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Alberta, Past and Present, Historical and Biographical
Vol 1 - Chapter XVI
Schools and Education


The principal State institutions of education in Alberta are the Public Schools, the Normal Schools, the Provincial University, the Schools of Agriculture and the Institute of Technology.

The first educational institutions of the Province of Alberta, as well as of the North West Territories, were the mission schools of the Roman Catholic Church and the various denominational schools of the Protestant Churches. For many years these schools, always situated in unorganized districts, were granted $100 per quarter by the Territorial Government. The organization of the North West Territories gave an opportunity to the people to raise a demand for public schools. As pointed out before in these pages, there was a constitutional barrier that the North-West Council had no power to impose direct taxation except in electoral districts. Consequently, upon petition of the North-West Council, the Federal Government by Order-in-Council November 4, 1879, granted $4,000 in aid of schools in the North West Territories. This money was distributed as follows: One-half the teacher's salary was paid in every school that had a minimum daily attendance of fifteen pupils, and the balance was given towards the erection of school buildings. According to the Lieutenant- Governor's report for 1884, there were seventeen Protestant and eleven Roman Catholic schools receiving aid in this way.

In 1884 the North-Wet Council passed the first School Ordinance of the North West Territories, and established the basic structure of our public school system. A bill to establish Public and separate schools was introduced during the session of 1883 by Mr. Frank Oliver, of Edmonton, but (lid not reach its final stage before the prorogation of the Council. The Act of 1884 was drawn along the same lines as Mr. Oliver's Bill of 1883. It provided for the erection of a school district by proclamation of the Lieutenant-Governor upon receipt of returns showing that a majority of the qualified voters in any area of not more than thirty-six square miles voted in favor of establishing a school therein. Immediately there was a great increase in the number of schools, the Lieutenant-Governor's report for 1885 showing that there were forty-eight Protestant public schools, ten Roman Catholic schools and one Roman Catholic separate school in the North West Territories

This Ordinance was repealed in 1885, and a new one passed providing for a Board of Education to administer the school law. The new Ordinance went into effect April 1, 1886. The Board of Education consisted of two Protestant and two Roman Catholic members, presided over by the Lieutenant-Governor of the North West Territories. The first Board consisted of Hon. Edgar Dewdney, Chairman; Mr. John Secord and Mr. Charles Marshailsay, of the North-West Council, Protestant members, and Mr. Chas. B. Rouleau, stipendiary magistrate and ex-officio member of the North-West Council and Mr. A. E. Forget, Roman Catholic members. Mr. James Brown was the first Secretary and held the position for many years. Mr. Forget was succeeded a few months after his appointment by Rev. Father Albert Lacombe, O. M. I.

Regular meetings of the Board were held twice a year at Regina, the first being held March 11, 1886. Under this Ordinance there were actually two classes of schools, Protestant and Roman Catholic schools, with two classes of inspectors and two different sets of textbooks. In many districts the inspectors were clergymen of the various religious denominations. Within the boundaries of Alberta the following inspectors were appointed at the first meeting of the Board of Education: Rev. John McLean for the Protestant schools of Calgary and Macleod Districts; Mr. J. W. Costello for the Roman Catholic schools of Calgary and Macleod Districts; Rev. A. B. Baird for the Protestant schools of the Edmonton District and Rev. Father Lestanc for the Roman Catholic schools of the Edmonton District. Before the Board, as constituted under this Ordinance, was abolished in 1892, the following members served terms at different periods: The Right Rev. Cyprian Pinkham, Bishop of the Anglican diocese of Calgary; Hon. E. L. Wetmore of the Supreme Court of the North West Territories; Rev. A. B. Baird, Presbyterian Minister, Edmonton; Rev. John McLean, Methodist minister, Macleod; Rev. Father Leduc, O. M. I., Edmonton.

Among the inspectors were: Rev. Henry Grandin, O. M. I., afterwards Bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of St. Albert; Rev. Charles McKillop, Presbyterian minister, Lethbridge; and Rev. D. G. McQueen, Presbyterian minister, Edmonton.

