Choctaw Nation gets $40,000 to make Wheelock Academy a community college

Friday, January 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An old Choctaw Indian school could become modern place of learning. The Choctaw Nation is getting $40,000 to develop plans for the Wheelock Academy, which was established as a mission school on the Trail of Tears in 1833. The Choctaw Nation will use the grant to look into adapting the historic school into a possible community college.

The money from the Save America's Treasures Preservation Planning Fund is made possible by the J. Paul Getty Trust. The fund is sponsoring 36 projects nationwide with gifts ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. Selection criteria included geographic and cultural diversity, the urgency of the project and the historical and architectural importance of the site.

Richard Moe, president of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said the planning stages of projects like the Wheelock Academy are an important first step toward restoring America's treasured landmarks. Other projects getting money from the trust include the Angel Island Immigration Station near San Francisco, a Lewis & Clark campsite in Montana and the Hulett Ore Unloaders in Cleveland.