Last updated: December 11, 2024
Place
Thorpe Hall
Larry Gertner/US Army
Quick Facts
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
MANAGED BY:
US Army
Built by Carlisle students in 1887 using bricks that they also made, Thorpe Hall was named after student Jim Thorpe (Wa-Tho-Huk), a member of the Sac and Fox Nation who attended the school from 1904-1909. He won two gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics in the decathlon and pentathlon. A 1911 article published in the New York World declared Thorpe “[a] young Indian student at the Carlisle School who promises to be the greatest athlete the world has ever seen.” The school newspaper, The Red Man, published an editorial proudly noting of his Olympic achievements, “While the United States was victorious in track events, she cannot be unmindful of the part which the aboriginal Americans took in helping to swell the victory.” In 1950 the Associated Press named Thorpe the greatest athlete of the half-century, beating out Babe Ruth for the honor. Indeed, the athletics program at the Carlisle school brought widespread attention, with athletic director Glen “Pop” Warner coaching not only Thorpe but also Lewis Tewanima, who took second place in the 1912 Olympics in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races, and Thorpe Hall was used by students at the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School as a gymnasium, and it continues to serve as a gym for active duty military today.