Manitoba College in Pictures
Manitoba College was an institution rooted in the Scottish settler community in Kildonan and the Presbyterian Church. It arose in 1871 out of a need for higher education in that community, complementing the basic schools that had operated there for decades already. The College moved to Winnipeg shortly after and expanded as quickly as the city itself. Its educational focus began in 1883 to shift towards training Presbyterian men and women for ministry, church, and missionary work, and after 1914 taught no other subject than Theology. The College’s first graduate was Métis, and it was the first in Manitoba to admit female students: progressive aspects juxtaposed against its evangelizing and colonial background. Manitoba College’s close ties to Wesley College and the United Church led to increasing levels of cooperation between the two institutions, until in 1938 they joined forces permanently as United College. With its building long since demolished and its theological legacy diminished, Manitoba College lies in the obscure past of the University of Winnipeg. And yet in spite of the loss of its physical traces, it remains – even after 150 years – an integral part of our institution’s story.
Manitoba College in Pictures – Additional Information
1. Manitoba College taught its first class. November 10th 1871
Manitoba College was formed after the Scottish Presbyterian settlers in Kildonan appealed for several years to their church administration for a secondary school in their community. In its first year, Dr. John Black and Dr. George Bryce taught seventeen students in the stone schoolhouse now called Nisbet Hall near the historic Kildonan Presbyterian Church.
Photo shows Nisbet Hall, taken in 1964. University of Winnipeg Archives SC-4-2-84-261
2. Manitoba College, ca. 1880.
From 1875 to 1881 this large house at 485 Main St. (north-west corner of Main and Henry) was the home of Manitoba College. In 1881, Professor of Science and Literature Rev. George Bryce and his wife Marion were living in the house along with eight students and two servants. The youngest student in residence was sixteen year old Donald H. McVicar (Cree), the first, First Nations graduate of Manitoba College (BA, 1884). Credit: Archives of Manitoba
3. Silver Medal in Languages, presented to Alice Mary Ham, 1893.
Alice Mary Ham (1873-1936) was one of three women to graduate from Manitoba College with a BA in 1893. This was the first time that there had been more than one woman in the graduating class since Jessie Livingstone Holmes became the first woman to graduate in 1889. Credit: Manitoba Museum.
4. William Reginald Gunn, first graduate. June 1880
William Reginald Gunn, a man of Métis background, was the first person awarded a degree by the University of Manitoba. He took an honours degree in Natural Science at Manitoba College, and won the Governor General’s Silver Medal for academic achievement.
Photo shows Mr. Gunn. University of Manitoba Archives UM_pc080_A83-052_010_0427_012_0001
5. Manitoba College Building opened. October 1882
After teaching in various borrowed or leased locations in Kildonan and Winnipeg, the growing College needed a permanent site. The land along what is now Ellice and Kennedy was purchased from HBC; the cornerstone was laid in 1881. The building was designed by the architect Charles Arnold Barber who also later designed the “gingerbread” City Hall.
Photo shows the Manitoba College Building in 1892. University of Winnipeg Archives 02-009
6. Theology program at Manitoba College begins. October 1883
Dr. John Mark King was sent from Toronto by the Presbyterian Church at the petition of the College for a Theological Department. Dr. King was made the College’s first Principal and Professor of Theology, allowing the College to administer a Bachelor of Divinity program independently from the University of Manitoba.
Photo shows Principal King as published in the Manitoba College Journal Souvenir Number, 1893. University of Winnipeg Archives MC-13-1-5
7. Jesse Livingstone Holmes, first female student, begins study. October 1886
Prior to 1886, the University of Manitoba did not permit women in post-secondary education at its colleges. Jesse Livingstone Holmes and three other women challenged this rule, and had the support of Manitoba College’s principal Dr. King. She became the first woman to study at Manitoba College and also the first female graduate of the University of Manitoba when she finished her degree in 1889.'
Photo shows Manitoba College students outside the building, 1890s. We don’t have a picture of Ms. Holmes herself. University of Winnipeg Archives SC-4-7-84-756
8. “My Convocation, June 1895,” from Nuffield, E.W, With the West In Her Eyes: Nellie Hislop’s Story.
Winnipeg: Hyperion Press Ltd, 1987. P 132.
9. Manitoba University Science Class, 1897.
A photograph of the Manitoba University Science Class of 1897: H. W. Wadge, E. E. Meek, R. E. McCullagh, J. H. Conklin, E. W. Rose, G. H. Craig, A. J. Fraser, R. N. Burns, Dr. Laird, M. McVicar, founding professor Dr. Bryce, N. J. Matthew, T. B. Sharpe, A. M. Campbell, C. N. Dalgleish, and S. J. S. Peirce (identified as S. J. S. Pierce).
