Central Pa. college to honor legendary MLB, NFL athlete

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Dickinson College is dedicating the Jim Thorpe Center for the Futures of Native Peoples. 

The Carlisle-based college will dedicate the center’s site, which is near the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School (CIIS). The school was the first federal off-reservation boarding school founded with the intent to “Kill the Indian… and save the man” through the forced assimilation of Indigenous children and young adults. 

“Just a few miles from the former grounds of a place that sought to erase our cultures and identities, the new space will stand as a testament to our strength and thriving presence,” Amanda Cheromiah (KawaiKa-Laguna Pueblo), executive director of the Center for the Futures of Native Peoples (CFNP ) and a granddaughter of six CIIS students, said in a statement. “By advancing the futures of Native Peoples through cultural revitalization, intergenerational knowledge-sharing and Indigenous-focused research, the center honors the past while shaping what is yet to come.” 

On  Nov. 8, Dickinson will hold a ground-blessing ceremony at the center’s future site with members of Thorpe’s family, the CFNP Advisory Board and more than 100 guests expected to attend. The college plans to begin construction in the summer of 2026. The new center is made possible through a $20 million gift from alumnus and philanthropist Samuel Rose, will include the Samuel Rose ’58 Art Gallery, celebrating Indigenous art and culture and representing the largest arts investment in Dickinson’s history. 

The center is named for Thorpe, a legendary athlete and Olympic gold medalist who was a member of the Sac and Fox and Potawatomi Nations. Thorpe attended the CIIS, where he became a three-time All-America selection in football. Thorpe was the first Indigenous person to win Olympic gold for the United States and went on to play professionally in both Major League Baseball and the National Football League. 

According to a release, the center will serve as an educational resource and destination for those seeking to explore Indigenous studies and cultures. The new building will  contain space for classrooms, art exhibitions, special programming, and ceremonial gatherings.   

Carlisle was home to the CIIS, a federally funded institution with a goal of forced cultural assimilation, from 1879 to 1918. Nearly 7,800 Native American students from 200 tribal communities attended the school during those years. Last year, the U.S. government designated a national monument at the CIIS site.  

Dickinson said the design team is led by Richard Olaya, AIA of O Z Collaborative as the architect of record and Johnpaul Jones, FAIA of Jones +Jones as the design architect.  Johnpaul Jones is of Choctaw, Cherokee and Welsh-American heritage and is one of the founding principals of Jones + Jones Architects and Landscape Architects. He was one of the lead designers of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the first Native American architect honored with the National Humanities Medal. 

Rose, a member of Dickinson’s class of 1958 and a real estate developer, has contributed more than $100 million to the college. 

“Sam’s philanthropy has been nothing short of game-changing for Dickinson,” said President John E. Jones. “He has literally changed the lives of hundreds of students with his scholarship support, and his leadership-level giving toward other initiatives. Now, by providing the Center for the Futures of Native Peoples a new home, he’s enhancing the vital work of the center and further enriching our students’ educational experiences in dynamic and resonant ways.”