuskegee Institute and similar independent institutions. According to many sources, school living conditions during the 1880s and 1890s were harsh. Organized under the semi-military system of the Carlisle Indian School, students wore uniforms to enforce conformity and end tribal identification. Their hair was cut when they entered school, which was especially painful for the boys, as in most tribes, adult men kept long hair. The children marched to classes, and exercised regularly. Students were often physically punished if they failed to follow the rules of the institute. At least 103 children died while attending the school. In 1887, the school was renamed as Haskell Institute in honor of Dudley Haskell, the U.S. representative from Kansas's 2nd district who had gained getting the school built in Lawrence. In 1889 Charles T. Meserve was appointed as the fifth superintendent in Haskell's five-year history. His discharge of many employees (including the principal teacher) brought criticism from the president of the National Education Association. Students reacted to his harsh treatment by sending four protesting petitions to the BIA in Washington, DC. A Special Indian Agent, appointed to investigate the incident, whitewashed the whole situation. In the early 20th century, Haskell continued to evolve while operated by the federal government. It added classes for upper grades, and in 1927 received accreditation as a Kansas high school. By 1935 it was classified as a vocational-technical school. From the 1900s through the 1930s, Haskell became