The Barkfield School District was established in February 1919 and a school building was erected later that year on the southwest quarter of 21-4-6E in the Rural Municipality of Hanover, near the village of Pansy. Most of the first students were of Ukrainian or Mennonite descent. In 1968, the school closed when it was absorbed into the Hanover School Division. Students in grades 1 to 6 went to Lister East School while those in grades 7 and 8 went to Grunthal. The building was later moved to the Mennonite Heritage Village Museum where it was restored to its appearance when in use as a school. A commemorative sign was erected in 2005-2006 by the Bohdan “Bob” Osadchuk (1939-2006) and the District School Heritage Association.
Among the teachers who worked at Barkfield School were W. G. Booth, Harry J. Marko, William A. “Bill” Kachur, John Frank Boitson, Abe W. Schellenberg, Katherine Janz, H. M. Friesen, Peter Pauls, John H. Sawatsky, Herta Schwartz, K. Warden, Jean Doerksen, John J. Kolinsky, Harry Johnson, Mrs. Olga Slotiuk, Andrew R. Sobering, E. H. Troughton, Susanna Reimer, Dietrich Penner, J. L. Reimer, Sarah Unrau, Jacob P. Rempel, Mrs. F. Thomson, Sam Letwinetz, Benjamin “Ben” Thiessen (1966-1967), Norbert “Bert” Penner (1967-1968).
Barkfield School (date unknown)
Source: Schools - Our Heritage: From 46 School Districts to Hanover Unitary School Division, 1878-1968 by John K. Schellenberg, 1985
The former Barkfield School building, now at the Mennonite Heritage Village Museum (September 2013)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Interior of the former Barkfield School building (September 2013)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Barkfield School commemorative sign (November 2020)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.31141, W96.73559
denoted by symbol on the map above
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, Steinbach: The Board of the Hanover School Division No. 15, May 1985.
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
Obituary [John Frank Boitson], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 March 1968, page 33.
Obituary [Bohdan “Bob” Osadchuk], Winnipeg Free Press, 26 January 2006.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Barkfield School District No. 1951 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Ernest Braun, Nathan Kramer, and Rose Kuzina for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 22 November 2020
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