As part of what one graduate called their "general upbuilding," Indians at Hampton engaged in many extracurricular activities. In the sitting rooms of the dormitories, students met for an evening conversation hour and participated in debates and contests. Many did community work with service organizations such as the Christian Endeavor Society and the Lend-A-Hand Club.
Some students played in the Wigwam Orchestra, and others sang in choruses or in the choir of a nearby Episcopal church. Sports for the men included baseball, basketball, football, and track; women students took up croquet, sailing, basketball, and gymnastics.
Although many of these activities were patterned after those at white schools, Indians took the new interests and skills they acquired at Hampton back home and enhanced tribal culture.
Hampton's all-Indian baseball teams, like the one portrayed above in the 1880s, played against local white clubs, an opportunity denied to black students. Later, Indians and blacks were integrated on Hampton's teams.
George Banks and John Badger, displaying Hampton's leafy insignia on their caps, played In a Crow Creek Agency brass band after leaving school. Skill with musical Instruments was one of the many talents students took home with them.
Students portray figures from American history (left) In "Columbia's Roil Cali,” a pageant staged on Indian Citizenship Day, February 8, 1892. The celebration marked passage of the 1887 Dawes Act, which granted citizenship to Indian landowners.
"Talks and Thoughts,” the Hampton Indian student newspaper, was published from 1886 to 1907. The motto, "Come over and help us,” which appears on the masthead in both English and Sioux, was derived from the seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
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