Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sir Sam Steele School (15 Chester Street, Winnipeg)

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

Located Winnipeg, east of Green Street [now Chester Street] between both Nairn Avenue and McCalman Avenue, this 235 feet by 660 feet property was acquired by the Winnipeg School District to service the growing surrounding Elmwood populace. The school was designed in the “bungalow style” by local architect J. N. Semmens, built in 1921 by contractor Halldor Sigurdsson, and completed at a cost of $57,000. The one-storey, six-classroom Sir Sam Steele School in Winnipeg was one of two buildings erected that year in commemoration of policeman and soldier Samuel Benfield Steele, the other being General Steele School in Fort Garry. The school first opened its doors to students on 3 January 1922. A gymnasium was added to the north end in 1957, along with an additional classroom wing on the south end. Facing declining enrollment through the 1970s, the school finally closed in June 1981.

Later that year, the Winnipeg School Division leased the building to the University of Manitoba which used it until 2005 as a educational facility for special programs in education and social work. When Andrew Mynarski Junior High School was flooded in 2007, Sam Steele was used as temporary classrooms for some its students. The site was purchased by Habitat For Humanity in 2007, which built low-income housing on the playground area east of the school building. It sold the building to a private investor in 2009 but it remained vacant as of mid-2011.

Formally a municipally-designated historic site, it was delisted in September 2011. The school’s building materials were salvaged in the spring of 2012 and the remainder was demolished by the fall of that year. The site is now occupied by private residences.

Principals

Period	Principal
1922-1935	Alice Steen Price (1889-1976)
1935-1937	Lillian Ford Moffett Laing (1893-1985)
1937-1939	Maude Jarrett Peacock (1886-1973)
1939-1940	Christine Forrester Allen (1890-1972)
1940-1946	Gladys Mildred Robertson (1896-1971)
1946-1947	Elizabeth Helene Donaldson “Bessie” Maguet (1912-1997)
1947	Elva Jane Robertson (1901-1959)
1947-1953	Dorothy May Allward (1904-1968)
1953-1954	Agnes MacDonald (1908-1999)
1954-1959	Catherine “Caye” Scott (1907-2003)
1959-1964	Madge Olwyn Stevens (1917-2008)
1964-1967	John Douglas “Doug” MacFarlane (1920-2004)
1967-1969	Phyllis I. Moore
1969-1971	Thomas “Tom” Springman (1932-2008)
1971-1973	Clifford R. Wilde
1973-1979	W. Gary Lally
1979-1980	Janet M. Schubert
1980-1981	Fred Smith

