Manitoba Organization: Manitoba Teachers’ Federation / Manitoba Teachers’ Society

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Presidents | General Secretaries | Sources

Founded at Winnipeg on 22 April 1919, the aim of the Manitoba Teachers’ Federation was to promote the interests in teachers in rural and urban schools throughout Manitoba. It arose from a meeting held at the Central Normal School in July 1918, organized by Belmont teacher Winfred E. Marsh, and attended by John M. Nason of Deloraine, William J. G. Scott of Roland, Herbert W. Huntley of Winnipeg, and Edgar K. Marshall of Portage la Prairie. In 1942, it was renamed the Manitoba Teachers’ Society.

Presidents

Period	President
1919-1921	Herbert Wellington Huntley (1879-1974)
1921-1922	Edgar Kenny Marshall (c1876-1956)
1922-1924	Charles Walter Laidlaw (1873-1953)
1925-1927	Alexander Charles Campbell (1874-1951)
1927-1928	Wilfred Sadler (1884-1951)
1928-1929	William Abraham Anderson (1890-1947)
1929-1931	Arthur Edward Hearn (1871-1937)
1931-1932	George Florence (1884-1977)
1932-1933	James Crossley (1886-1970)
1933-1934	William Gladstone Oliver (1890-1968)
1934-1935	Gordon Minto Churchill (1898-1985)
1935-1936	Caroline “Carrie” “Parkie” Parkinson (1874-1962)
1936-1937	Wellington Geddes Rathwell (1887-1951)
1937-1938	Herbert Vincent Bell (1898-1971)
1938-1939	Gertrude May Ransom (?-1971)
1939-1940	Alan Stewart Moore (1903-1987)
1940-1941	James Hugh Cameron (1890-1981)
1941-1942	John Elwood Ridd (1896-1986)
1942-1943	Eleanor Boyce (1898-1997)
1943-1944	Ernest Ross Floyd Willoughby (c1889-1956)
1944-1945	Robert Cecil Paris (1885-1964)
1945-1946	Mary Hamilton (1893-1985)
1946-1947	Frederick Drury Baragar (1891-1964)
1947-1948	Hilda Kinney Ellis (1905-1987)
1948-1949	Gabriel Richard Rowe (1897-1968)
1949-1950	Elmenia Jean Mollard (1901-1991)
1950-1951	Harold Edwin Richard Murphy (1894-1975)
1951-1952	Myrtle Rietta Conway (1908-2005)
1952-1953	Duncan Hector Stewart (1912-1999)
1953-1954	Edith Miller (?-?)
1954-1955	John Adrian Ashley (1902-1987)
1955-1956	Agnes MacDonald (1908-1999)
1956-1957	Winnifred E. Stevenson (?-1993)
1957-1958	Carl Stirrat Gow (1900-1977)
1958-1959	Albert Edward “Ted” Scrase (1901-1984)
1959-1960	Ross Laverne Donald (1907-1992)
1960-1961	Sybil Francis Shack (1911-2004)
1961-1962	Nicholas Toews
1962-1963	Robert John Cochrane (1900-1978)
1963-1964	John Kastrukoff (1920-2009)
1964-1965	Elizabeth F. Redmond
1965-1966	Albert W. Davie
1966-1967	Donald Taylor McKinnon (1926-2012)
1967-1968	Aubrey A. Asper
1968-1969	John Enns
1969-1970	Edward Kowalchuk (1926-2003)
1970	Sister Pearl Gervais
1970-1971	Edward Kowalchuk (1926-2003)
1971-1972	Walter Nowosad (1918-2003)
1972-1973	George H. Enns (1920-2010)
1973-1974	Harvey C. Kingdon
1974-1975	Phyllis I. Moore
1975-1976	Leo Duguay
1976-1977	Leonard Arthur “Art” Reimer (1941-2023)
1977-1978	Ralf Kyritz
1978-1979	Al Valentine
1979-1980	Marilyn Thompson
1980-1981	John Wiens
1981-1982	Dorothy Young
1982-1983	Rex Virtue
1983-1984	Dr. Linda Asper
1984-1985	Murray Smith
1985-1986	Vaughn Wadelius
1986-1987	Cordell Barker
1987-1988	Valerie Wake
1988-1989	Judy Balabas
1989-1990	Betty Husby
1990-1991	Sandy Millen
1991-1992	Judy Bradley
1992-1993	Terence “Terry” Clifford (1936-2021)
1993-1994	Dr. David Turner
1994-1995	Ron Banister
1995-1996	Linda York
1996-1997	Ken Pearce
1997-1998	Diane Beresford
1998-1999	Ian MacIntyre
1999-2003	Jan Speelman
2003-2007	Brian Ardern
2007-2011	Pat Isaak
2011-2015	Paul Olsen
2015-2019	Norm Gould

General Secretaries

Period	General Secretary
1922-1945	Edgar Kenny Marshall (c1876-1956)
1946-1956	Thomas Agnew McMaster (1898-1956)
1956-1975	Emerson Lloyd Arnett (1911-1975)
1975-1981	William Robert “Bob” Gordon (1921-2001)
1982-1990	Walter Pindera
1990-1993	Aubrey A. Asper
1993-1996	Jean Gisiger
1997-2004	Leonard Arthur “Art” Reimer (1941-2023)
2005-2008	Judy Bradley
2009-2015	Ken Pearce

See also:

Manitoba Organization: Manitoba Educational Association

Manitoba Organization: Manitoba School Boards Association

Chalk, Sweat, and Cheers: A history of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society Commemorating its Fiftieth Anniversary, 1919-1969 by J. W. Chafe, Winnipeg: Manitoba Teachers’ Society, 1969.

Sources:

“Oliver is named as new president of teachers’ body,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 April 1933, page 3.

The History of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society by Haraldur Victor Vidal, MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 1958.

“Manitobans at Teacher Conference,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 August 1967, page 24.

“Teacher resignations down: report,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 August 1968, page 46.

“Sister Pearl Gervais,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 April 1970, page 3.

“Edward Kowalchuck,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 September 1970, page 44.

We thank James Arnett, Nathan Kramer, and Mireille Theriault for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 18 March 2023