Home Economics School (1905-1964)

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The School was founded in the Grey Nuns Motherhouse in 1905 for the resident young female orphans. Its stated mission was to provide training in Christian virtues, to prepare them for the role expected of women of that era and permit them to earn a living whether in teaching or manual skills.

Sister Aimé Morin was the first director of a program which included religious formation, female education/etiquette, sewing, cooking and housekeeping.  From 1927 the School was affiliated with the University of Montreal and subjects such as religion, French, family pedagogy and childcare gradually overtook the importance of housekeeping skills. The school’s name became the Advanced Education in Management School in 1949 and two years later the Home Economics School.

Due to financial difficulties, the modernization of education and the transition of education to the hands of the laity, the School eventually closed its doors in June 1964. Some 2792 female students attended the School and of these 266 eventually entered religious life.

 

ASGM,L066, Insitut familial, Album 1, p. 48, Tissage, Sr Bertha Galarneau, 1940
ASGM,L066, Insitut familial, Album.4, p. 14, Élèves à l’art culinaire avec Sr Marie-Anne Côté, 1957-1958
ASGM, L066, Institut familial, Album 5, p. 60, Classe de Sr Y. Côté, novembre 1951

ASGM, F001, École ménagère, 1958 :