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Sir John Franklin School was designed by local architect John Nelson Semmens and built in 1921 by day labourers under the supervision of the Sutherland Construction Company, along Grosvenor Avenue, between Beaverbrook and Lanark streets. Total construction cost was $52,000. Opened it the fall of 1921, in October the school was named in commemoration of Arctic explorer John Franklin, replacing the Beaverbrook School name it briefly operated as.
Prior to its construction, students attended Julia Clark School on the grounds of the Children’s Home. When completed, student enrollment at the one-storey, five-classroom structure increased through the 1920s and 1930s, necessitating additions in 1934 and 1951. By June 1987, however, enrollment had dwindled sufficiently that the school was closed by the Winnipeg School Board in June 1989. The building was demolished in late Fall of 1991 and its former site has been maintained as a community green space into 2015. That year, the site was redeveloped and the area converted for residential housing.
Period
Principal
1921-1922
Frank Crossley Davey (1894-1982)
1922
Margaret Euphemia Monteith (1884-1978)
1922-1942
Mary Carson Thomson (1881-1967)
1942-1947
Morag Kathrina Lorimer Harpley (1895-1991)
1947-1948
Myrtle Lucinda Johnston Campbell (1902-1978)
1948-1954
Margaret Katherine McKinnon (1909-1996)
1954-1961
Hannah Eleanor Fisher (1901-1996)
1961-1964
Eugene Francis Henry “Frank” Hughes (1909-1978)
1964-1967
Naomi Louise Hersom (1927-2008)
1967-1969
Edward Maza
1969-1970
Ann “Anna” Phillips (?-2000)
1970-1973
Natalie “Nellie” Sozansky (1920-2009)
1973-1976
Joe F. Scott
1976-1979
Al H. Nickel
1979-1980
Judy C. Hill
1980-1981
J. G. Nowell
1981-1982
V. L. Smyth
1982-1985
Nadine S. Calver
1985-1988
William Badiuk
1988-1989
Patricia Burgess
School Year
Teachers
1921-1922
Marjorie L. Argue (grades 1-3, June), Frank Crossley Davey (grades 5-6, September-December; grades 3-4, January-June), E. M. Overby (grades 2-4, September-December), Ellen Sargent (grades 1-3, April-June), Miss K. Smith (grade 1, September-February)
1922-1923
May Isabella Douglas (grades 1-2, September-December; grades 1-3, January-June, Margaret Euphemia Monteith (grades 3-7, September; grades 3-6, October), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 3-6, November-December; grades 4-6, January-June)
1923-1924
Marjorie A. Connacker (grades 1-2), May Isabella Douglas (grades 3-4), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 5-6)
1924-1925
Marjorie A. Connacker (grade 1, September-December; grades 1-2, January-June), May Isabella Douglas (grades 2-3, September-February; grades 2-4, March-June), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 4-6, September-December; grades 5-6, January-June)
1925-1926
Gladys I. Atkins (grades 1-2), May Isabella Douglas (grades 3-4), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 4-6, September-December; grades 5-6, January-June)
1926-1927
J. N? Ackland (grade 1, April-June), Gladys I. Atkins (grades 1-2), May Isabella Douglas (grades 3-4), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 5-6)
1927-1928
Gladys I. Atkins (grades 1-2, September-October), Rhoda Gayton Brown (grades 1-2, November-June), May Isabella Douglas (grades 3-4), Helen Evelyn O’Keefe (grade 1), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 5-6), M. Connacher (*)
1928-1929
G. Bradley (grade 3, September-December), Rhoda Gayton Brown (grade 2, October-April; grades 2-3, May-June), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grade 1), Lyla Cecilia Sullivan (grades 3-4, January-June), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 5-6)
1929-1930
Rhoda Gayton Brown (grades 2-3), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grades 1-2?), Lyla Cecilia Sullivan (grades 3-4), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 5-6)
1930-1931
