Back to school

Few of us know much about Canada’s early Black settlers. But the Canadian Museum of Civilization has chosen a little schoolhouse to kick off a great adventure through this important piece of our history. Welcome to Amber Valley.

From Oklahoma to Alberta

It begins with a single photograph: a light yellow coloured house in the middle of a field – the Toles School. Although one-room schoolhouses were common in the early 1900s, this particular school has a special story to tell about the courage and achievements of Black pioneers.

Between 1908 and 1911, many descendents of slaves fled the racial segregation of Oklahoma. And since the homesteads of the Athabasca region offered fertile land at low prices, the Canadian prairies became a preferred destination. A thousand or so people started a new life in Pine Creek, later renamed Amber Valley. Even as they dispersed across the vastness of the Canadian prairies, the Black settlers remained a tight-knit community. Wanting a better future for their children, they quickly erected the Toles School. A few white faces dotted a schoolroom of mostly black children since racial cohabitation was less fraught in Amber Valley.

Named for Nimrod Toles – one of the first black colonists to settle in the Athabasca region – the Toles School opened its doors in 1913. Originally a log house, the school was reconstructed in 1932 into the building remembered today. It served children until the end of the 1950s, a time when school buses signaled the end of the one-room schoolhouse. A few decades later, the historic building was demolished to make way for a highway.

From Amber Valley to Gatineau

To offer a tangible glimpse into 1940s rural prairie life and to deepen our collective understanding of the history of Black people in Canada, the Canadian Museum of Civilization came up with the idea to replicate the Toles School in Canada Hall. Since the school no longer exists and only a few photos of the building remain, the challenge of reconstructing it as accurately as possible is indeed great.

Dr. Rhonda Hinter, Curator of Western Canadian History at the Museum, began her journey into the Amber Valley in 2006. While the archival research has certainly expanded her knowledge, it’s oral history that has led her to recreate the school. Over the last few years, Hinter has made her way to all parts of Canada to meet with fifteen former Toles School students. No detail was left unstudied: from the number of hooks that hung little coats to the placement of the school’s wood stove. Even online selling stores were combed to locate the era desks and artifacts that would best bring the replica Toles School to life.

As a new neighbour to a charming Ukrainian church in the Museum’s Canada Hall, the Toles School will also tell stories in the form of audio clips selected from the many hours of recorded interviews with former students. This summer, you’ll not only be able to learn about this fascinating piece of our history, you’ll be able to experience it.