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1921-1922	Spring only: Betty Calman (grade 1), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Lulu F. Rogers (grades 3-4), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 1-2)
1922-1923	Betty Calman (grades 1-2), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Lulu F. Rodgers (grades 3-4), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 2-3)
1923-1924	Betty Calman (grades 1-2), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Lulu F. Rodgers (grades 3-4), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 2-3)
1924-1925	Betty Calman (grades 1-2), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Lulu F. Rodgers (grades 3-4), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 2-3)
1925-1926	Betty Calman (grade 4), May E. Owens (grade 1), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 2-3)
1926-1927	Helen S. Dougall (grades 2-3), Nancy Goldstraw (grades 1-2), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 4-5)
1927-1928	Eva A. Cross (grades 6-7), Helen S. Dougall (grades 2-3), Nancy Goldstraw (grade 1), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 3-4)
1928-1929	Eva A. Cross (grades 6-7), Helen S. Dougall (grades 2-3), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 3-4), Eleanor Zaslow (grade 1)
1929-1930	Helen S. Dougall (grades 2-3), Alice Gardiner (grade 1), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Bessie Reeva [Rava] Tow (grades 1-2, May-June), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 4-5)
1930-1931	Helen S. Dougall (grades 3-4), Alice Gardiner (grade 1), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Bessie Reeva [Rava] Tow (grade 2), Evelyn Alice Wilson (grades 4-5)
1931-1932	Helen S. Dougall (grades 4-5), Alice Gardiner (grades 1-2), Florence Horrocks (grades 2-3, February-March), Muriel O. Travers (grades 3-4), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Lyla Sullivan (grades 2-3, September-February & April-June)
1932-1933	Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Alva Florence Steen (grades 1-2), Lyla Sullivan (grades 2-3), Rutha Henrietta Wilson (grades 4-5)
1933-1934	Winnifred Margaret Greer (grades 2-3, 1934), Anne Elizabeth Metzak (grades 1-2), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Muriel O. Travers (grades 2-3, 1933), Rutha Henrietta Wilson (grades 4-5)
1934-1935	Winnifred Margaret Greer (grades 2-3), Anne Elizabeth Metzak (grades 1-2), Alice Steen Price (grades 5-6), Jonina Summers (grades 4-5)
1935-1936	Margaret Coulter Irvine (grades 4-5), Lillian Ford Laing (grades 5-6), Anne Elizabeth Metzak (grades 1-2), Alice Mildred Evelyn Nix (grades 2-3, May-June), Sara Silver (grades 2-3, September-April)
1936-1937	Margaret Coulter Irvine (grades 4-5), Lillian Ford Laing (grades 5-6), Anne Elizabeth Metzak (grades 1-2), Sara Silver (grades 2-3)
1937-1938	Katherine de Jong (grades 1-2), Margaret Coulter Irvine (grades 4-5), Maude Peacock (grades 5-6), Sara Silver (grades 2-3)
1938-1939	Katherine de Jong (grades 1-2), Alice Irene Moir (grades 2-3, June substitute), Maude Peacock (grades 5-6), Ebba Florence Peterson (grades 4-5), Sara Silver (grades 2-3, September-May) E. Peterson, S. Silver
1939-1940	Marjorie Jean Bragg (grades 1-2), Helene Dojack (grades 2-3), Ethel Christine Forrester (grades 4-5), Ebba Florence Peterson (grades 4-5)
1940-1941	Ebba Florence Peterson (grades 3-4), Anna Phillips (grades 1-2), Gladys Mildred Robertson (grade 5)
1941-1942	Ebba Florence Peterson (grades 3-4), Anna Phillips (grades 1-2), Gladys Mildred Robertson (grade 5)
1942-1943	Ebba Florence Peterson (grades 3-4), Anna Phillips (grades 1-2), Gladys Mildred Robertson (grades 5-6)
1943-1944	Isabel Dawson (grades 1-2, September-May), Eva Mae Harvey (grades 1-2, June), Eileen Ruth Prowse (grades 3-4), Gladys Mildred Robertson (grades 5-6)
1944-1945	Isabel Dawson (grades 1-2), Eileen Ruth Prowse (grades 3-4), Gladys Mildred Robertson (grades 5-6)
1945-1946	Isabel Dawson (grades 1-2), Jessie Matheson Iverach (grades 3-4), Gladys Mildred Robertson (grades 5-6), O. Lestition (?)
1946-1947	Ruth Eleanor Barber (grades 3-4), Bessie Helene Donaldson (grades 5-6, 1946; grade 6, 1947), Ollie Ewashkiw (grades 1-2), Esther Patricia Pettypiece (grades 5-6, 1946; grade 5, 1947)
1947-1948	Dorothy May Allward (grade 6, September-March; grades 5-6, April-June), Rose Evelyn Andrews (grades 4-5, November-June), L. B. Danylchuk (grades 4-5, September-October), Ollie Ewashkiw (grades 1-2, September-January; grade 1, February-June), Rita Mary Ann O’Connor (grades 2-3), Esther Patricia Pettypiece (grade 5 September-March)
1948-1949	Dorothy May Allward (grades 5-6), Rose Evelyn Andrews (grades 3-4), Rita Mary Ann O’Connor Bohemier (grades 2-3), Ollie Ewashkiw (grades 1-2), Elizabeth Sutherland (kindergarten), Miss C. Lang (?)
1949-1950	Dorothy May Allward (grade 6), Rose Evelyn Andrews (grades 3-4), Rita Mary Ann O’Connor Bohemier (grades 4-5), Ollie Ewashkiw (grades 1-2), Ruth Mary Peterson (kindergarten), Flora M. Yeomans (grade 2)
1950-1951	Dorothy May Allward (grades 5-6), Rose Evelyn Andrews (grades 2-3), Rita Mary Ann O’Connor Bohemier (grades 4-5), Flora M. Yeomans Danylchuk (grade 2), Ollie Ewashkiw (grade 1), Ruth Mary Peterson (kindergarten)
1951-1952	Dorothy May Allward (grades 5-6, 1951; grade 6, 1952), Rose Evelyn Andrews (grades 4-5, September-January; grade 4, January-June), Gwendalyn Margaret Georgison (grade 1), Ollie Ewashkiw Hawryluk (grade 3), Evelyn Kuchta (grade 2), Ruth Mary Peterson (kindergarten)