Rhoda Gayton Brown (grade 2, September-December; grades 2-3, January-June), Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grade 3), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grade 1, September-February; grades 1-2, March-June), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 4-5)
1931-1932
Rosetta B. Altman (grades 2-3), Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grades 3-4), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grades 1-2), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 4-5)
1932-1933
Rosetta B. Altman (grades 2-3), Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grades 3-4), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grade 1, September-December; grades 1-2, January-June), Mary Carson Thomson (grade 5)
1933-1934
Rosetta B. Altman (grade 2, September-January; grades 2-3, February-June), Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grades 3-4), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grade 1), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 4-5)
1934-1935
Rosetta B. Altman (grade 2, September-February; grades 2-3, March-June), Dorothy Jane MacEachern (grade 1, September-December; grade 2, January-June), Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grades 3-4), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grade 1), Mary Carson Thomson (grade 5, September-December; grades 5-6, January-June)
1935-1936
Rosetta B. Altman (grade 2), Eliza McLean Macfie (grade 3, September-January; grades 2-3, February-June), Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grades 5-6), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grade 1), Edna Jane Spencer (grades 3-4, September-February; grade 4, March-June), Mary Carson Thomson (grade 6)
1936-1937
Rosetta B. Altman (grades 2-3, September-February; grade 3, March-June), Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grade 5), Alice Mildred Evelyn Nix (grades 1-2, September-December; grade 2, January-June), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grade 1), Edna Jane Spencer (grades 3-4), Mary Carson Thomson (grade 6)
1937-1938
Rosetta B. Altman (grades 2-3), Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grades 4-5), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grades 1-2), Edna Jane Spencer (grades 3-4), Mary Carson Thomson (grade 6)
1938-1939
Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grades 4-5), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grade 1), Edna Jane Spencer (grades 3-4), Irene Violet Stewart (grades 2-3), Mary Carson Thomson (grade 6)
1939-1940
Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grade 5), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grades 1-2), Edna Jane Spencer (grades 3-4), Irene Violet Stewart (grades 2-3), Mary Carson Thomson (grade 6)
1940-1941
Alma Madeleine McGreevy (grades 4-5), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grades 1-2), Edna Jane Spencer (grades 2-4), Irene Violet Stewart (grades 2-3), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 5-6)
1941-1942
Margaret Winnifred Greer (grades 4-5), Nora R. Mooney (grades 2-3), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grades 1-2), Mary Carson Thomson (grades 5-6)
1942-1943
Margaret Winnifred Greer (grades 4-5, September-December), Morag Kathrina Lorimer Harpley (grades 5-6), Nora R. Mooney (grades 2-3, September-December; grades 2-4, January-June), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grades 1-2), Jean Frances Rusk (grades 4-5, January-June)
1943-1944
Morag Kathrina Lorimer Harpley (grades 5-6), Nora R. Mooney (grades 4-5), Muriel Elizabeth Reekie (grade 1, September-December; grades 1-2, January-June), Jean Frances Rusk (grades 2-3)
1944-1945
Morag Kathrina Lorimer Harpley (grades 5-6), Leslie Leonardo Langford (grades 1-2), Nora R. Mooney (grades 4-5), Jean Frances Rusk (grades 2-3)
1945-1946
Hilda Mary Granger (grades 3-4, January-June), Morag Kathrina Lorimer Harpley (grades 5-6, September-December; grade 6, January-June), Gertrude Maude Kendrick (grade 1), Leslie Leonardo Langford (kindergarten, 0.5? at Sir John Franklin School; 0.5? at Alexandra School), Nora R. Mooney (grades 4-5, grades 3-4, September-December; grades 4-5, January-June), Jean Frances Rusk (grades 2-3, September-December; grades 1-2, January-June)