The new Board quickly addressed itself to the problems of higher education and training schools for teachers. In 1886 and 1887 requests were forwarded through the Lieutenant-Governor to the federal government for grants towards high schools and a central training school. The reply of the federal government was that it was undesirable to make such grants until the wants of the common schools were met. In 1889 the Board pressed upon the attention of the federal government the necessity for university land grants in each of the provisional districts of Alberta, Assiniboia and Saskatchewan, but nothing came of the suggestion. The difficulty in the way of establishing high schools and training schools was met by the organization of union schools; that is, where there were two or more adjacent schools with an aggregate daily attendance of 60 pupils, where not less than three teachers were employed, and where not less than 15 pupils from such schools had passed the High School Entrance Examination, the trustees were to furnish accommodation and apparatus for a high school course and the Board of Education might thereupon authorize the establishment of a Normal department. The principals of the union schools were assisted in the Normal teaching by the inspectors.

The first examination for teachers was held at various places in the Territories in January, 1887. Thirty-five candidates presented themselves, of whom twelve were granted certificates. The first Board of Examiners were Rev. F. W. Pedley, St. John's College, Qu'Appelle, and Rev. Father Hugonard, Industrial School, Qu'Appelle.

The Board of Education always kept before it the necessity of a University and in January, 1891, invited all the graduates residing in the North West Territories to meet at Regina to consider the advisability of organizing a University, drafting an Ordinance to give effect to the project.

In 1892 the Board of Education was replaced by the Council of Public Instruction, composed of the members of the Executive Committee of the Legislative Assembly with four appointed members, two Protestant and two Roman Catholic members to act in an advisory capacity only. The appointed members were: His Lordship the Bishop of Saskatchewan and Calgary; Rev. Father Caron, Regina; Mr. A. E. Forget, Regina; and Principal Smith of Moosomin.

In 1893 Dr. Goggin, formerly principal of Manitoba Normal School, was appointed Superintendent of Education for the North West Territories and principal of the new Normal school at Regina. Under the new superintendent the school system of the Territories rapidly expanded and improved, comparing favorably with the standards of the older Provinces of the Dominion. During the next ten years the number of schools increased from 262 to 917, and the number of pupils from 8,200 to 41,000.

More advanced legislation was embodied in the School Ordinance, the School Assessment Ordinance, and the School Grants Ordinance of 1901. The Council of Public Instruction was superseded by the Educational Council, presided over by a Commissioner, who was a member of the Executive Council, consisting of five persons, two of whom were to be Roman Catholics. The first Commissioner of Education was Hon. F. W. G. Haultab. The Council had control, subject to the legislature, of regulations respecting inspection of schools, training of teachers, licensing of teachers, courses of study, textbooks and similar matters. These Ordinances with amendments made thereto from time to time, prior and subsequent to the formation of the Province of Alberta, constitute the school law at the present time.

While the organization of school districts is, as a rule, taken upon the initiative of the residents of the districts, provision is made whereby the Minister of Education may, under certain conditions and on his own initiative, establish a school district. In this way, school facilities may be provided where required, even in the face of any indifference or open opposition which may exist with respect to school organization. The central authority may even go further, and in case of the failure of a district to elect trustees, or in the case of failure of the trustees so elected to provide for the operation of a school, as required by the School Act and Regulations, the Minister may appoint an official trustee who immediately assumes all the authority of a School Board and its officers, and carries on the affairs of the district under the direction of the Department of Education. Such a course, however, is almost unknown in practice, as the people of the Province, with rare exceptions, are most enthusiastic in support of the best educational facilities that can be procured. In support of this statement it may be stated that though the School Ordinances have always provided for a poll on debenture by-laws when demanded, over 99 per cent of the amount raised by debentures for school buildings have been authorized without the formality of a poll.

The schools are maintained by a revenue derived partly from a moderate self-imposed tax and partly by liberal legislative grants made from the School Lands Fund and from the Provincial revenues. The basis upon which grants are calculated are such as to encourage the engagement of the highest grade of teachers, to encourage the regularity of the attendance of pupils throughout the year, and to encourage the operation of our schools throughout the entire school year. Additional grants are based on the grading made by the inspectors with regard to school grounds, buildings, equipment and progress. At least half of this additional grant must be expended in the purchase of books for school libraries, such books to be selected from a catalogue authorized and furnished by the Department. As a result the nucleus of a school library may be found in the most remote rural school, and a very creditable library will be found in every school which has been some years in operation.

In the Alberta school system all grades, both primary and secondary, are included under the term "Public Schools." Thus the same Board of Trustees controls the primary and secondary schools. The course of studies is so formulated as to give the child whose education ends with the elementary school grades, an equipment for life as practical and complete as possible. It also provides, however, that those proceeding to the secondary grades do so almost unconsciously, the Public School Leaving being merely a promotion from Grade VIII—the highest grade in the primary schools—to Grade IX—the beginners' class in the secondary schools.

