Historic Sites of Manitoba: Greenland School / Greenland South School No. 893 (RM of Hanover)

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

The Greenland School District was established in December 1896 and a one-room schoolhouse operated at SW9-8-6E in the Rural Municipality of Hanover. In the mid-1920s, the building was moved one miles west to SE7-8-6E. By 1946, a second school was established within the district, with the sites known respectively as Greenland South School and Greenland North School. The district formally divided in January 1952, with the southern part being renamed Greenland South School District No. 893, and the northern part becoming a new district: Greenland North School District No. 2333. The former Greenland School building was moved to the north site (SE18-8-6E) and a new schoolhouse was constructed one mile south of the former site. By 1965, declining enrollments caused the two districts to cooperate, with students in grades 1 to 5 having classes at the North School while those in grades 6 to 8 went to the South School. The system was abandoned by the following year, with all grades meeting at the North School. Students from the South School were bused to Montezuma School and the building was sold and moved to a site along highway 52, one and three-quarters miles west of Steinbach. Both schools became part of the Hanover School Division in 1968. A commemorative sign was erected at the site by the EastMenn Historical Society in 2013.

Principals (Greenland School)

Period	Principal
1925	Peter Woldgemuth
1925	Henry Krushel (1899-1987)
1926-1942	None
1943	Benjamin “Ben” Unruh
1943-1944	Vernon Kenneth Toews
1944-1945	John Jacob Peters
1945	Erna Abrahams
1946	Jacob David “Jake” Pauls (1919-2012)
1946-1951	?

Principals (Greenland North School and Greenland South School)

Period	Principal
1952-1965	None
1965-1966	David W. Peters

Teachers (Greenland School and Greenland South School)

Period	Teachers
1924-1925	Henry Krushel (grades 3-7, 1925), Aron [Aaron] Reimer Wiebe (grades 1-2, 1925), G. K. Reimer (grades 1-8, 1924), Peter Woldgemuth (grades 3-7, 1925)
1925-1942	See below
1942-1943	Benjamin “Ben” Unruh (grades 1-8, 1942; grades 4-8, 1943), Verna Elizabeth Friesen (grades 1-3, 1943)
1943-1944	Vernon Kenneth Toews (grades 4-8), Catherine A. Unger (grades 1-3)
1944-1945	John Jacob Peters (grades 4-8), Amanda Marie Reimer (grades 1-3)
1945-1946	Erna Abrahams (grades 4-9, 1945), Jake David Pauls (grades 4-9, 1946), Annie Penner Reimer (grades 1-3)
1946-1947	Alexander McNeill (grades 1-10, South School), Anne Friesen (grades 1-8, North School)
1947-1948	Alexander McNeill (grades 1-9, South School), Vernon Reimer (grades 1-8, North School)
1948-1949	Alexander McNeill (grades 1-8, South School), Mildred Penner (grades 1-8, North School)
1949-1950	Lawrence Klippenstein (grades 1-9, North School), David Voth (grades 1-9, South School)
1950-1951	Lawrence Klippenstein (grades 1-9, North School), David Voth (grades 1-9, South School)
1951-1952	John Martens (grades 1-8, 1951, North School), David Voth (grades 1-9, South School), (North School 1952 onwards, see Greenland North School)
1952-1965	(South School, see below)
1965-1966	David W. Peters (grades 1-5), (grades 6-8, at Greenland North School)

Among the other teachers who worked at the Greenland Schools / Greenland South School through the years were: Wilhelm Neufeld (1906), P. Hwielu? (1909), J. P. Penner (1909), Gerhard “George” de Veer (1910, 1919-1920), Lizzie Wiebe (1912, 1913-1914), H. S. Rempel (1912-1913), S. H. R. Sobering (1914-1917), Jacob G. Kornelsen (1917-1919), William Kornelsen (1920-1921), Andrew R. Sobering (1921-1922), G. K. Reimer (1922-1924), Aron [Aaron] Reimer Wiebe (1925-1926, 1929-1932, 1936-1938), J. B. Warkentin (1926-1927), Margaret F. Toews (1927-1928), Cornelius C. Warkentin (1928-1929), Richard Lehmann Reimer (1932-1936), Isaac M. Fast (1938-1939), Benjamin “Ben” Unruh (1939-1941), Gerhard J. P. Kliewer (1942), David Voth (1952-1955), David E. Goertzen (1955-1956), Wilmer Penner (1956-1957), Gerry Doerksen (1957-1958), Abram Peters (1958-1960), Olga Peter Dick (1960-1962), Monroe Dean Doerksen (1962-1964), and David W. Peters (1964-1965).

Photos & Coordinates

Greenland School (no date) by A. A. Herriot Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 18. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.61928, W96.75566 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Greenland North School No. 2333 (RM of Ste. Anne)

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.

Schools - Our Heritage: From 46 School Districts to Hanover Unitary School Division (1878-1968) by John K. Schellenberg, The Board of The Hanover School Division No. 15, May 1985, ISBN 0-919673-93-7.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Greenland School District No. 893 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Greenland South School District No. 893 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Greenland North School District No. 2333 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Nathan Kramer, and Glen Klassen and Ernest Braun of the EastMenn Historical Society, for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 21 November 2020

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