1946-1947
Rose Evelyn Andrews (grades 5-6, January-June), Jean Milne Downie (grades 2-3), Hannah Fletcher (grades 3-4, September-November; grades 3-5, November-June), Agnes Margaret Hall (grade 2), Morag Kathrina Lorimer Harpley (grades 5-6, September-December), Lulu M. Johnstone (kindergarten, May-June), Agnes Anne McIntyre (kindergarten, November-April), Jean Frances Rusk Murray (grades 1-2, September-February; grade 1, February-June), Bertha R. Voss (kindergarten, September-October), H. Grainger, L. Langford
1947-1948
Kate A. Bastin (kindergarten, October-June), Elizabeth Mary Cortilet (grades 3-4), Jane Frances Filmore (grades 2-3), Margaret Hazel Forbes (kindergarten, September), Helen Forrest (grades 5-6), Agnes Margaret Hall (grades 1-2), Jean Frances Rusk Murray (grade 1)
1948-1949
Helen Forrest (grades 4-5), Agnes Margaret Hall (grades 1-2), Bertha Marguerite Hill (grades 3-4), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Margaret Katherine McKinnon (grade 6, September-June & grades 2-3, January), Jean Frances Rusk Murray (grade 1), Mary Jean Reid (grades 2-3, January-June), Mrs. D. J. Wood (grades 2-3, September-December)
1949-1950
Edythe Hooper Floate (grades 1-2, September-December; grade 2, January-March), Helen Forrest (grade 5), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Margaret Katherine McKinnon (grade 6), Anne J. Mowat (grades 2-3), Jean Frances Rusk Murray (grade 1), Charlotte Gunn Philip (grade 2, April-June), Bertha Marguerite Hill Thompson (grades 3-4), Miss C. Campbell, Miss E. H. Chanin
1950-1951
Helen Cecilia Black (grades 2-3, September-December; grade 3, January-June), Helen Forrest (grade 5), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Elizabeth Jean Hunter (grades 1-2), Evelyn Violet Lobban (grade 3, May-June), Jean Mary McKen (grade 2), Margaret Katherine McKinnon (grade 6), Ethel Louise Sutherland (grade 1), Myrtle Mary I. Sundberg (grade 3, September-April), Bertha Marguerite Hill Thompson (grade 4)
1951-1952
Teresa Dolman (grades 2-3, on exchange from Glasgow, Scotland; swapped with Grace Elizabeth Menzies), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Elizabeth Jean Hunter (grades 1-2), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grade 5), Margaret Katherine McKinnon (grade 6), Charlotte M. Ormond (grade 3), Ethel Louise Sutherland (grade 1), Lois Irene Turriff (kindergarten), Miss M. Black, Mrs. B. Thompson
1952-1953
Helen Cecilia Black (grades 3-4), Miss C. Campbell, Audrey Geraldine Faris (grade 1), Mary Elizabeth Flanders (grade 2), Helen Forrest (grade 6), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grade 5), Valerie Dorothea McConnell (grades 2-3, September-December; grade 3, January-June), Erna Martens (grade 2), Grace Elizabeth Menzies (grade 4), Arthur Reid Nicol (grades 5-6), Ethel Louise Sutherland (grade 1), Bertha Marguerite Hill Thompson (grade 4), Lois Irene Turriff (kindergarten)
1953-1954
Patricia M. Ellerington (grade 3), Helen Forrest (grade 6), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grade 4), Bessie Cecilia Perkins (grade 1), Vernon Peters (grade 5), Margaret Jean Renton (grade 2), Marian Ruth Rogers (grade 3, March-June), Ethel Louise Sutherland (grade 1), Helen Cecilia Black Tokar (grade 3, September-February)
1954-1955
Hannah Eleanor Fisher (grade 6), Frances Alice Gibson (grade 3), Gladys Georgina Goodridge (kindergarten), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grade 4), Bessie Cecilia Perkins (grade 1), Vernon Peters (grade 5), Margaret Jean Renton (grade 2), Jean Shirley Kopstein (grades 1-2, September-December; grade 2, January-June), Ethel Louise Sutherland (grade 1), Margaret Rose Wright (grade 4)
1955-1956