University of Manitoba College of Medicine Archives – Medicine Photograph Collection (2.0-177)
10. Medicine Football Team, 1885.
Medicine football team, incl.: R.S. McMunn, J. Pullar, Rev. George Bryce (Manitoba College); others not identified, with trophy, c. 1885
University of Manitoba College of Medicine Archives – Medicine Photograph Collection (3.6-15)
11. Halloween at Manitoba College, 1910.
12. First attempt at unity made with Wesley College. February 4th 1913.
With so many years of physical proximity and sympathetic goals and beliefs, Manitoba and Wesley Colleges felt they could offer the best quality of education if they cooperated. Meetings began in July 1912, and for the 1913-1914 session they taught as United Colleges with one Principal, one registrar, and one board of governors. The arrangement was not permanent, but set the precedent for their final union many years later.
Photo shows the First Annual United Colleges Banquet held at the Fort Garry Hotel, 11th February 1914. University of Winnipeg Archives SC-4-7-84-733
13. Manitoba College becomes exclusively Theological. October 29th 1914
The specialty of Manitoba College had been Theology for many years already, and Arts was taught by the University and other Colleges. Manitoba College, therefore, relinquished responsibility for instruction in other subjects to focus exclusively on its Theology department.
Photo shows the faculty and students of Manitoba College outside the building, c. 1920. University of Winnipeg Archives SC-4-7-84-759
14. Group of Women in Convocation Robes, c. 1915
University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections – Riley Family fonds (PC 169, A.03-46), Box 10, Folder 4
15. Manitoba College Golden Jubilee. 14th November 1921
Events for the 50th anniversary of Manitoba College were held over the course of a week, coinciding with the 38th Annual Meeting of the Synod of Manitoba in Knox Church. The events were an homage to Manitoba College’s Scottish cultural heritage, its academic achievements, and most of all its religious legacy.
Photo shows faculty and students in the Manitoba College Convocation Hall, c. 1929. University of Winnipeg Archives SC-2-3-15884
16. Manitoba College Graduating Dinner, March 24, 1922.
A photograph of a group of people at the Manitoba College graduating dinner, shown seated at tables in dress clothes. A large flag is hanging in the background. Annotation across image reads: "Manitoba College Graduating Dinner. March 24th 1922."
University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections - University Relations and Information Office fonds (PC 80, A.83-52), Box 13, Folder 480
17. United Colleges of Manitoba formed. July 1st 1926
In 1925 the Presbyterian and Methodist churches who founded Manitoba and Wesley Colleges, respectively, joined the United Church of Canada. The Executive Boards of the two colleges reached an agreement: they taught separately and retained their individual charters and faculties, but administered their Bachelor and Doctor of Divinity degree programs as one body and published one calendar with a Joint Executive Board.
Photo is a collage of United Church/Manitoba/Wesley College Theologia, 1926. University of Winnipeg Archives SC-4-7-84-743
18. Manitoba College building sold. October 28th 1931
Manitoba College’s solely Theological student body was not growing; practical and financial considerations led the college to sell its building to St. Paul’s College. Manitoba continued to lease classroom space from both St. Paul’s and Wesley.
Photo shows one of the last images of the Manitoba College building before it was demolished, 11th August 1964. University of Winnipeg Archives, WCPI, Arlene Bilinkoff Collection, A1776-58063
19. United College Act amalgamated Wesley & Manitoba Colleges. March 8th 1938
After years of co-operation and negotiation, a full unity between the two Colleges was forged: Wesley College changed its name to United College, and Manitoba College united with the new body. United College, like its predecessors, had the power to grant degrees in theology and divinity, but arts and sciences degrees remained the province of the University of Manitoba. United College went on to become the University of Winnipeg in 1967.
Photo shows Wesley Hall decorated for its Golden Jubilee in 1938, which coincided with the union. University of Winnipeg Archives SC-4-1-84-49
20. University of Winnipeg acknowledges 100th Anniversary of Manitoba College. October 1971
The University of Winnipeg marked the anniversary of Manitoba College as “100 Years of Education,” and its own 100th Birthday. The festivities included the laying of the Rock of Remembrance as a cairn, a nod to the Scottish cultural heritage of Manitoba College; and the Centennial Cavalcade, whereby the newly inaugurated President Duckworth, along with Chancellor Thorlakson and UWSA President Marilou McPhedran, drove a specially decorated van around Winnipeg ending at Nisbet Hall where Manitoba College’s first classes were taught a century prior.
Photo shows President Duckworth, Chancellor Thorlakson, and UWSA President McPhedran, posting Mayor Stephen Juba’s Proclamation of the University of Winnipeg Week on the door of Nisbet Hall, 8th October 1971. SC-4-2-84-355