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Index
The following three sections were written by a former teacher from Pinkham School - Bill Schroeder - in January, 1973. We included the articles as he wrote them...So that students in the present, from the past and in the future, can get a picture of what Pinkham School was like throughout its history. THE ORIGINAL BUILDINGThe original Pinkham School was a two-roomed, one-storey, solid brick structure with door and windows facing south, erected at the present site in 1884 and used until 1903. The contractor, H. A. Crothy, managed to build the school at a cost of $5500.00. However, due to a leaky roof, it was necessary to replace the ceilings in both rooms ten years later. When the school was opened in 1884, there were no sewers. Water was carried from a pump located across the trail (street) on the corner of Reitta and Alexander. On hot days students lined up at the well to get a drink from a single tin cup. Several years after its initial opening, the city installed electric lights in both rooms. Each classroom was heated by a syndicate stove. In 1894 the enrollment for the two rooms was one hundred and seventy. Of these, one hundred were in the primary room. As a result, the students had to come to school in shifts - half of them in the morning and half in the afternoon. An early teacher in the primary room had a row of brass tacks driven into the floor a few feet from her desk so that her pupils would literally "toe the line" when they came up to read. The first principal of this school was Mr. F. H. Schofield.
THE SECOND PINKHAM SCHOOL "THE PINKHAM" (1903-1989)
Construction of the second school building was begun on June 15, 1903. D. A. Ross, chairman of the board, officiated at the laying of the cornerstone on September 2, 1903. The new building was completed in January 1904, and classes began in February of the same year. Heating was provided by three independent convectional heating systems, one system heated the halls and stairwells while the other two were used to heat the classrooms. Hot water was provided by jacket heater. Like Somerset School built two years earlier, Pinkham School had various innovative features. Each classroom was equipped with a drinking fountain (now used for storing soccer balls). The principal's room (Room 7) was fitted with an electric program clock which automatically rang the school bells. The principal could also use a buzzer system, similar to those used in modern apartment blocks, to summon the teacher in any one of the ten rooms. The school was erected at a cost of $37 000.00. During the first forty years of its life the school saw very few alterations. After forty years of service, Pinkham, along with other old schools in Winnipeg was condemned by the Reavis Report. Of Pinkham it was said, "The building owed the citizens of Winnipeg nothing". However, on August 23, 1945, a fire originating under the stairs on the main floor, caused extensive damage to the halls and wooden stairwells. Students were housed in Dufferin School while extensive repairs and alterations were made in the school. Old bucket-type toilets were replaced by modern ones, system heating was installed and fire-resistive stairs replaced the old wooden ones. By December 17, 1945, the renovation costing $54 000.00 were completed and the students could return to their classes. The fire that very nearly destroyed the building, had in fact contributed to possibly doubling the structural life of the school. Once again as student population increased during the post-war years, more room had to be provided. An annex consisting of two classrooms, a staffroom and a gym on the third floor was converted into two extra classrooms. During the course of its history, Pinkham School had seen more than 3000 students come and go. These children were taught by at least 200 teachers. It goes without question that in such a span of years many praise-worthy achievements have been made. There is space here to mention only a few of them. Four Pinkham students, Lorraine Francon, Joanne Andryc, Brian Gardener and Nadia Kostyshyn won first prizes in 1952 at a nation-wide art exhibition for school art held in Toronto and organized by the Canadian National Exhibition. The paintings submitted to this competition had all been completed in school, during school hours. Their art teacher was Miss Prygrocki. Pinkham School won the Beck Shield, an award given annually to schools for efficient fire drills, in 1939, 1904 and again in 1972.
BISHOP PINKHAM
William Cyprian Pinkham was born in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1844. He attended the Church of England Academy in St. John's before his family moved back to England and made their home in Teignmouth, Devon. He attended St. Augustine's College in Canterbury for three years and graduated in 1868. During his first year in Manitoba, he married Jean Anne Drever, daughter of William Drever, a pioneer merchant of Winnipeg. They had four sons and four daughters. W. C. Pinkham became involved in education in 1871. When the first Education Act was passed, he was appointed a member of the Council of Education. From 1872-1883, he served as Superintendent of Education for the Protestant schools in Manitoba. In 1881, he was sent to Eastern Canada to study school systems there, and as a result of his inspection, a system of training teachers, as well as a system of secondary education, was established in Manitoba. For some years, Mr. Pinkham was also an active member on the council of the University of Manitoba. The first Winnipeg school built after his resignation as Superintendent was named in honour of him. Trinity College in Toronto, conferred on Reverend Pinkham the Doctor of Letters degree in 1886, for his contribution to education. The remainder of his life was devoted to church duties. He was appointed Bishop of Saskatchewan in 1887 and Bishop of Calgary in 1888. Bishop Pinkham died in Calgary on July 18, 1928.
Pinkham...100 years: Past and Present Students Share School MemoriesAs found in Our Schools Dec./84
The spry, older lady sat attentively, watching the colorful performance before her. She smiled as the young ethnic dancers stomped and twirled. The concert brought back memories of her childhood. Memories of school days over 80 years before. For 88 year old Chrissie Davis (Beggs), the celebration renewed her days at Pinkham school when she was a student from 1902-11. "These dancers remind me of when I went to school here. We used to have concerts just like these," said Mrs. Davis. She, along with the large crowd of alumni, watched present Pinkham students share the joy of the school's 100 birthday celebrations held on October 19-20. "We would usually have a concert at Christmas and again in the spring, and each ethnic group would contribute something to it," explained Mrs. Davis. She said while she was a student at the school, many of her classmates were children of railway worker families, and were predominantly English. Although children of ethnic backgrounds were a minority, she said they were always accepted, and everyone got along. She added that the English and ethnic mixture gave the students many opportunities to learn from one another. In reflecting on other school memories of Pinkham, Mrs. Davis said she recalls attending the old Pinkham school when it was a two room, two storey facility. She remembers it being torn down in 1902, after which time she attended school at Somerset, while the newer and bigger school was being built.
GOODBYE TO THE OLD... HELLO TO THE NEW!
On Thursday June 1, 1989, a "Celebrating Pinkham" event was held as a farewell to the school which had stood from 1903 - 1989. Each classroom adopted a different "decade" and visitors were encouraged to find the decade when they were a student at Pinkham and even look through the old school registers to find their name as a former student. Guest books were signed in the classroom which represented each guest's decade as a former student. At 6:00 p.m. that evening, an official farewell was held with the following events: 1. Pinkham School Community Council Jeannette Fortin 2. Manitoba Education Tim Sales 3. M.L.A. - Logan Constituency Maureen Hemphill 4. City of Winnipeg Allan Wade 5. Winnipeg School Division Board of Trustees Mario Santos 6. Winnipeg School Division Superintendent's Dept. Al Krahn 7. Release the Balloons!!!!! Al Krahn 8. Panda Draw Maureen Hemphill 9. Pinkham School Choir 10. Pinkham School Portuguese Dancers 11. Pinkham School Portuguese Singers 12. Pinkham School Multicultural Dancers 13. Pinkham School Pow Wow Dancers
The official opening ceremonies of the new Pinkham School were held on October 19, 1990.
PRINCIPALS OF PINKHAM
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