Historic Sites of Manitoba: Strathclair School No. 284 (Strathclair, RM of Yellowhead)

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

The Strathclair School District was organized formally in 1884 and a school operated in Strathclair in what is now the Rural Municipality of Yellowhead. In 1913, it became Strathclair Consolidated School when it consolidated with one-room schools from the surrounding vicinity: Elgin School No. 318 and Major School No. 758. Over the years, students from other rural schools came here as they closed: Green Bluff School No. 759, Penrith School No. 813, Wolfe Creek School No. 817, Holylea School No. 904, Pattison School No. 1376, and Marney School No. 275. The school building was demolished in 1973 and is commemorated on the site by an engraved stone sign.

Principals

Period	Principal
1915-1918	Hugh Clarke Fairfield (1877-1961)
1918-1923	David Iverach (1871-1946)
1923-1924	Thomas Patrick King (1873-1954)
1924-1943	Octavius T. Gamey (1877-1963)
1943-1949	Laura Elfreda Shanks (1909-1996)
1949-1957	Walter Thorvaldur Fredrickson (1907-1974)
1957-1982	Elstan Glorydd “E. G. / Wick” Morris (1923-2011)
1982-1985	Ken Storie
1985-1988	Rex Virtue
1988-?	Randy Earle

Vice-Principals

Period	Vice-Principal
1982-?	Randy Earle Ken Smith

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1961-1962	Mrs. Gwen Bell, Mrs. Eva Mundell, Mr. Robert Rempel, Mrs. Inez Rinn

Among the other teachers who worked at Strathclair School were Elsie C. Dewar and Lorne A. Finkbeiner (three years).

Photos & Coordinates

Strathclair School (circa 1917) Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library. Postcard view of the Strathclair School building (no date) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0007. Strathclair School commemorative sign (July 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.40339, W100.39140 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

“Council reports,” Birtle Eyewitness, 3 October 1961, page 10.

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.

“Trustees conduct regular meeting,” Hamiota Echo, 13 September 1988, page 7.

We thank Nathan Kramer and Ken Storie for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 June 2021

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