"*--- --:t'Tà '/ïi, 't. /- ./.1 A HTSTORI OF ST. BONTFACE COItEGE A Major Thesís Submitted to the Committee on Post Graduate Studies University of Manitoba In' Partial Fulfillment .: ¡f the Requirements for the Degreë Master of Education : i.:.... I .,-.,. r ,._:, 1 by ': :' ì I Paul Roland Régnier BÇ4. B .ED. L96t+ 4fi"ti-t;o *>è..\æ* 0Í ,11,i:1iìittlA k;'.*9 ÁBSTRACT The hfstory of st. Boniface college dates back tr 1818 ¡+ith the arrival of Father Norbert provencher aü st. Boniface' He had come at the insistence of Lord selkirk who had been desperatery ürying to establish a permanent colony in the West. rn order to be brief , the writer uras obt-iged to Li- mit his discussion Èo four r¿ain topics: buildingsr teaehers, curricurum, and the events of prime importance. As chrono- logical sequence is important in the relation of the events, the thesis is divided ínto four periods. The first period dates from the arrivar of Father Provencher in 1818. From the very beginning the missionary taught Latin along with the other conventional subjects, ühereby estabrishing a crassicar course that was to be con- tlnued untlf the present day. Arthough the Lattn course was intemupted at different Ínten¡als because of the laek of studenbs, nonetheless, the corlege was in contlnuous operation from l-818. the first years of the college were hard ones as the hardships of the stmggling corony ref- lected directly on the college it,self . The principal hazards were flood, famine, and fire. The Latin course prevÍously tarrght by Bishop provencher in a room of his residencer ürâs finally given at a separate school-house. The first college buitding was constructed :_n 1Ð3 and housed seven Latin students. The activity of this insti- tution was short-lived. Three years laterr the Latin course was abandoned through. lack of both teachers and t l{.;{.}-4:â+:, ii students, and classes r,ìrere resumed at the home of Bishop Provencher. The determination of the Bishop prevailed and greaüer numbers of students urere recruited. A second boarding school was opened in 1854, and pri- :i1 at that time mary education was placed in the hands of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Eventually, the Latin students were transferred from the Bishoprs palace to the colleger or Provencher Academy as it was catrled. The Brothers left St. Boni.face in 1860. TheÍr successors, the secular priests, were more and more successful as the years passed, the classical course rÁras reorganized and became very popu- Iar. Shortly after the entrance of Manitoba into Confedera- tion, St, Boniface College along with St. Johnts and Manitoba College founded the Universit,y of Manitoba, a degree-granting body. The year was J877. The second perÍod involves the arrival of the Jesuit Fathers at the College and the struggle for a teaching university. The Jesuit Fathers took over the College in 1885 and maintained a formal classical edueation that provided both French and English Catholics with an institution of higher learning. Prior to their arrival, a third eollege was built. The land boom of the 1880rs had provided the Bishop of St. Boniface with an opportunity to profitably sell dioeesan tands. An elaborate three-story structr¡re was built Ín 1880. Relations between St. Boniface College and the University became severely stnained in t,he ensuing ¡å*í?1t/x;ffi iii years. There was a Certain demand for a teaching unÌversitfr for a more general course in Phil.osophyr and for more empha- sis on the sciences mathematics. The formulati-on of the Latin Philosophy course, the þr¡iLding o.f a fourth coIlege, and subsequent steps made by the college to modernize the classical course,- highlight the third períod, The status of the University of Manitoba as a teach- ing University tfas officially established in L9I7. Although the UnÍversi-ty Arts Course was oriented towards a General CourSe, St. Boníface was allowed to maintain its original classical course and thus was granted special privileges which enabled it to keep its affiliation with the Univer- sity. It became the French College of the UnÍversity Èhereby establishing the University of Manitoba as the only bilingual University in lfest.ern Canada. The f ourth and present College building was built in 1911 as a Minor Seminary, After a fire ín 1922 had razed the 1880 structuret Bishop Béliveau decreed that the Jesuit Fathers sh.ould con- tinue their work in the Minor Seminary which was handed over to the Corporation of the College. The only significant change in the classical course during the first half of the twentieth century was effected in 19[3 when one of the four languages, Greek, r¡fas eliminated from the curriculum. This enabled the college authorities to add more science to the Classical Course so as to keep in step with the require- ments of the University and the Departnerrt of Educatj-on' .r(q.Yg,#'.5.! tv The discussion dealing with the fourth