Athol Murray College of Notre Dame is well-known for producing excellent athletes, but there's much more to the story than that.
Alice Henderson, a North Battleford woman who resided at the Wilcox college during her high school years, is the author of a book that tells the full story of the iconic centre of education. Now, 60 years after graduating, she has turned over the copyright of her 1987 book, Notre Dame of the Prairies, to her beloved alma mater.
An official signing ceremony in North Battleford recently and a symbolic presentation to President Rob Palmarin at the college Friday, May 20 has provided a legacy for the school's future.
She originally published 800 copies of her book detailing the history of the college first founded in 1920. They've been available from herself and through the school. After 24 years, there are just a few copies left, and with the signing over of the book's rights to the school, Henderson has ensured Notre Dame will always be able to reproduce the book in whatever quantities necessary.
Writing the book was a labour of love for Henderson. At Notre Dame, she made life-long friends and life-long interests were inspired (see accompanying story). Hoping never to forget her experiences there, she kept notes for many years.
"My long dream was to write something about the Sisters and the girls," says Henderson, referring to the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis who taught at the school and the many girls and young women who went to school there.
The college was, and still is, a residential school for both boys and girls. Established in 1920 when three parishes in the area identified the need for a Catholic school, teaching Sisters were recruited from Quebec to open a convent/boarding school.
At a time when high schools were few and far between, it attracted students from throughout the area - students like Alice Stefan and her siblings and about a dozen others from the Minton area.
During Henderson's time there, the Sisters and other teachers served as both educators and family. They guided the students in and out of the classroom, helping them learn life skills while helping with chores and duties throughout the school.
"They treated us like their own children." says Henderson.
The dream of writing a book about the college became reality when, as a member of the school's national alumni association, she was "volunteered" to write a history book in time for the homecoming of 1987. That was in 1983. For the next several years, she conducted research, compiled information, contacted former "Hounds" and teachers for their stories, remembrances and photos. She was pleased to receive responses representing each decade of the school's history.
"They were just lovely stories," she says.
Henderson uses a "fictionalized" tour guided by long time-principal Mother Mary Edith to move the history book along, starting with a viewing of a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary (see inset), through to the 1927 arrival of Father Athol Murray and members of the hockey team he had established in Regina, and the development of dynamic academic and athletic programs.
The book follows the school's struggles through difficult times, opening its doors to any student who wanted to learn, regardless of means or religious affiliation. Notre Dame eventually attracted students from across Canada and the United States. Bursting at the seams, the college converted vacant stores, banks, cafés and even threshing shacks into classrooms and dormitories.
Today, the school continues to offer a secondary school diploma recognized by universities across North America. There are three residences, one for girls and two for boys. Living in residence is considered a maturing experience, fostering cooperation, accountability and a sense of identity for the young adult.
That was the legacy Henderson took away from Notre Dame and is helping the college to preserve by making her book, Notre Dame of the Prairies, available to future generations of students and alumni.
A hands-on publisher
Alice Henderson, who worked as a social editor, columnist, reporter, photographer and a journeyman darkroom technician at the News-Optimist from 1965 to 1988, published her history of Notre Dame College at Wilcox for the 1987 Homecoming.
In addition to compiling its contents, she was responsible for the paste-up and darkroom work for the entire book, which, in the days before digital photography and computerized pagination, was time-consuming and labour-intensive work. She did everything but set the type and run the press, she laughs.
Henderson's employer, the now late C. Irwin McIntosh, encouraged her to write the book and allowed her the time she needed to complete it. Friend and co-worker Inez Nordstrom helped with the editing, and Madelyn Speed of North Battleford, a former Notre Dame student, helped with the proofreading and the galleys before paste-up. Henderson had 600 soft cover and 200 hardcover books printed.
It was not the first book Henderson had put together. In 1971, she compiled a history of her home district of Minton and Gladmar entitled Homesteading in Surprise Valley, and in 1985 she published a book commemorating a reunion of the Stefan-Gergen family.
But of Notre Dame of the Prairies, Henderson says, "My crowning glory was that book."