1952-1953	Dorothy May Allward (grades 3-4, September-January), Eva Mabel Dickson (grades 2-3), Gwendalyn Margaret Georgison (grades 1-2), Mrs. E. Gillies (grades 1-2, September-January), Agnes Macdonald (grades 4-5, 1953), Beulah Lyall Morrison (kindergarten, 1953), Donald Melvin Muir (grades 4-5, 1952), Ruth Mary Peterson (kindergarten, 1952), Mrs. O. Hawryluk (?), Miss E. Kuchta (?), Miss O. Stachiw (?)
1953-1954	Gwendalyn Margaret Georgison (grade 1), Charlotte Isabel Hodge (grades 3-4), Theresa Isa Lambert (grades 2-3), Beulah Lyall Morrison (kindergarten), Agnes Macdonald (grades 5-6)
1954-1955	Gwendalyn Margaret Georgison (grade 1), Charlotte Isabel Hodge (grades 3-4), Evelyn Krol (grades 2-3), Beulah Lyall Morrison (kindergarten), Catherine Scott (grades 5-6), Miss T. I. Lambert (?)
1955-1956	Charlotte Isabel Hodge (grades 4-5), Evelyn Krol (grade 2), Theresa Isa Lambert (grades 3-4), Beulah Lyall Morrison (kindergarten), Catherine Scott (grade 6), Gwendalyn Margaret Georgison Winick (grade 1)
1956-1957	Evelyn Chonstkewich (grades 1-2), Charlotte Isabel Hodge (grades 4-5), Theresa Isa Lambert (grades 2-3), Catherine Scott (grades 5-6), Sarah Beck Steel (kindergarten), Gwendalyn Margaret Georgison Winick (grade 1), Mrs. E. Krol (?)
1957-1958	Evelyn Chonstkewich (grade 2), Emily Jean Hindson (grades 1-2), Charlotte Isabel Hodge (grade 4), Theresa Ida Lambert (grade 3), George H. Olfert (grade 5), Catherine Scott (grade 6), Sarah Beck Steel (kindergarten), Gwendalyn Margaret Georgison Winick (grade 1)
1958-1959	Evelyn Chonstkewich (grade 2), Emily Jean Hindson (grade 1, 1958; grades 1-2, 1959), Charlotte Isabel Hodge (grade 4), Theresa Ida Lambert (grade 3), George H. Olfert (grade 5), Catherine Scott (grade 6), Christina Mabel Mary Smith (grades 1-2, 1958; grades 2-3, 1959), Sarah Beck Steel (kindergarten), Gwendalyn Margaret Georgison Winick (grade 1)
1959-1960	Evelyn Mae Bukoski (grade 3), Peter Kruszelnicki (grade 5), Theresa Ida Lambert (grade 3), Christina Mabel Mary Smith (grades 2-3), Mary Ann Starodub (grade 1), Sarah Beck Steel (kindergarten), Madge Olwyn Stevens (grade 6), Charlotte Isabel Hodge Warren (grade 4), Jane Louise Woodcock (grade 1), Miss E. Chonstkewich (?), Miss J. L. Thornson (?)
1960-1961	Evelyn Mae Bukoski (grade 3), Peter Kruszelnicki (grade 5), Agnes Martens (grade 3, April-June), Alvina Mae Poersch (grade 1), Christina Mabel Mary Smith (grades 2-3), Mary Ann Starodub (grade 1), Sarah Beck Steel (kindergarten), Madge Olwyn Stevens (grade 6), Susan Thiessen (grade 3, September-March), Charlotte Isabel Hodge Warren (grade 4), Jessie Zulkowski (ungraded)
1961-1962	Janet Chubaty (grades 2-3), Peter Kruszelnicki (grades 4-5), Alvina Mae Poersch (ungraded), Agnes Martens (grade 3), Helen Margaret Oliynyk (grade 1), Christina Mabel Mary Smith (grade 2), Mary Ann Starodub (grade 1), Sarah Beck Steel (kindergarten), Madge Olwyn Stevens (grade 5), Charlotte Isabel Hodge Warren (grades 3-4)
1962-1963	Donald David “Don” Brethauer (grades 4-5), Janet Chubaty (grades 2-3), Alvina Mae Poersch (ungraded), Agnes Martens (grade 3), Helen Margaret Oliynyk (grades 1-2), Anne Reimer (grade 2), Mary Ann Starodub (grade 1), Sarah Beck Steel (kindergarten), Madge Olwyn Stevens (grade 5), Charlotte Isabel Hodge Warren (grade 4)
1963-1964	Donald David “Don” Brethauer (grade 6), Janet Chubaty (grade 2), Shirley Sadie Mary Dow (grades 4-5), Myra Joan Fick (grade 3), Alvina Mae Poersch (grade 1), Agnes Martens (grade 3), Janice Rigby (grades 1-2), Sarah Beck Steel (kindergarten), Madge Olwyn Stevens (grade 5), Laurie Elizabeth Tegelberg (grade 4)
1964-1965	Donald David “Don” Brethauer (grade 5), Roselea Roberta Holland (grade 1), Beverley Anne Law (grades 1-2, 1965), John Douglas MacFarlane (grade 6), Agnes Martens (grade 3), Mary Elizabeth Neal (grades 1-2, 1964), Louise Doris Neill (grade 2), Evelyn Mary Alice Jack Schellenberg (relief teacher), Katie Marie Schellenberg (grades 3-4), Sarah Beck Steel (kindergarten), Laurie Elizabeth Tegelberg (grades 5-6), Patricia Ann Whiting (grade 4)
1965-1966	Donald David “Don” Brethauer (grades 5-6), Linda Marie Craven (grade 2), Roselea Roberta Holland (grades 1-2), Beverley Anne Law (grade 1), John Douglas MacFarlane (grade 6), Agnes Martens (grades 2-3), Katie Marie Schellenberg (grade 4), Alice Edna Smythe (grades 3-4), Laurie Elizabeth Tegelberg (grade 5), Eileen Gail Waluk (kindergarten), Mrs. R. Cameron (?)
1966-1967	Linda Marie Craven (grade 2), Roselea Roberta Holland (grades 1-2), Sigurjon Stefan Isfeld (grade 6), Evelyn Diane Keedian (kindergarten, 1966), Beverley Anne Law (grade 1), Agnes Martens (grade 3), Alice Edna Smythe (grade 4), Laurie Elizabeth Tegelberg (grade 5), Anna Wilms (kindergarten, 1967), Mrs. R. Kahana (?), Miss E. Waluk (?)
1967-1968	Margaret Helena Baxter (grade 6 & relief teacher), Linda Marie Craven (grade 2), Helen Kleiman (grade 3), Beverley Anne Law (grade 1), Paul Lukie (grade 5), Agnes Martens (grades 2-3), Mary Ann Monkman (grades 4-5), Frances Roberta Simpson (kindergarten), Alice Edna Smythe (grade 4), Miss H. Compton (?), Mrs. B. Giesbrecht (?), Mrs. M. O’Neil (?), Mrs. M. Rogers (?)
1968-1969	Margaret Helena Baxter, Miss H. Compton, Linda Marie Craven, Mrs. B. Giesbrecht, Helen Kleiman, Beverley Anne Law, Paul Lukie, Mary Ann Monkman, Mrs. M. O’Neil, Mrs M. Rogers, Frances Roberta Simpson, Alice Edna Smythe
1969-1970	?
1970-1971	?
1971-1972	?
1972-1973	?
1973-1974	?
1974-1975	?
1975-1976	?
1976-1977	?
1977-1978	?
1978-1979	?
1979-1980	?
1980-1981	?

