Between the Covers

Softcover. Oblong small album. Measuring 6" x 4". Printed paper wrappers. The photographs are bound into a small albumette made of decorative brown paper wrappers, plus one additional photo laid in; holograph thank-you note also laid in. Contains 16 black and white gelatin silver photographs measuring 3½" x 5", with captions. Near fine album with near fine photographs.

A photo album of students at the Dennehotso School in the Navajo Nation, Arizona compiled as a gift to Charles Franklin Shaffer in 1949. Shaffer and his wife, Anna Mildred Shaffer, both worked at the school and a thank you note from a student named “Hope” is present in the album. The first photo, which is laid in, shows a group of Navajo schoolchildren and is captioned on the verso, "Larger group / Girls wearing relief clothes / Boys [wearing relief clothes] Ties and Gov. clothes. Dennehotso School." Six additional photos are of Mrs. Shaffer's students for both the 1948-49 school year and the 1947-48 school year, captioned accordingly. Other photos include two portraits of female teachers at the school, a group of people "around at Christmas time," children on a playground, two uncaptioned class portraits, and a photo of that year's "big snow." The Dennehotso School was founded in 1936 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and is still in operation today as a BIA boarding school.

A modest but interesting collection of images of the students and teachers at the school, that touch on the now-controversial practice of hiring white teachers for Native American schools.

Item #445814