Attendance at the public school is compulsory upon all children of school age. Formerly the age limit in this respect was 14 years, but in 1918 the School Law was amended, raising the compulsory age limit to 15 years.

Under the existing school law there is a provision whereby the minority of the ratepayers in an established school district, whether Protestant or Roman Catholic, may establish a separate school, the boundaries of which must coincide with the boundaries of the Public school district within which it is established. The school operated by such minority is maintained by such assessments as they impose upon themselves, together with the legislative grant estimated on the same basis as in the case of the public schools. The regulations, however, provide for uniformity in the system of inspection of schools and examination, training and licensing of teachers. Separate schools in Alberta are not denominational schools. Provision was made in the North West Territories' Act of 1875 for separate schools. But, as pointed out in a previous chapter, these privileges enjoyed by the Roman Catholic minority were restricted by the Ordinances of the Legislative Assembly in 192 and 1901 and every vestige of ecclesiasticism was eleminated from the school system of the North West Territories.

During the last few years there has grown up within the Province a strong popular demand for advancement in education. Such a demand or movement is one of the numerous results of the war, but it is also due to the increase of wealth and comfort among the people as well as the growing conviction that the progress and good government of the state depends upon an educated body of citizens. It is expressed in a rapid increase increase in the number of pupils in the secondary, or high schools, in new forms of organization of rural schools, in the extension of high school facilities to rural districts, and in the establishment of schools for vocational and higher technical instruction. The school program under the influence of the movement to make the education of the child a development of mind and body has been extended to include medical and health services by means of school and public health nurses, school clinics, night schools in rural districts, continuation classes, accelerated classes for unusually bright pupils, sub-normal classes for tardy pupils, and other special activities to supplement the fundamentals of a complete elementary education. These new activities have developed rapidly in the city schools of the Province, which have reached a high state of efficiency in Art, Manual Training, Music, Physical Training and Household Arts. The counterpart of this work in the country is the School Fair, which is doing much to inculcate an appreciation of the beauty, dignity and importance of rural life.

About 1912 the Department of Education of Alberta began to foster the organization of Consolidated Schools, and at the present time there are 69 Consolidated School Districts in the Province, which have included 219 original public school districts within their respective boundaries. New legislation in 1912 under the Secondary Consolidated School Act provided for the union of several rural public school districts for High School purposes only, no provision being made for the conveyance of pupils. Under this law special grants are made to these schools to assist in meeting the extra cost of operation. Since 1920 the Government has encouraged the erection of two-roomed schools in rural districts where the enrolment exceeds sixty pupils, giving a grant of $3.00 per day for the senior room, and if high school subjects are taught, $3.50 per day, as well as the usual $1.00 per day for the junior room.

One of the big problems of the Department of Education for the past years has been finding a supply of Properly trained teachers for rural schools. In 1906 a Normal School was established at Calgary and a second in 1912 at Camrose. Notwithstanding such facilities it was impossible to find sufficient teachers to take charge of all the schools.

For the first ten years after the creation of the Province, the number of school districts increased from 716 to 2,478. Owing to favorable econornic conditions incident to the rapid expansion in a new country, the ranks of the teaching profession were steadily depleted. During the war the shortage of teachers became gravely acute. A large percentage of the male teachers joined the Canadian Expeditionary Forces for service overseas, while many of the female teachers joined the Voluntary Aid Detachments and other auxiliary war services. The shortage approximated 1,600 teachers at the worst period. It became necessary to grant permits to University students and high school students of Grades XI and XII.

In the face of this shortage the Department of Education decided to extend the length of the Normal School Course from four months to eight months, and at the same time raised the minimum non-professional requirements for admission to the Normal Schools to Grade XI. Anticipating that the effect of such regulations would be to reduce the number of students entering the teachers' training schools, a survey was made of the High Schools to ascertain the number of students in these schools proceeding for teachers' certificates. The survey revealed a serious shortage of teachers in the immediate future. The Department therefore inaugurated a loan policy for students attending the Normal School, and thus succeeded in attracting a large number of young men and women to the teaching profession.

At the beginning of 1920 an emergency training course was opened at Edmonton to provide a supply of teachers during the transition period from the short to the long term. These emergency certificates were valid until January 1st, 1922. This emergency course developed into a complete normal course, making three institutions for the training of teachers in the Province. The swing of economic forces has reversed the conditions created by the war and by the period of rapid growth preceding that catastrophe and the problem of teacher supply ceases to concern the Department of Education any longer.

