Elsie was born on December 28, 1917. Her family had come to Canada from Northumberland, England in 1907. They first settled in High River, Alberta, where her father pursued his trade as a carpenter.  A few years later, the family moved to Calgary, where Elsie’s brother Douglas Henderson was born in September 1914. The [...]

  Two widely separated City Blocks figure prominently in the history of the Vancouver School Board.  Each block witnessed changes in the site of the Vancouver School Board. BLOCK 37 (1893- 1951)   1893     Construction of Vancouver High School nears completion. At centre is the one-floor, two-room wooden building that at [...]

    Looking south from Victory Square towards Block 37. During 1925 – 1980, the Vancouver School of Art occupied several different sites here.   Timeline: 1925:   The Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts opens on the top floor of the Vancouver School Board (VSB) building at 590 Hamilton Street. 1926:   Charles [...]

THE EARLY YEARS OF THE VANCOUVER VOCATIONAL INSTITUTE The following passages are taken from PART IV of a history of the Vancouver Vocational Institute written by Hans W. Rerup, former Principal of the Vancouver Vocational Institute and published in 1993. The photos are from the Vancouver School Board Photo Archives. (Summary: The reasons why the [...]

The following passages are taken from PART III of a history of the Vancouver Vocational Institute written by Hans W. Rerup, former Principal of the Vancouver Vocational Institute, and published in 1993. The photos are from the Vancouver School Board Photo Archives. Summary: The location, surroundings, and legal history of the site (Block 37). [...]

THE            WORKSHOP          STORY The old Workshop – looking into its history – its people – its growing pains – that are what this story is all about. Many people throughout the years have spent a large part of their lives working in and out of the big, not too handsome, grey building. As you look [...]