Madawaska Training School collection

Collection

Identifier: MCC-00501

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of seven framed photographs, three copies of photographs, without frames, and a document regarding general regulations for the Madawaska Training School Boarding House. The photographs are of individuals or groups of individuals representing some of the Madawaska Training School’s staff and students. This collection is part of the Acadian Archives permanent collections.

Dates

Creation: 1868 - 1934
Other: Date acquired: unknown

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access.

copyrights

Copyright has been assigned to the Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes

Historical

The Madawaska Training School was established 21 February 1878 by the Maine Legislature "for the purpose of training persons to teach in the common schools of the [Madawaska] territory." Originally the school year was split between separate locations at Fort Kent and Van Buren (1879-1883) or Fort Kent and Grand Isle (1884-1887), but in 1888 the Legislature established a year-round facility at Fort Kent.

Once the school had permanently located at Fort Kent, it became necessary to provide lodging for students from other parts of the Saint John Valley. A boarding house "convenient in arrangements and sufficiently commodious for the accommodation of forty to fifty students" opened in 1893. Those staying at the boarding house paid no rent, but "they did have to bear their proportionate share of HEATING, LIGHTING, and supplying their home with water, an equivalent $1.50 per month" (Grindle, Roger. The University of Maine at Fort Kent: A century of progress, p. 30).