Carlos Montezuma: A Prominent Native Scholar at the University of Illinois

Long before the Indian Relocation programs of the 1950s, a few Native people came to Illinois from other places. Among the most famous of these was Carlos Montezuma, a Yavapai Indian from central Arizona who moved to Urbana to attend the University of Illinois.

After graduating in 1884, Montezuma studied medicine in Chicago and became a doctor and political activist.

Currently, a University of Illinois student is writing his dissertation on the life of Carlos Montezuma. Soon, he will be preparing an online essay based on his research for this website. In the meantime, though, listen to this classroom presentation by U of I History Professor Fred Hoxie on this University's most famous Native American graduate.

Link to Audio Clip

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If you want to learn more about Carlos Montezuma, you may want to read Leon Speroff's Carlos Montezuma, M.D.: A Yavapai American Hero--The Life and Times of an American Indian.

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