SEPTEMBER 17, 1873

PEORIA CHARLES EDWIN DAGENETT BORN–FOUNDER OF SOCIETY OF AMERICAN INDIANS

Dagenett, born in Wea Township, Kansas, entered Carlisle Indian School in 1887. Learning the printing trade, he was editor of The Red Man, the school magazine. Charles later graduated from Eastman College in New York. Back in Kansas, he, and his wife, also a Carlisle graduate, started The Miami Chief newspaper. In 1894, Dagenett joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and, in 1905, persuaded Congress to create an Office of Indian Employment of which he was appointed supervisor. During World War I, Charles placed many Indian mechanics in the auto industry. He retired from the BIA in 1927—its highest-ranking Indigenous official. In 1911, at Ohio University, Dagenett helped found the Society of American Indians (SAI)–the 1^st pan-Indian rights organization. Initially chairman of the Temporary Executive Committee, he left the post due suspicions over his being with the BIA. However, in 1913, SAI elected him second vice president. Dagenett died on March 16, 1941, in South Olympia, Oklahoma.

Sources:

Obituary, Find a Grave.  Retrieved 11/12/2023, 77158289_c7dd09b1-3e55-458c-9f48-8e2d19e1beb2.jpeg (1500×3036) (findagrave.com)

“Charles Edwin Dagenett,” Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia.  Retrieved 11/12/2023, Charles Edwin Dagenett - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia  

Photo:  Author unknown, 1915.  Public Domain.  Source: Quarterly Journal of the Society of American Indians, Volume 3, Number 2, April-June, 1915