Cornwall School District 4700 fonds. — 1930-1946. — 18.5 cm of textual records. — 5 blueprints.
Agency History
Cornwall School District was established in 1935, with classes beginning in a settler’s home early in 1936. The log school was built that year on the southeast corner of NE 27-70-26-W5 of Billy Veitch’s land. Double desks for younger students and single desks for older ones, as well as the teacher’s desk, were hand-made. The first teacher was Ella (Hughes) Schamahorn and early board members were Secretary-Treasurer George Nelms, Fred Wilson, Christian Hauff, Edgar Weber, Mrs. A. Woodward and Ike Ratzlaff. First students to attend the new school were Amanda, Melita, Marion, Rosa and Dora Hauff, Irene and Cecil Weber, Agnes and George LaRondel and Dorothy Ratzlaff. Other teachers who taught in those early years were Miss Goldie Satan, Alice Dalen, Agnes L. Strome, Mrs. Vyda Loewen, Eleanor Wilson, Mrs. Barney Hamm and Miss Sheila Purvis. Cornwall School was managed by a local board until 1945, when declining enrollments forced its closure. Students then attended Simonette or Ridgevalley. Under the East Smoky School Division, the school re-opened in 1954, when the old Edson Trail School was moved to the Cornwall District, NW 27-70-26-W5. Cornwall School operated until 1960, when it closed for good.
Cornwall School served many functions as a host to community meetings and it seconded as a church. Mr. Gerry deVeer would made many trips to the school to hold a service, Mrs. Weber ran a Sunday School and the Anglican Sunday School Mission also made a stop at the Cornwall School. It also would play host to weddings, on March 2, 1939 Melita Hauff and David Ratzlaff were married there.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of textual records relating to the operation of Cornwall School in six series: financial records, correspondence, tax records, daily registers and inspection reports, school building, and associated organizations.
There was no discernible original order in the records when they arrived. Order was imposed on them by the archivist based on the contents of the records.
Custodial History
The records were preserved by Mrs. Miryom (Abe) Fast, and passed on to her sister Dora Cornelson, who donated them to South Peace Regional Archives in 2010.
Notes
| Series 544.01 | Financial Records |
| Series 544.02 | Correspondence |
| Series 544.03 | Tax Records |
| Series 544.04 | Daily Registers and Inspectors Reports |
| Series 544.05 | School Building |
| Series 544.06 | Associated Organizations |
| Series 544.01 | Financial Records. — 1935-1946. — 2 cm of textual records. The series consists of 2 scribblers that contain financial accounts for 1935-1936, 1937-1939, income tax records for the school 1935-1936 and 1943, list of land holders cancellations and new entries 1936, invoices 1936, grants 1936-1938 and 1941-1943, store receipts 1937, 1939, 1941, annual statement and auditors report, 1937, an assessment done in 1938, insurance 1939-1945, balance sheet for 1940, a cancelled cheque for 1941, requests from the teacher Vyda M. Loewen for various payments to be made on her behalf 1941-1942, photocopies of financial statements from the East Smoky School Division 1945-1945. |
| Series 544.02 | Correspondence. — 1936-1943. — 2 cm of textual records. The series consists mainly of letters between the Secretary-Treasurer, George Nelms, and various government agencies from 1935-1943. |
| Series 544.03 | Tax Records. — 1935-1940. — 2 cm of textual records. The series consists of a list of tax payers for 1935, a tax receipt book for 1936-1939, and two Assessment and Tax Roll books for 1937-1938 and 1939-1940. |
| Series 544.04 | Daily Registers and Inspectors Reports. — 1937-1944. — 5 cm of textual records. The series consists of 5 daily registers, some which contain teacher’s contracts, principal’s reports, inspector’s reports, and teacher’s reports. |
| Series 544.05 | School Building. — 1930-1935. — 1 cm of textual records. — 5 blueprints. The series consists of a pamphlet from the US Department of Commerce on Wood Utilization titled, Treated Lumber Its Uses and Economies 1930; a price list of culverts from Canada Creosoting Company Limited based out of Calgary; 2 typed supply lists for material to build a school; and 5 Diazo plans detailing the construction of a log school dated 1930, 1931 and 1933. |
| Series 544.06 | Associated Organizations. — 1930-1935. — 6.5 cm of textual records. The series consists of various publications from the Province of Alberta relating to school management: The School Act, the School Assessment Act, the Tax Recovery Act, the School Grants Act, the School Attendance Act, amendments to the School Act for 1935-1936, 1938 and 1941-1943; General Regulations of the Department of Education for 1934, 1937, 1940 and 1943; a 1935 Alberta Gazette; a report titles “What Is and What Might Be in Rural Education in Alberta” dated 1935; an Act to Provide Assessment of Property Liable to Taxation in Towns, Villages, Municipal Districts, Improvement Districts and School Districts, 1938. There is also a catalogue of class room aids for 1944-1945, and a manual for the school’s Secretary-Treasurer dated 1944. |