Wakeham School District was organized in May 1893. A school building was constructed in the northwest quarter of 11-1-5 west of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Stanley. Initially, its students were mostly Anglophones but, as time went on, more of the surrounding settlers became Mennonites. In the late 1910s, they boycotted the school and sent their children to a private school where German was the language of instruction. In September 1918 and March 1919, several local men were charged and fined under provisions of the School Attendance Act. Afterward, most students returned to the school. It closed in 1975.
Wakeham School (no date) by G. G. Neufeld
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 123.
Wakeham School commemorative sign (October 2010)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.02624, W98.04291
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Mason School No. 2149 (RM of Stanley)
“Mennonites and the schools,” Manitoba Free Press, 25 September 1918, page 11.
“Mennonites must obey school law,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 September 1918, page 2.
“Mennonites fined under School Act,” Manitoba Free Press, 27 March 1919, page 1.
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.
We thank Bruce Wiebe for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 14 February 2021
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