Photos & Coordinates

Sir Sam Steele School (1921) Source: Winnipeg School Division Sir Sam Steele School (May 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Sir Sam Steel School building being salvaged (April 2012) Source: Google The former Sir Sam Steele School building being demolished (August 2012) Source: Google Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90222, W97.08798 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Halldor “Dori” Sigurdsson [Sigurdson] (c1885-1974)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: General Steele School (757 Lyon Street, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Sources:

“Ball trophy offers public playgrounds,” Manitoba Free Press, 13 July 1921, page 8.

“Work on Elmwood school starts Tuesday,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 July 1921, page 5.

“Objection to calling school after soldier,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 October 1921, page 2.

“Real qualification for school trustee,” Manitoba Free Press, 9 November 1921, page 29.

“To open new schools,” Manitoba Free Press, 10 December 1921, page 7.

“Winnipeg schools, No. 45—Sir Sam Steele,” Manitoba Free Press, 7 December 1922, page 4.

“31 teachers get posts on staff,” Winnipeg Tribune, 1 June 1938, page 4.

“Announce school Principal changes,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 May 1946, page 3.

“Sir Sam Steele School honors Principal,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 July 1946, page 3.

“Sir Sam Steele Principal named,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 October 1947, page 3.

“A man ‘starred with greatness’,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 November 1957, page 3.

“School posts filled,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 May 1973, page 74.

“George V parents battle transfer,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 September 1978, page 156.

“School chiefs named,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 July 1979, page 18.

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

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Winnipeg District No. 1 (Sir Sam Steele School) - Daily Registers, GR4548, Archives of Manitoba.

Sir Sam Steele School (15 Chester Street), City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, March 1996.

“Flooding closes Winnipeg junior high school,”CBC News, 2 February 2007.

“Old Sam Steele School a mess,” Winnipeg Sun, 17 April 2010.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

Winnipeg School Division: Celebrating One Hundred Fifty Years, 1871-2021 by Winnipeg School Division, 2021.

We thank the Winnipeg School Division and Fred Smith for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 5 July 2022

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