Historic Sites of Manitoba: Douglas School No. 591 (Douglas, RM of Elton)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Douglas School District was established in June 1889 and a one-room schoolhouse (later expanded to two classrooms) operated in Douglas in the Rural Municipality of Elton. In 1911, the school was destroyed by fire and a new one-room structure operated at the same site until 1955. A three-classroom school building, designed by Brandon architect Ian McKenzie Brown, was constructed in 1955. The district was dissolved in 1959 and its area became part of the Elton Municipal School District.

Principals

Period	Principal
1939-1940	Ruth Annie Fairlie Henderson (1904-1992)
1940-1942	Alvin Samuel Miller (1914-2004)
1942-1943	Victor C. Armstrong
1943-1944	Kathleen E. Bygott
1944-1945	Nora Fraser
1945-1946	Susan Menzies
1946-1947	Jean Baker
1947-1948	?
1948-1949	Ethel Wood
1949-1951	Mrs. Marion Ferry
1951-1952	John Osborn Wilson (1900-1972)
1956-1961	Albert Lionel “Ab” Richardson (1910-1982)

Teachers

The teachers of Douglas School included M. S. Fraser (1889), Miss Annie Graham (1899), William Skinner (1901), Miss Ethel Anderson (1901), R. H. McCartin, Miss Rosa Armstrong, Miss B. English, Miss Jean Urquhart, James Hayden, Miss M. McKay, Miss H. E. Darnley, Miss W. A. Potter (1908), Miss S. Kelly (1908), Miss M. McGuire (1911-1912), Miss Kennedy (1911), Miss E. Conn, Miss M. McMaster (1912), Miss J. Swinton, Miss A. Robertson, Miss E. Warren, Miss E. Banting, F. W. Meale, Miss A. Lettler, Miss Pierson, Miss Stuart, Miss M. C. Moir (1920-1921), Miss E. Kennedy, Miss E. Grantham, Miss L. Reid, Miss Abraham, Miss A. Gerrand, Miss Pollock, Miss N. Kenner (1928), Miss A. Buscarlet (1928), Miss Evaline Anderson, Miss M. James, Miss L. Shanks, Miss V. Olmstead, A. Fallis, Miss J. McLeod, T. A. Neelin, F. Oliver, Mrs. F. Dunfield, G. McDonald, Miss D. Maguire, Miss A. Mitchell, Miss M. Jasper, Miss M. Little, Miss M. Crosbie, Miss M. Wilkie, Mrs. J. Johnson, Miss P. Lane, Miss R. Watson, N. Gutscher, Miss I. Cooper, Miss L. Stevenson (1955-1956), Miss E. Farley (1955), Miss E. M. Farley (1955-1971), Mrs. M. Tunningley (1956-1959), Mrs. M. Westcott (1957-1960), Mrs. M. McAuley (1960), Mrs. W. Nevins (1961-1962), Mr. A. Oscar (1962-1963), Miss M. Bodnarchuk (1962-1963), Mrs. G. Woods (1963), Mr. C. Lockhart (1963-1964), Mr. D. Kusela (1964-1965), Mr. K. Blair (1965-1967), Mr. Storoniski (1966-1967), Mr. T. Bryan (1971).

Photos & Coordinates

Douglas School building from 1911 to 1955 Source: Homesteaders and Homemakers: A History of Elton Municipality in its First Century by Elton Historical Committee, 1973. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.E48 Hom] Douglas School building constructed in 1955 Source: Homesteaders and Homemakers: A History of Elton Municipality in its First Century by Elton Historical Committee, 1973. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.E48 Hom] Douglas School (June 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89459, W99.70717 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Point Douglas School No. 1475 (Municipality of Pembina)

Sources:

“Teachers at the convention,” Brandon Sun, 15 October 1920, page 6.

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.

Homesteaders and Homemakers: A History of Elton Municipality in its First Century by Elton Historical Committee, 1973. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.E48 Hom]

We thank Nathan Kramer and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 4 August 2021

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