Historic Sites of Manitoba: Meadowvale School No. 241 (RM of Springfield)

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

The Meadowvale School District was organized formally around 1882 and a school building was built on an acre of land on the northeast quarter of 12-10-5 east of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Springfield. It was remodelled in 1914, with the wood shed moved to the back, removal of the three north windows, and addition of three additional south windows. In 1938, the original frame building was replaced by the present structure, built on five acres of land at NW7-10-6E purchased from Mr. L. Piltz. After the school closed, in 1964, the remaining students went to Dugald Consolidated School No. 2427. The building was renovated into a private residence.

Principals

Period	Principal
1939-1941	Elizabeth Anne Bailey
1941-1942	Raeleen Agnes “Rae” Purdy Kulba (1922-2004)

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1939-1940	Elizabeth Anne Bailey (grades 5-9), Florence Julia Webb (grades 1-4)
1940-1941	Elizabeth Anne Bailey (grades 5-9), Florence Julia Webb (grades 1-4)
1941-1942	Raeleen Agnes “Rae” Purdy (grades 5-9), Florence Julia Webb (grades 1-4)

Some of the other teachers who worked at Meadowvale School included Laura Artkenhead (1883), Elizabeth O’Neil, Elizabeth Robertson, Gertrude M. Loughman Heather (1906), Mabel W. Robertson (1907-1908, wife of Stanley McQuade), Minnie H. McCrea (1912), Arnold Bolton (1912), Christena Macdonald (1913-1914, wife of Jim Murray), Edna Riley (1917), Beatrice Peterson (1918-1920), R. A. Stewart (1920-1923), G. Jane Irwin (1923-1924, wife of Harry McKay), Florence Thomsen (1924-1925, wife of Bruce Edie), Blanche M. Heather (1925-1926), Elizabeth Anne Bailey (1926-1939), Jean Tweed (1939, substitute), Mary Christina Neelin (1942), Jessie Isabel MacDonald Carlson (1943), Evelyn Eve Dutchak (1944-1946), Nora Helen Zell (1946-1947, wife of Bill Hadaller), Alice Emma Spraggs (1947-1951), Marjorie Mae Froebe (1951-1953, wife of Neil Cook), Margaret Regula (1953-1954), Jean Elizabeth Nowak (1954-1955), Susan Isabell Godfrey (1955-1956, wife of Ken Edie), Orma Mary McCartney (1956-1957), Elizabeth Phyllis Anderson (1957-1960, wife of Charles Turner), Peter Martens (1960-1961), and Barbara Anne Allen Szalanski (1961-1964).

Photos & Coordinates

The original Meadowvale School building (no date) by R. Goulet Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 85. Meadowvale School (circa 1958) Source: Carol-lee Eckhardt Meadowvale School (circa 1958) Source: Carol-lee Eckhardt The former Meadowvale School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1284. The former Meadowvale School building (March 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.82533, W96.77491 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

“The little red schoolhouse is far from extinct,” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 February 1964, page 7.

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

Springfield: 1st Rural Municipality in Manitoba, 1873-1973 by Dugald Women’s Institute, 1974.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Meadowvale School District No. 241 Daily Registers, GR9480, Archives of Manitoba.

Obituary [Raeleen Agnes Kulba], Winnipeg Free Press, 12 November 2004, page 26.

We thank Carol-lee Eckhardt for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 12 February 2020

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