The Real All Americans

History buffs and sports fans will love the true story of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, a pioneering nineteenth- and twentieth-century educational effort in Pennsylvania, and its football team, which played a major part in shaping today's collegiate game. Don Leslie's balanced tone allows listeners to vividly imagine being on the line of scrimmage as collegiate football kicks off in times that were tough, on and off the field, for Native Americans. He consistently sounds as if he is genuinely interested in the innovations and stories about the game's vanguards. That, in turn, helps enlighten anyone whose knowledge of the subject is limited to a few basic facts about Jim Thorpe, a Carlisle team member who became one of the greatest American athletes of all time. M.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine


Most sports fans will recall the name of Jim Thorpe, the Native American athlete who won the decathlon Gold Medal in the 1912 Olympics. Fewer will remember his exploits as a college football player. And fewer yet will recall his school, Carlisle, which was a boarding school for Native Americans. The school was an attempt to make Native Americans more like white Americans. Their football team, which relied on speed, grace, and athleticism rather than brute strength, significantly changed the game of football. Jenkins explores the history and sociology of the school and its prominent figures. David Pittu offers a solid reading, combining a fan's excitement with an appropriate level of reserve. The abridgment is generally smooth, but there are points where listeners are set up for a deeper discussion and the topic abruptly changes. R.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

November 1, 2007
Here is the fascinating history of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and its founder, regular U.S. Army officer and abolitionist Richard Henry Pratt, and the influence of the team on the game of football. Many will find the story of the closing of the American frontier, the defeat of the Native tribes, and their placement on reservations to be more interesting than the football craze of the late 1800s. The grudging acceptance by whites that Indians were not "savages" was hastened by the kind of football the Carlisle Indians played. Outweighed by more than 20 pounds per man each game, the Indians succeeded through speed, teamwork, and innovation (wing-T formation, double wing, forward pass). They also displayed sportsmanship, "out gentlemanning" their white opponents in an era in which slugging and eye-gouging the other team were the norm. Read by Don Leslie, this program is recommended for sports, history, or Native American collections.Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH

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