Elementary department: Margaret Jean Baskerville (grade 2), Lyla Mary Dawson (grade 5, October-February), Hannah Eleanor Fisher (grade 6), Frances Alice Gibson (grade 3), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Ruth Mary Hughes (grade 3), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grade 4), Jean Shirley Kopstein (grade 2), Bessie Cecilia Perkins (grade 1), Vernon Peters (grades 5-6), Ethel Louise Sutherland (grade 1), Margaret Rose Wright (grade 5, September & March-June), Miss J. Renton (*). Intermediate department: Miss B. Lamond (*)
1956-1957
Peter Danyluk (grade 6), Mary Ellen Foster (grade 4), Hattie Victoria Galston (grade 2), Doris Goplin (grade 5), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Ruth Mary Hughes (grade 3), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grade 4), Anne Kowalson (grade 3), Margaret Marie McKinnon (grade 2), Bessie Cecilia Perkins (grade 1), Ethel Louise Sutherland (grade 1), Margaret Rose Wright (grade 6)
1957-1958
Peter Danyluk (grade 6), Helga Dyck (grade 2), Hannah Eleanor Fisher (grade 6), Olga Fyfe (grade 1, September-December), Mary Ellen Hill (grade 3, September-?; grades 3-4, ?-December & January-June), Irene Elizabeth Hubble (kindergarten), Ruth Mary Hughes (grades 2-3, September-December; grade 3, January-June), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grade 4), Grace Matkowsky (grade 1, January-June), Bessie Cecilia Perkins (grade 1), Margaret Rose Wright (grades 4-5)
1958-1959
Viola Rose Bermel (grades 1-3, primary ungraded), G. Evans (grades 1-2, September-October), Hannah Eleanor Fisher (grade 6), Mary Ellen Hill (grade 3), Ruth Mary Hughes (grade 2), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grade 4), Anne Grace Matkowsky Nedokis (grades 1-2, September & October-June), Isaac Penner (grade 6), Bessie Cecilia Perkins (grade 1), Lillian May Smith (kindergarten), Margaret Rose Wright (grades 4-5)
1959-1960
Viola Rose Bermel (grades 1-4, primary ungraded), Georgina Maude Chafe (grade 5), Hannah Eleanor Fisher (grades 5-6), Ruth Mary Hughes (grades 2-3), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grade 4), Evelyn Florence Lewis (primary ungraded), Anne Grace Matkowsky Nedokis (grades 1-2, September-April), Isaac Penner (grade 6), Bessie Cecilia Perkins (grade 1), Myrtle Mary Sundberg (grades 5-6, Principal relief), Lillian May Smith (kindergarten), Linda Marion Ushey (grade 3), Margaret Wiens (grade 2, May-June)
1960-1961
Georgina Maude Chafe (grade 4), Hannah Eleanor Fisher (grade 5), Ruth Mary Hughes (grades 2-3, September-December; grade 3, January-June), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grades 3-4), Evelyn Florence Lewis (primary ungraded), Isaac Penner (grade 6), Bessie Cecilia Perkins (grades 1-2), Lillian May Smith (kindergarten), Enid Joan Suderman (junior ungraded), Myrtle Mary Sundberg (grade 5, Principal relief), Linda Marion Ushey (grade 2)
1961-1962
Nestor Larry Burdeny (grade 5), Georgina Maude Chafe (grade 4), Alice Mabel Graham (grade 1), Eugene Francis Henry Hughes (grade 6), Rannveig Gudrun Joseph (grades 2-3), Evelyn Florence Lewis (primary ungraded), Lillian May Smith (kindergarten), Linda Marion Ushey (grades 1-2)
1962-1963
Nestor Larry Burdeny (grade 5), Georgina Maude Chafe (grade 4), Laura Helen Farr (grade 7), Alice Mabel Graham (grade 1), Eugene Francis Henry Hughes (grade 6), Edward Krysko (grade 7), Evelyn Florence Lewis (primary ungraded), Elizabeth Ann Mackie (grade 2, January-June), Dorothy Winifred Miller (grades 2-3), Linda Marion Ushey Moroz (grade 2, September-December), Donald George Morris (grade 7), Lillian May Smith (kindergarten)
1963-1964
Edith Phyllis Backman (grade 5, Principal relief, September-April), Nestor Larry Burdeny (grade 6), Emily Danyluk (grades 2-3), Alice Mabel Graham (grade 1), Eugene Francis Henry Hughes (grade 5), Evelyn Florence Lewis (primary ungraded), Dorothy Winifred Miller (grade 3), Norma E. Nordlinger (grade 4), Charlotte May Shuttleworth (grade 2), Lillian May Smith (kindergarten), Myrtle Mary Sundberg (grade 5, Principal relief, April-June)
1964-1965