Since 1913 the teachers' training has been supplemented by Annual Summer Schools held at the University of Alberta during the summer holidays. These classes are not compulsory, but, notwithstanding this fact, the attendance increases each year.

Four types of certificates are issued in Alberta, namely: Professional, Interim, Temporary and Provisional. Certificates are also graded according to the academic standing of the teacher. These are as follows: Academic granted to persons who are graduates of recognized Universities; First Class to persons who hold Grade XII academic standing; Second Class to persons who hold Grade XI academic standing; training for Third Class certificates has not been given in Alberta for several years, but teachers coming to Alberta from elsewhere may be granted this standing until they qualify for the higher grades of certificate.

The Alberta Government recognized from the first the difficulty that non-English settlers had in establishing public schools and conforming to the law set forth in the school ordinance which makes it compulsory that all children of school age shall be sent to school and that all instruction shall be in the English language. In order to assist these people in overcoming the difficulty, the Government appointed a Supervisor of Foreign Schools. This officer organized the settlements into school districts, acted as official trustee where needed and in this capacity performed the duties of a Board of Trustees and its officers until the settlers understood the working of the school law.

For several years a school for teaching non-English settlers the English language, Canadian history, geography, and other subjects, was maintained at Vegreville. This institution, while it existed, was attended principally by young men above school age. In 1919 it was discontinued, and night classes for adults were established in centres where foreigners were settled. A special inspector was appointed to supervise the work of education among New Canadians, who co-operates with the district inspector, wherever such schools are situated.

In 1914 Dr. James C. Miller was appointed to make a survey of the Province to determine a general Provincial policy on technical education. The survey covered the Public and High Schools, training of teachers, prevocational classes, vocational classes, night school instruction and higher technical instruction. Towards the end of that year the University Commission reported in favor of utilizing the proposed University of Calgary for purposes of higher technical education, and called the new institution the Provincial Institute of Technology. Dr. Miller was appointed Provincial Director of Technical Education, but before any progress was made the serious nature of the war became apparent and the establishment of a system of technical education was retarded for some years.

The war, however, in Alberta as in all the other Provinces of Canada, stimulated a great interest in technical education. The Provincial Government aided the schools that provided technical training by giving them special grants varying from $200 to $1,500.

Mining schools were opened in 1916 in the large mining centres of the Province and operated under the direction of the Institute of Technology. Night schools were opened in the cities and in many of the towns. All these measures became necessary to maintain a trained labor supply due to the depletion of the man power of the Province on account of the war.

The Dominion Government, through the Technical Education Act of 1919, gave generous grants to all the Provinces of Canada for the promotion of industrial and technical education, under which Alberta received the sum of 841,832 in 1920, and the sum of 847,050 in 1921. Such grants were made on the condition that the Province would spend at least an equal amount for this purpose.

The result in Alberta has been a rapid and satisfactory growth in the field of vocational and technical education. At the end of June, 1921, there were 2,069 students receiving vocational instruction under the authority of local school boards in twenty-one cities and towns. Of this number 1,479 were students in the three cities, Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge, and 227 of the latter number were students in the Institute of Technology.

Special Agricultural Schools were established in 1913 at Olds, Claresholm and Vermilion, in connection with the Government Demonstration Farms at these points. They were established for training boys and girls for scientific farm work. The curriculum includes preparatory teaching for untrained young men and women to enable them to receive instruction in the subjects relating to agricultural science. The term is for two years. A diploma qualifies the holder to enter the University, to proceed to the Degree of Bachelor of Science and Agriculture. These schools became very popular and three more were established in 1920, namely, at Youngstown, Gleichen and Raymond. But owing to the financial depression of 1921 and 1922, these last-mentioned have been closed for the time being and until conditions improve.

The Schools of Agriculture are under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Agriculture, while all other schools and educational institutions are under the Minister of Education.

Notwithstanding the ample provision made by the Province for education, there are several private schools, mostly denominational. Two of these institutions—Westward Ho School for Boys, Edmonton, and Western Canada College, Calgary—are modelled after the English Public Schools. The remainder of the following list are maintained by the religious denominations interested:

Mount Royal College, Calgary.
St. Hilda's College, Calgary.
Ambleside School, Calgary.
St. Theresa's Academy, Medicine Hat.
Raymond Academy, Raymond.
Seventh Day Adventists Academy, Lacombe.
Ruthenian Monastery, Mundare.
Montessori School, Calgary.
Mountain School, Banff.
Youville Convent, St. Albert.
Notre Dame Convent, Morinville.
Canadian Junior College, Lacombe.

