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Sault Ste. Marie's City Hall recently had a name change: as of 2020 it is now known as the Ronald A. Irwin Civic Centre. Obviously, if someone has earned having their name on the building they must have done some impressive things, but who exactly was Ronald A. Irwin beyond simply being a former mayor? Let's find out.
Born here in 1936, Irwin was quick to educate himself by acquiring both an undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario, as well as a Law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. Later on in his life he would be elected to the position of Mayor of the Soo. He would keep this post from 1972 to 1974, and it did not take long for him to leave a mark on the city.
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Written by Justin Brett Sometimes a small town can be touched by a far more famous figure or event. We've seen that on this blog with the Red River Rebellion, where Sault Ste. Marie was the site of a dispute between Canada and America, one that ended up causing the creation of our own Lochs. One person who came by our town in its earliest years had his work become so famous it is now in the Smithsonian: George Catlin.
Catlin lived from July of 1796 to December of 1872, meaning he lived through what is now known as the 'Old West' period of North America, when the land was very new to settlers and interactions with natives were both common and full of problems. He had a short career as a lawyer, but that changed when he witnessed a delegation of Natives at Philidelphia. Feeling that they were a 'vanishing race', he decided to chronicle them himself, by recording their appearance and customs through paintings. Written by Justin Brett Being an educator is often a job that doesn't receive the respect it deserves. These people evaluate and inspire the next generation, but can end up being overlooked in many ways. To push back against this trend, today's blog post is about an educator who worked to mold the past generation, Gladys McNeice.
Mrs. McNeice was born and raised in the Port Stanley-St. Thomas area, and studied herself first at the Victoria College in Toronto, then the Ontario College of Education. After obtaining her teacher's credentials, McNeice would work in several positions across Ontario, including the Algoma College, before arriving at the Sault. Gladys was a teacher at Sault Collegiate, or Sault College as it's known today, from 1923 to 1969. She specialized in French, German and Modern History, and recalls teaching nearly every period of the day at the beginning of her time there. Written By: Justin Brett There are many famous people who lived in Sault Ste. Marie, many of whom have also appeared in this blog. People like Thomas Durham or Paul Kane are fairly well-known in this category, but one people may not know off-heart is Joseph Laderoute. Rather than being a politician or an explorer, he was a professional singer, and a very talented one at that.
Born in Sault Ste. Marie, Joseph seems to have led a normal life as a young boy, becoming one of many choir-singers at his local church at the age of five. This might have ended up being just a short chapter of Joseph's life if not for a twist of fate: as it so happens, a man named Arthur S. Somers, a Brooklyn educator in singing, happened to be at Sacred Heart Church that day on invitation. He was meant to sing himself, but claims to have been so overcome by Joseph's soprano voice, which he likened to an angel's, that he was unable to. Written by: Justin Brett A local television and radio broadcaster no longer seen today was CJIC-TV, which broadcast from 1955 to 2002. One personality who was especially prominent was Grace Pitt. She worked for over forty years at the station, long enough she became something of a local celebrity.
Her career began with her as a co-host of the morning show, before eventually becoming women's director at the station and hosting her own television program. As you can see by these photos, she would often interview people, help advertise products, and even did cooking shows. Outside of the station she was one of the founding members of the Great Tug Boat Race, an event that ran yearly in the summer from 1982 to 2015. Written by: Justin Brett Many people traveled through Canada when it was still largely an undeveloped area, helping to paint a portrait of what the country was like back then. Few did this more literally than Paul Kane, an artist who traveled the Pacific coast when the Fur Trade was beginning its decline. Through graphite, watercolours and oil on paper, Kane would produce over seven hundred pictures and accompanying journal descriptions of the lives of indigenous people.
Written by: Justin Brett Edith Cavell was a practicing nurse in Britain, and while not a resident of Canada she became an important figure in World War I due to her actions and what she represented.
Cavell grew up in Norfolk in the village of Swardeston as the daughter of a rector, and would end up working as a Governess in Belgium for a time. Her true calling, however, was Nursing, which she studied for in London. After working in hospitals across England, she found work in Belgium as matron of its first hospital and school for the training of nurses. This may seem like a rapid change, but luck was somewhat in her favor, as until that point nursing had not been a fully established profession in the country. Cavell is considered by many to be the founder of modern nursing education in Belgium. Written by: Justin Brett No semester at Algoma University can (or at least, shouldn’t) be finished without at least a few trips to the Arthur Wishart library, home to many books and resources for students, whatever their subject or assignment is. If you’ve been to or taken advantage of this library, you might wonder who he is. Well, ask no more.
Born in 1903 in New Brunswick, like many young men we have covered Arthur went into the field of law for his post-secondary studies. He obtained a degree from Osgoode Law School in 1930 and would work as a lawyer in both Windsor and Blind River, even serving as Mayor of the latter for a time. Finally, he moved to Sault Ste. Marie in 1939. Written by: Justin Brett ‘First’ can mean a lot of things in the world depending on the scale you use. There can be the first ever in general, the first in a country, and at the smallest, the first in a town. This doesn’t necessarily diminish any of them, of course, as being a trailblazer can be difficult regardless of the size of it. A good example of this is Lois Beckett, Sault Ste. Marie’s first female police officer, and as it stands one who set the record for the longest service of her gender.
Beckett was sworn in as a policewoman in 1949. This was an official term at the time, as women were not given the rank of Constable upon joining until 1962. The arguable sexism of this did not stop Beckett from staying on the job, although in 1961 she did switch from Sault Ste. Marie’s police force to that of neighbouring Tarentorus. Written by: Justin Brett As mentioned in our page on the Chicora Incident, you can often never tell when something will become historical. Sometimes a work written on a whim can become very important. This can be shown very well with Anna Jameson, a woman born in 1794 who wrote an account of her tour through Canada that became a notable historical source.
That isn’t to say Jameson was not a fascinating person in her own right, of course. A creative woman from her youth, her first work was an autobiographical book by the invented personality of a dying woman. This was published as The Diary of an Ennuyée, gaining notoriety when the book’s real author was discovered. Her first significant work under her own name was Characteristics of Women. This book was an analysis of the heroines in Shakespeare’s work, and shows a great deal of critical insight. Jameson also worked as a governess from a young age, something that would influence her in the future. |
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What is this page all about?This page is dedicated to the curious folks, history junkies, and SSM community lovers.
Dedicated to preserving our local history and displaying it for our community.
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