Historic Sites of Manitoba: Munster School / Cavell School No. 1840 (Municipality of Grassland)

Originally known as Munster School District when it was established in August 1916, it was later renamed Cavell, probably in commemoration of executed First World War nurse Edith Cavell (1865-1915). A school building was erected in 1917 in the southwest quarter of 30-6-23 west of the Principal Meridian in what is now the Municipality of Grassland. It was also used as an Anglican church for a time after 1919. The school closed in 1957 and its remaining students went to Hartney Consolidated School No. 2389. The district was dissolved in July 1960. A monument was erected on the site on 6 August 1995 and the building was torn down in 2011.

The teachers of Cavell School (1917-1957) were Lena McLeod, Leta Fry, H. Graham, Rev. C. Blay (1919), Grace Jasper, Kay Cameron, Hazel McDonald, Verna Glover, Mrs. E. Parkes, Clara Johnson, Vera Duncan (1924-1933), Anne Cantlon, Jean Wood, Alice Dumbleton, Helen Shier, Isobel Duchesneau, Dorothy Ryckman, Margaret Jasper, Oswald Wittan, Dorothy Heape, Alice Hunt, Louise Brown, Jean Boulanger, Joe Zatylny, and Mrs. Irene Witt.

Cavell School (no date) by George Hunter Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 44. The former Cavell School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 209. The former Cavell School building (2009) Source: Ken Storie The former Cavell School building (2009) Source: Ken Storie Cavell School commemorative monument (2009) Source: Ken Storie Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.50358, W100.57780 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.

A Century of Living: Hartney, 1882-1982 by Hartney and District Historical Committee, 1982. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.H37 Cen]

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

A Community With Spirit: Hartney, 1982-2002 by Hartney History Book Committee, 2003, page 55.

This page was prepared by Ken Storie and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 17 November 2022

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