Electa Quinney: Mohican Teacher and Mentor

How do you make history?

Electa Quinney was a Mohican educator and mentor who is known to many as Wisconsin’s first public school teacher. She taught both Native and non-Native students together, and led her community with generosity and a commitment to education for all. This telling of Electa’s story starts many years before her birth, when her ancestors were forced to leave their homelands in the East, and follows her to the area in Wisconsin that is now the present-day home of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians.

Meet Electa Quinney

View Transcript: English Spanish

Questions to Consider

Electa learned Native teachings from her family and community and also went away to learn subjects and skills from non-Native Quakers. How is what you learn at home or in your community similar to or different from what you learn in school?

The Mohican people were forced to leave their homes and community multiple times. Why? How did that impact them?

What about Electa’s career as a teacher in Wisconsin is special or unique? What details support your thinking?

Peek Into the Past

Electa Quinney

This is the only known photograph of Electa Quinney. It was taken when she was an older woman.

National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution (N20801).

A map showing the forced removals of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. Their homelands start in the area around New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Their migration takes them to Wisconsin and part of Kansas.

Map of Stockbridge-Munsee Removals

A map showing the many forced removals and migrations of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans.

Arvid E. Miller Museum.

A color photograph of a pair of moccasins. They are tan and black with red accents and multicolored beadwork.

Mohican Moccasins

A moccasin is a soft leather shoe worn by some Native people, including the Mohicans. These date to the 1800s.

National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution (14/2101)

A photograph of a modern recreation of a wigwam. It is an oval structure originally made of wooden poles and tree bark.

Mohican Wigwam

A wigwam is a type of Native living space used by Mohicans in the Hudson River Valley. It was often made with wooden poles and tree bark.

Arvid E. Miller Museum.

A painting of a Native sugar camp, showing Native people turning maple sap into sugar. They are collecting sap from maple trees, boiling it, and pouring it into containers.

Sugaring Camp

A painting of a Native sugar camp. Many Native peoples, including the Mohicans, tapped maple trees and turned the sap into sugar.

Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Austin E. Quinney

A painting of one of Electa’s brothers, Austin E. Quinney, with a dog. Austin was a chief and sachem (or leader) of the Stockbridge nation.

Wisconsin Historical Society.

John W. Quinney

A painting of Electa’s brother John W. Quinney. He was a diplomat and sachem (leader) for the Stockbridge Mohicans and worked for Native rights.

Wisconsin Historical Society.

A painting of Jane Quinney and her daughter. Jane is seated, wearing a blue dress with a white and red shawl and yellow scarf. She also wears a black top hat with feathers. Her daughter is a young girl and stands next to her, wearing a red dress.

Jane Quinney and Daughter

This painting features Electa’s sister-in-law, Ashotomay Jane Quinney, with Electa’s niece, Harriet.

Wisconsin Historical Society.

A painting of boats traveling along the Erie Canal. The boats are long and narrow, and one is being pulled by a team of three horses that walk alongside the canal. In the distance are farmlands and homesteads.

Erie Canal Boat Travel

This painting shows boat travel on the Erie Canal in the early 1800s. The horses on the left are pulling the boat. This was one route to Wisconsin.

From the New York Public Library.

An old map showing the Fox River, Lake Winnebago at top, and the town of Statesburgh. It shows the location of houses and buildings. The map is a yellow-orange color.

Map of Statesburgh

A map from the 1830s that shows the Fox River and the town of Statesburgh, WI. In this map, north is at the bottom and south is at the top.

From the Library of Congress.

An image of an old newspaper. The paper is yellowed and the type is in both English and Cherokee.

Cherokee Phoenix Newspaper

The first edition of the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper, where John Candy worked. It had articles in English and Cherokee.

Cherokee Phoenix Newspaper.

An image of an old letter. The paper is yellowed. The writing is in cursive and fills almost the whole page.

Letter to Electa

The first page of a letter written to Electa by her son Daniel. He wrote this in 1862, when he was in the Union Army during the Civil War.

Wisconsin Historical Society.

Tribal Seal

The modern seal of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. In gray is the symbol of Many Trails. The animals are the tribe’s four main clans.

Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans.

A color photograph of a purse with beadwork. The base fabric is black and the beads are shades of green, yellow, red, and white. There are abstract designs and plant designs.

Contemporary Beadwork

An example of modern Mohican beadwork, by the artist Reva Furhman.

Photo courtesy Reva Fuhrman.

Headstone

Electa Quinney’s gravestone.

2019 photo by Lynn Friedman.

Read On

Stylized photograph of Electa Quinney, including a banner that displays her name at the bottom of the photograph, and the shape of the State of Wisconsin as a backdrop, all with a pink tint.

Get the full story with this biography book. Click the image to open the book and start reading. Audio files are available on each page if you’d like to listen along!

Project Credits

Producer
David Boffa

Coordinating Producer
Mia Forslund

Art Direction + Illustration
Hawlii Pichette
Ellie Nikoo

Script
Theresa Beaulieu
Bonney Hartley
David Boffa

Traditional Bead Artist
Reva Fuhrman

Vector Art
Brandon Ribordy

2D Animation
Ian Glodich

3D Animation
Lexie Wescott

Animation Voice Over
Lina Martin

Animation Score
Brent Michael Davids

Musicians
Brent Michael Davids
Bill Miller
Mark Church
Dr. Robert Shubinski

Audiobook Narration
Monique Tyndall

Audiobook Post Production
David Boffa
Kerman Eckes
Mia Forslund

Captioning
Vicki Way Kipp

Translation Services
Brock Schreiber
Christopher Harvey
University of Wisconsin-Madison Cultural Linguistic Services

Educator Support Materials
David Boffa
Mia Forslund
Marci Glaus
Megan Monday
Monique Tyndall

Web Design
Charles Barrows

Web Development
John Vieth
Tim Schneider

Graphic and Motion Design
Charles Barrows
Ian Glodich
Levar Wheeler

Additional Production Support
Philip Ashby
Curt Sorensen
Zack Sieger
John Dachik

Executive Producer
Megan Monday

Animation Director
Philip Ashby

Chief Curiosity Officer
Alyssa Tsagong

Director of Television
Jon Miskowski

Project Partner
Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians

Special Thanks
Monique Tyndall, Stockbridge-Munsee Cultural Affairs Director
Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Council
Stockbridge-Munsee Historical Committee
Stockbridge-Munsee Language and Culture Committee
Yvette Malone
Rainer Posselt
Brock Schreiber
Kallie Kosc
Annie Paprocki
Karyn Saemann

Educator Cohort

Angela Bies
Waller Elementary School
Burlington, WI

SoHappy Davids
Pulaski Community School
Shawano, WI

Kate Erickson
Milwaukee Area Technical College
Cedarburg, WI

Taneka Golden
Jerstad Algerholm K-8 School
Racine, WI

Kristen Keyser
Indian Community School
West Allis, WI

Kerri Lintl
Merrimac Community School
Merrimac, WI

Jodi Mallak
Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District
Wittenberg, WI

Lori Mueller
Bowler School
Bowler, WI

Nicole Radcliffe
Racine Unified School District
Racine, WI

Kate Van Haren
Pittsville Elementary
Pittsville, WI

Daphnie Westman
Lake Superior Elementary
Ashland, WI

Christine Yungwirth
School District of West De Pere
Green Bay, WI

Funding provided by

Timothy William Trout Education Fund
a gift of Monroe and Sandra Trout

Focus Fund for Education

Friends of PBS Wisconsin