period gives details of the more recent building and educational trends; first of the construction of a senior student.classroom- pavilion and of a badly-needed gymnasium, and, secondly, of the introduction of adult educati-on and of co-education. Public demand encouraged the offering of adult education courses during the regular academie year and, especially, during the sunmer sessi.on. The acceptance of female students into this hitherto all-male student body was another great departure from tradition. Although St. Josephrs Academy had been the officiar femare section of St. Boniface College sj-nce 1936, it was not until 1962 that girls were allowed to attend lectures with men students in the final two years of the degree course. The place of St. Boniface College in the history of education in Manitoba has been chosen as a fitting conclu- sion to this work. No attempt will be made to compare this institution with the universÍty of Manitoba or any of its affiliated colleges. Emphasis will_, however, be laid on the importance of the contribution of the cl-as- sical course to education in the history of the French- speaking communities in Manitoba. An apology for the partícular brand of education made available at st. Boniface will also be offered ín this secti.on. vá#þ,7=â TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I INTRODUCTION........t...r.r....iort"' I 1. SOURCES........r..t..'rt..'r"o' I 2. PURPOSE....ot.....r...r..".."t ? IÏ EARLY BEGTNNTNGS 1818-1876...... .. .... l+ 1. NEED FOR EDUCATION'. .. .. ' " " .. ' b 2. BUILDINGS AND TEACHERS.......... 10 3, CURRICULUM.........'. """ ""' 37 IÏI FEDERATI0N L*77-L9O7...... ..... r. .. -.. Iþ4 I. UNIVERSITY 0F MANIT0BA........r. I+I+ 2. BU]LDINGS AND TEACHERS.......... h,7 3. CURRICULUM...o........'. o1...' " 61, rV THE LATIN PHIIOSOPHY COURSE AND MAIN EVENTS 1908-1942..,....'' or"' 77 1. BUILDINGS AND TEACHERS... .... I ' 77 2. A TEACHING UNIVERSITY.'..... r.. 9l+ 3, LATIN PHILOSOPHY CoURSE....,.... l-:o2 l+. CURRICULUM.. ... ...'..... .. " "" 109 V REORGANTZATTON AND RECENT TRENDS L9I8 - I96t+.....o t.... o.....t.'o."' " "r t 11¿{' 1. BUILDINGS.. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. " " " l1lt 2. ADULT EDUCATION... ... r... ....... 119 3. SUMMER COURSES.. r.'...... " "'.' 1,?L Iþ. COEDUCATION.... t...'.....'.. t ..' L22 5. CURRICULUM.. ..r. ..o.....o.'. "' t L23 t.::]] ':::: 111 lãss.ëËl 1V TABI,E OF CONTENTS CONTTNUED CHAPTER PAGE VI CONCLUSION....¡...................'. 131 1. CLASSICAL TRAINING.......... o. 131 2. ST.BONIFACE AND MANITOBA....r. L36 BIBIIOGRAPHY..........r..........¡.¡ 1lt0 BOOI(S..¡...........r..¡........t. 1l+0 PAMPHLETS........................ 1¿+1 REPORTS.........r................ 141 ARTICLES...............rr....i... Ll+? LEGAL M4T8RI4L.......o........... Il+2 UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL'. .. .. .. ., . o o LlnZ LETTERS............r............, L43 APPENDfX.. ... r. .. r. ..... .. .. o. l.b5 1. DTRECTORS OF ST.BONIFACE C0LLEGE 1818-19ól¡.. .. .. ... .. Ll+5 2. PERSONAL IIITERVIEüIS... .. .. 1¿16 3. LIST OF IIAPS.................r 1.l+7 t+. PHoÎOGRAPHS AND COLLEGE CRESTS t5O ft,ip,.ffry4 ACKNO!üLEDGMENTS The writer does not intend to list in preferential order the peopre who have helped him. All the help given hras erctremely important and he wourd like to express h]" sincerest gratitude to the fol-l-owing: Dr. J. M. Brown, Dean of the Faculty of Education¡ who was most helpful in assÍsting the author to select his subject, and whose words of encouragement in the past three years were greatly appre- ciated; Reverend Fathers E, Lalonde s.J. ¡ L. Hardy s,J., M. Caron S.J., L. Rostaing S.J., A. Ducharme S.J., and L. Guy s-J. of st. Boniface corlege who were instrumental_ in herping the author find much of his source materi_al and who granted him numerous personal interviews; Rev. Father L. couture and Mr. c. Gagné for their aid in the research done in the st, Boniface Diocesan archives; I4r. N. Mellamphy who contributed his personal ti-me in reading the proofs; the authorrs advisor, Mr. K. lrlil-son, who proved invaluable in helping to sel-ect and arange the numerous bits of infor- mation necessary to complete this work; I{rp. D. chevrier, Registrar of the University of Manitoba, for making avail- abre the minutes of the university council; Rev. sister Anna Poi-rier of the provincial House of the Grey Nuns of st. Boniface who made availabl-e the rchronÍques des soeurs Grisesrr; Ivlr. H. Bousfierd and ulr, R, vien of the provincial Archj-ves of Manitoba for theÍr help in obtaining photographs and maps; Mr. and l[rs, Henri Lane of La société Historique de st-Boniface for nany personal interwiews; Mayor Joseph Guay of st. Boniface who authorized the auùhor to ÈësrËFtr vi use the facilities of the city haII; Mr. A. Olivier of the Engineering Department of the City of St. Boniface for his help in locating old maps of the city; Mr.