Letter book

Condition: binding in good condition, a few loose pages at the beginning of the book

Subject tags: apprenticeship, building activities, carpentry, church societies, Department of Indian Affairs, donations, farming, finances, funding, funding problems, fundraising, government contacts, government funding, government meetings, government policy, Indian Agents, Indian Residential School System, Indigneous communities, local events, public school system, runaway students, school inspections, school repairs, school reports, school supplies, statistics, student activities, student clothing, studnt discharge, student families, student health, student holidays, student occupation, student progress, student recruitment, student retention, student support, student uniforms, tailoring, trades, Wawanosh

The letters in this book are from George Ley King to a number of different people, including church staff and officials, members of the Women’s Auxiliary (part of the Anglican Church), Indian Agents, Government officials such as the Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs (Hayter Reed), donors, and Indigenous community members. The majority of the letters deals with school finances, especially support for students. Finances were extremely low after Edward F. Wilson left in 1893 with many supporters giving up their donations, and King was having a hard time increasing support and trying to keep the school out of debt. The majority of students at the school during this time were unsupported. Despite the lack of funds, the school was a maximum capacity and King constantly had to refuse applications for new students who wanted to be admitted. He tried to get government funding to expand the dormitory in order to take on more male students but was unsuccessful. King did succeeded in collecting enough money to build the expansion to the school which became the New Wawanosh and allowed the school to take on female students again. While the majority of letters are from 1898-1904, there is one letter from 1905, one letter from 1907, and one letter from 1908. The letter from 1908 is a letter King received from the Indian Department, rather than one he sent to them.

To view a PDF flipbook version of the book on the Internet Archive, click here, or scroll down for a downloadable version.