More than 4,400 CIIS student files (about 60,000 pages) have been scanned so far. Gerencser says that they also plan to partner with other institutions that may have photos, letters or other items connected to the school as well as with descendants of the CIIS students and other researchers.
d i ck i n s o n ma gazi ne Summer 2014
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The project is funded by Dickinson’s Research & Development Committee and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Digital Humanities grant, which supports the researchers’ travel to D.C. to scan and digitize the records. Gerencser says that they also plan to build partnerships with other institutions that may have photos, letters or other items connected to the school as well as with descendants of the CIIS students and other researchers. So far, more than a few viewers have come forward with photos and other mementos. “It was exciting to see the student records online that I wouldn’t have access to unless I wrote to NARA,” says Garcia, adding that she learned of the site through the CIIS Descendants, Relatives and Friends Facebook page. “My grandfather was the first name I searched for, and it came up immediately,” she continues. “I learned that he was discharged for being irresponsible, and my mother told me that he was not happy during his time there. He went on to become an iron worker and was one of the Mohawks who helped build the Empire State Building. He was even president of the local Mohawk ironworkers union. His son went on to become the first Mohawk Catholic priest from St. Regis and in the U.S.” Garcia also found records of her grandmother’s father and nine other relatives. “For many of us, our grandparents’