WESTMINSTER LADIES COLLEGE, EDMONTON.

Private though these schools are, the courses of study and general training given are closely watched by the Government of the Province through the Department of Education.

Mention has been made already of the attempt to establish a University for the North West Territories in 1891, and mention might be made of the Act passed by the Dominion Parliament in 1883, through the influence of Bishop McLean, to incorporate the University of Saskatchewan, but which was never carried out. In 1903 the Legislative Assembly passed an ordinance incorporating the University of the North West Territories. Owing to numerous applications from different denominational bodies to the Assembly of the North West Territories for the incorporation of Colleges with power to grant degrees, the Hon. F. W. G. Haultain introduced a bill that passed the Assembly, providing for the establishment of one University—the University of the North West Territories—to prevent the evils of sectional competition among educational institutions for power to grant University degrees.

Nothing was done, however, in effecting the organization of the University before the formation of Alberta and Saskatchewan into separate Provinces. But in the first session of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, in 1906, Hon. A. C. Rutherford, Premier and Minister of Education, following the policy of Mr. Haultain, introduced a bill providing for the incorporation and establishment of the University of Alberta.

The Act became effective in 1907 by an amendment authorizing the Government to appoint a President and to proceed with the organization of the University. Dr. Henry Marshall Tory, of McGill University, assumed the duties of President on January 1st, 1908. Voting for the first Senate by the members of the Convocation on March 18th, 1908, and im- mediately the Government appointed its representatives to that body, as provided by the Act of incorporation. Hon. C. A. Stuart was elected Chancellor and the first Senate meeting was held on March 30th. A faculty of Arts and Sciences was established and the President authorized to engage four professors to prepare for opening classes in the following September. On September 23rd, the University commenced teaching in the rooms of one of the public schools in the then City of Strathcona, the place chosen by the Government of the Province in the previous year for the location of the University. The registration was forty-five students.

At the second session of the Legislature, 1910, the Legislation of 1906 was repealed, and a new University Act passed embodying important changes in the organization. The financial and administrative functions were separated from the academic functions, the former deputed to a Board of Governors, appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, and the latter to the Senate, which consists of ten members elected by convocation, and certain ex-officio members stipulated in the Act.

The first building, Athabaska Hall, on the University Campus, was completed in July, 1911, and here the fourth session of the University began. A new building, Assiniboia Hall, was completed in 1913. A third building, Pembina hall, was completed in time for the opening in 1914. These buildings are now used as University residences.

The contract for the main teaching building, the Arts Building of the University, was let in December, 1913. It is a fine structure in the neoclassic style, and was completed in 1915. During the period of the war, building was suspended. But in 1919 building commenced again to keep pace with wonderful expansion of the work of the University and the popular demands made for its services. A Civil Engineering unit was added that year. In 1920 work was commenced and completed in the following year, on the Medical Building—a splendid structure in architectural harmony with the Arts Building close by.

The Faculty of Law was established in 1912 and enlarged into a School of Law in 1922.

Civil Engineering was separated from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 1913, and constituted a separate faculty. In the same year the Faculty of Medicine was organized, providing for three years' training out of a course of five years, the fourth and fifth years to be completed at approved Universities in Eastern Canada. In 1922 the University acquired one of the Municipal hospitals of the City of Edmonton, which by an agreement executed in 1913 between the City and the University, had been built on the University Grounds, and thus completed its equipment for giving a full course in Medicine. The course has been extended to six years.

The Faculty of Agriculture was established in 1915. A large portion of the University Park was set aside for farm buildings and experimental plots. Land adjacent to the University Park has been acquired to meet the needs of this important department of the work of the University. This Faculty is more closely related to the fundamental industry of the Province than any other in the whole institution. Successful experiments have been carried on under Dean Howes and Professor Cutler for a number of years in developing new varieties of cereal grains, clovers and corn particularly adapted to the soil, climate and moisture conditions of Alberta.

A Faculty of Commerce, and a Faculty of Agricultural Engineering were established in 1921, and in the same year the Faculty of Law was enlarged to a School of Law.

