The black-and-white photographs were proudly displayed Saturday and the scent of sawdust was still in the air as dozens of wet shoes tramped in and out of the new Museum and Cultural Center at Haskell Indian Nations University.

The center celebrated its grand opening with a ceremony that included speeches from area leaders and American Indian music and dance. Although most attending the ceremony were local residents, some came from as far away as Florida to see the museum and hear it dedicated to the school’s first students  children who came to Lawrence in 1884.

For some visitors, the most moving exhibits were those describing the harsh conditions experienced by children at what used to be a boarding school for American Indians.

Others noticed a hefty padlock used to confine children who ran away or accidentally slipped back into their native tongues, and most listened solemnly to a recording of the names and ages of those first students.

One visitor was touched by a display of letters children sent back to their families at home.

Barb Cornelius remembered writing similar letters to her parents when she was a kindergartner at a boarding school in New Mexico.

“It’s one of those experiences that my sister and I always talk about,” said Cornelius, now a student and staff member at Haskell. “And reading those letters was really sad. Sometimes you don’t think about things in your childhood until something triggers it.”

The $1.1 million museum is designed to do just that: help visitors recall memories and learn about American Indian history, said Karen Swisher, Haskell president.

Completed in March after two years of planning, officials hope the center will become a storehouse for documents on U.S. attempts to assimilate and educate American Indians.

University archivist Bobbi Rahder said she hoped to bring exhibits from other museums to the center and to display student artwork.

The center was funded by organizations such as the American Indian College Fund and private donations, and on Saturday visitors could see where the money went.

The inaugural exhibit titled “Honoring Our Children Through Seasons of Sacrifice, Survival, Change and Celebration” is appropriate for Haskell, said student body president Casey Douma.

“The children here, they played a major role,” he said. “They sacrificed a lot.”

There were many schools like Haskell all over the country, Douma said, and it is important that people understand the position they filled in history.

“When people of Lawrence want to know about Haskell, they have to learn its past,” he said. “It was a place of assimilation.”

Barely able to see the exhibits or hear the speakers, 100-year-old California Fixico traveled from Oklahoma to see the new center. As Fixico sat in his wheelchair, his son pushed him throughout the center, speaking in their native language.

Fixico attended Haskell in the early 1920s and didn’t know if he would ever be back. He said Saturday it had changed dramatically.

“Things have improved for our youth,” he said.