We had an important event the other day in St. Albert. The Little White School, at one time called St. Albert’s Buckingham Palace, reached the mid-point in its restoration. This project, involving funding from three levels of government, professional expertise from the Arts and Heritage Foundation of St. Albert and support from our school boards, businesses and private citizens, is an example of community development in the best sense of the word. When completed, it will continue to be involved with education, providing curriculum based education programs set in a classroom of the late 1940s to early 1950s, and open to all students in St. Albert and our surrounding towns and cities.
Of course, when compared with the other events of the past few weeks — riots in Syria, the collapse of political compromise in American governing institutions, the drop in shares in the stock markets across the world, thousands of African children dying of starvation in a world of plenty, the Eskimos’ ignominious defeat to the lowly B.C. Lions and angry riots across civilized England — this project seems such a tiny matter.
And yet — in 1946, with the end of the Second World War and veterans returning, there was a national commitment to education. New schools were sprouting up throughout Canada. And in St. Albert, the Old Brick School, which was built in 1927 and carried the more formal name of Father Merer School, was no longer safe for children because of deterioration of the brick walls and foundation and the lack of proper fire escapes from the second floor. Besides, it was full.
A new two-room school was then built, based on a standard plan for two-room schools which were being constructed in Alberta’s rural communities. Most of them are gone now. And St. Albert’s Little White School has become the oldest standing educational building in St. Albert — and one which the province is looking at potentially designating as a historic site.
Children attended the Little White School from 1948 to 1987. Some, like Rob LeLacheur, chair of the Friends of the Little White School, walked there and home — uphill both ways (really). And during the 40-year span when it was a fully operating school, Canada had eight prime ministers, from William Lyon Mackenzie King to Brian Mulroney. Our city grew from 1,000 to nearly 40,000. Science and technology replaced classical education as the driving force for our post-secondary educational system. We moved from driving cars with clutches to landing space ships on the moon. And with space age technology came high-tech medical care, colour television and home computers. We eliminated smallpox, polio and diphtheria from North America. The United Nations Organization became operational and we became known for our peacekeeping role internationally. The Korean War started. The Kennedy era and the Vietnam War played out their times. Martin Luther King stalked American complacency. We adopted the Canadian Bill of Rights and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Quebec Quiet Revolution and not-so-quiet Quebec separatism movement emerged. Charles de Gaulle shouted, “Vive le QuĂ©bec libre!” and retreated to France. The Diefenbunker and Nuclear Attack school drills came and went. French immersion came and stayed. The North America Autopact moved Ontario into a world-ranked manufacturing powerhouse. Medicare came to Canada and so did Leduc Oil Well No. 1.
Students at the Little White School experienced all this.
So did Jack Layton.
Alan Murdock is a local pediatrician.