Since 1912 the University has conducted an Extension Department which provides many of the benefits of the University for the people of the towns, villages and rural districts remote from the capital. This department provides lecturers, briefs on all kinds of useful subjects, supplies material for debating clubs and literary societies. Under its auspices, high school debating leagues have been organized in the principal High Schools of the Provinces, which have stimulated a remarkable interest in the discussion of academic questions, current problems, in argumentation and public speaking.

In conformity with the general policy of the Provincial University of controlling degree conferring powers, provision has been made by the Act, through the Senate, for the affiliation of any institution or college established to promote the teaching of useful knowledge. Such institutions may present students for examinations leading to a degree in the University, and upon passing the same tests as are required by the University are entitled to a degree. On this basis the Medical Association, Dental Association, Architects' Association, Chartered Accountants' Association, Osteopathic Association, Alberta Law Society, and the Alberta Land Surveyors' Association have all been brought under the control of the University. Three of the principal religious denominations are affiliated with the University, namely: Alberta College South, the theological school of the Methodist Church in Alberta, in 1908; Robertson College, the theological college of the Presbyterian Church in Alberta, founded by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, in 1910; St. Aidan's College, operating under the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton, by resolution of the Senate, May 15th, 1919.

Under the regulations of the Senate several preparatory schools and colleges which send students up for the matriculation examinations of the University are affiliated with the University. At the present time the list includes:

Western Canada College, Calgary.
Alberta College, Edmonton.
Mount Royal College, Calgary.
Alberta College (North), Edmonton.
The University School, Calgary.
Llanarthey School for Girls, Edmonton.

The location of the University of Alberta at Strathcona (now united with Edmonton) led to a strong movement in the City of Calgary for the establishment of a University in that city. A petition on behalf of certain citizens of Calgary was presented to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 1910 praying for the incorporation of a University at Calgary. The charter proposed for the new University was in all essential features a copy of that granted to the Provincial University. In response to the petition the Assembly passed an Act incorporating the Calgary College, but withheld the power of granting degrees and the power to control ex aminations governing admission to the learned professions.

Application for University status was made on behalf of the Calgary College in 1911 and again in 1913. Decisive action was postponed until a report was prepared by the University Commission, which consisted of President Falconer of the University of Toronto, President Murray of the University of Saskatchewan, and President MacKenzie of Dalhousie University. The Commission made a careful study of the whole University problem in Alberta, and finally decided along the principles expressed by Haultain and Rutherford years before, but recommended the establishment of an Institute of Technology and Art for the City of Calgary, with power to grant certificates and diplomas in technological subjects, and that the Institute be supported and controlled jointly by the City of Calgary and the Province.

During the time that the agitation for a University in the City of Calgary was in progress, Calgary College was organized with a Board of Governors, Dr. T. H. Blow, Chairman, and W. T. Tregillus, Secretary. A small staff of instructors and lecturers were appointed, and over a quarter of a million was subscribed by wealthy citizens, and a gift of 575 acres of land was made, while the city corporation agreed to provide $150,000 for a building. The war intervened and the college was abandoned.

Following out the recommendation of the University Commission, the Government of the Province proceeded with the organization of the Institute of Technology. During the war the building and staff of the Institute were loaned to the Federal Government for retraining ex-service men by the Soldiers' Civic Re-establishment Service. In October, 1920, the Institute was returned to the Province. Meanwhile a new and more suitable building had been in the course of construction. This building was completed in 1923, and Mr. W. G. Carpenter, Superintendent of Schools, Edmonton, was appointed first principal in November of the same year.

The growth of the University of Alberta has been one of the outstanding movements in the history of the Province. Commencing in 1908, as has been previously pointed out, with 45 students and four professors, the registration in 1914 had increased to 400 students, with 17 professors and 26 lecturers. Today the registration is over 1,300 students, and the teaching staff consists of 100 professors and lecturers. In numbers and influence it ranks as one of the foremost institutions of learning in the Dominion of Canada, and has gained a high reputation in the United States. It has been recognized by the Rockefeller Foundation as worthy to participate in the funds administered by the Foundation for the promotion of better medical training, to the amount of $500,000.

The University has been generously supported by the people through the Legislative Assembly, and ably organized by President Tory. On its professorial staff are scientists of international repute. Dr. J. B. Collip, of the staff of the Medical Faculty, shares with Professor Macleod, Dr. Banting and Dr. Best, of the University of Toronto, the honor of participating in the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1923, for the discovery of insulin—the first Canadians to win this preeminent distinction.



 


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