L. Burdeny, Miss A. Graham, Mrs. E. Lewis, Miss D. Miller, Mrs. H. Sargeant, Mrs. C. Shuttleworth, Mrs. L. Smith, Mrs. M. Sundberg
1965-1966
Nestor Larry Burdeny (grade 6), Alice Mabel Graham (grade 1), Naomi Louise Hersom (grade 5), Evelyn Florence Lewis (primary ungraded), Nora Kathleen McKay (grade 2, January-June), Dorothy Winifred Miller (grade 3), Helen-Mar Sargeant (grade 4), Charlotte May Shuttleworth (grade 2, September-December), Lillian May Smith (kindergarten), Mrs. M. Sundberg (*)
1966-1967
Miss A. Graham, Mrs. E. Lewis, Miss D. Miller, Mrs. F. Milne, Mrs. H. Sargeant, Mrs. L. Smith, E. Sinck?, Mrs. M. Sundberg, Mrs. M. Tyler, Miss A. M. Wiebe
1967-1968
Mrs. M. Bastick, Mrs. I. Corroll, Miss A. Graham, Mrs. E. Lewis, Mrs. F. Milne, Mrs. D. Owens, Miss L. Ryman, Mrs. H. Sargeant, Mrs. L. Smith, Mrs. M. Sundberg, Mrs. M. Tyler
1968-1969
Mrs. M. Baxter, Miss H. Compton, Mrs. L. Craven, Mrs. B. Giesbrecht, Mrs. H. Kleiman, Miss B. Law, P. Lutkie, Mrs. M. Monkman, Mrs. M. O’Neil, Mrs. M. Rogers, Mrs. F. Simpson, Mrs. A. Smythe
1969-1976
?
1976-1977
Mrs. Ardythe McMaster (music), ?
1977-1978
?
1978-1979
?
1979-1980
?
1980-1981
?
1981-1982
?
1982-1983
?
1983-1984
?
1984-1985
?
1985-1986
?
1986-1987
?
1987-1988
?
1988-1989
?
Aerial view of Sir John Franklin School (1923) by Royal Canadian Air Force photographer
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Surveys Branch aerial photographs (A 0262), GR11610, FA 23 - 50.
Sir John Franklin School (no date)
Source: Winnipeg School DivisionSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.86806, W97.19863
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Sutherland Construction Company
“Objection to calling school after soldier [Other schools named; Sir John Franklin],” Manitoba Free Press, 12 October 1921, page 2.
“Santa Claus finds 3,000 more children attending city schools,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 December 1921, page 2.
“Winnipeg schools, No. 44—Sir John Franklin,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 December 1922, page 4.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 6579/1950, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“4 major appointments made by Winnipeg School Board,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 May 1947, page 3.
“Six Winnipeg schools get new principals,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 June 1947, page 3.
“School Board names 4 new principals ,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 May 1948, page 3.
“School Board announces 11 changes in principals,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 April 1961, page 15.
“Many principals named for Winnipeg schools,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 June 1970, page 2.
“School posts filled,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 May 1973, page 74.
“Majority like idea of school meal plan,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 October 1974, page 85.
“School chiefs named,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 July 1979, page 18.
Obituary [Elma Madeleine McGreevy], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 January 1982, page 46.
“Principals appointed,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 July 1989, page 35.
Obituary [Rose Evelyn Russell Andrews Hay], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 September 1992, page C7.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Winnipeg School District No. 1 (Sir John Franklin School) - Daily Registers, GR4497, Archives of Manitoba.
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
Sir John Franklin School, Winnipeg School Division History Files.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
Winnipeg School Division: Celebrating One Hundred Fifty Years, 1871-2021 by Winnipeg School Division, 2021.
We thank the Winnipeg School Division and Ardythe McMaster for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 16 November 2025
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