Back to school, back in time

The words ‘back to school’ have always carried a little sadness and a little magic: the carefree joys of summer holidays being rudely interrupted by a spree of shopping for school supplies. With it came an assortment of familiar and not-so-familiar objects that would become our daily school companions: Canada notebooks, rulers, inkwells and pencil cases. These items can magically conjure up a favourite teacher, neat rows of desks, class clown antics and the beloved recess bell. Two centuries of school supplies have made their way to the Museum – a testament to years of history written on the classroom chalkboard.

Once upon a time…

Each of us has, tucked away in a cupboard or drawer somewhere, an assortment of objects we have collected over the years – the fond memories of days gone by. These relics of our personal history can often spark vivid tales from our youth…and if they survive the passage of time, another generation might one day retell our stories from an old notebook or favourite fountain pen. But some enthusiasts go far beyond their personal reminiscences – they collect items that enrich our collective memory.

Just such a profound reverence for the past led Mae Rooney, retired school principal, to build an impressive collection of school items going back to the beginning of the 19^th century: workbooks, catechisms, provincial examinations, inkwells, world maps, globes, lunchboxes and more! One day in 1996, her personal collection made its way into the public eye – the Ottawa-Carleton separate school board was in search of vintage school objects to display at a special event.

The popularity of this exhibit led to the creation of the Ottawa-Carleton Museum of Catholic Education. As her impressive collection was taking up a fair amount of space in her home, Mrs Rooney was all too happy to place her classroom treasures in the good hands of the school board. She simply could not resist the offer to put her collection on display at their headquarters, for everyone to admire.

A class act

Nearly two years ago, the urge to breathe new life into the exhibit led the school board to contact the Canadian Museum of Civilization. As the hundreds of vintage school supplies play witness to the evolution of our education system, the Museum jumped at the chance to enrich its collection. In order to make the most of this new acquisition, a research associate was hired by the Museum to evaluate the collection. Anthony Di Mascio, a specialist in the history of education, took on the daunting task of sorting, identifying and cataloguing each of the 750 artifacts. Several hundred notebooks and textbooks will now enrich the Museum library. They contain a host of information on the evolution of education methods, school subjects, portrayals of boys and girls, and the rules of classroom etiquette.

Certain objects will find their new home in the Toles schoolhouse, recently built in the Canada Hall, while other maps, slates, desks and various artifacts will make up a vast collection of material culture, allowing researchers to visually validate what they have learned from archival documents. Don’t believe that world maps were supplied to schools by the makers of Neilson chocolates…with, of course, their logo prominently displayed? We now have physical proof!!

This new acquisition is only a start – the dream of an exhibition dedicated to the history of education is taking shape among the Museum’s specialists. This would entail enlarging the collection, interpreting it and presenting it to the public. Such an initiative would enable the Museum to bring together several generations of students, past and present, uniting them around an experience to which we can all relate – school. Have your textbooks at the ready: the next chapter awaits!