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Oral history interview with Joe Thornton

Title

Oral history interview with Joe Thornton

Subject

Indians of North America

Chilocco Indian Agricultural School

Chilocco Indian Agricultural School--Alumni and alumnae

Indians of North America--Education

Off-reservation boarding schools

Boarding school students

Indians of North America--Wars--Veterans

World War (1939-1945)

United States. Army. Signal Corps

Archery tournaments

Radio operators

Description

Joe Thornton (Cherokee), a 1934 graduate of Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, talks about his family and how he came to be at the school. He describes a few of his student experiences and how he first became interested in archery. Thornton discusses his time in the U.S. Army, his duties as a radio technician during World War II, and parlaying those skills into a radio and television repair business. He then describes his career as an award-winning archer, his role in archery being included in the Olympics, and various worldwide competitions. Thornton also mentions some of his secrets to living to be a hundred. He also talks about representing the Cherokee Nation and Chilocco throughout his life.

Format

video

Interviewer

Interviewee

Thornton, Joe, 1916-

OHMS Object

access interview in full screen

Interview Keyword

Cherokee heritage

National Archery Association

Social Bookmarking

Citation

“Oral history interview with Joe Thornton,” Chilocco History Project, accessed April 19, 2024, https://chilocco.library.okstate.edu/items/show/2627.