The school was founded in 1878 by Fannie Kellogg and John G. Brady as the Sitka Industrial and Training School, for Tlingit boys. It nearly closed in 1882 when its first building burned. The Presbyterian missionary Sheldon Jackson raised money across the country to build a new one, and in 1910 the school was renamed for him.
Wikipedia says the school held that students' native languages and cultures had no value, and students were punished for speaking their own language. A boarding high school was added in 1917 and a college in 1944.
The college closed in 2007. The campus now hosts the Sheldon Jackson Museum, the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, the Sitka Sound Science Center and other groups, and the buildings are part of a National Historic Landmark district.