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Alberni

 -  1900 -1973

Religious Entity: Presbyterian United Church

In 1893, the Presbyterian Church built the Alberni Girls Home on Vancouver Island a few miles outside Port Alberni. It was taken over by the United Church in 1925. The school was destroyed by fire in 1917, 1937, and 1941 and rebuilt following each fire. The West Coast Council of Indian Chiefs campaigned for the school’s closing in the 1960s, charging that children in need of care were being dumped into the school. The school was eventually closed in 1973. In 1995 a former supervisor at the school from 1948 to 1968 was convicted of 18 counts of indecent assault against Aboriginal students and sentenced to 11 years in jail.

Group of students from Alberni School
Group of four students from Alberni School
Group of students from Alberni School

Remembering the Following Students:

NameDate of Death (Year/Month/Day)
Annie Jack1903-11-12
Bertha Fred1937-02-14
Cyril Mussell1946-10-04
Dalton Silver1941-06-13
David Thomas1972-11-11
Dorothy Ross1925-12-03
Edward Thompson1946-07-27
Herbert Robert Green1951-07-16
Ivan Wilson1973-11-10
Jack Williams1905-11-19
Katie Taylor1908-12-12
Katy Ross1936-04-20
Lily Pearl Smith1945-12-03
Maisie Shaw1946-12-26
Mary Bob1937-02-14
Mary Elaine George1964-10-05
Mary Taylor1908-10-01
Matilda Ross1926-09-27
Maud Jackson1908-11-01 – 1908-11-30
May Ross1928-12-09
Minnie Ross1929-05-13
Mitchell Joseph1969-05-26
Nellie Klutesi1916-05-01 1916-05-31
Norman Bob1942-04-07
Shirley Leslie Williams1963-05-17
Taylor Santo1906-08-13
Theodore Mckay1941-05-22
Violet McKay1937-02-14
Virginia Moses1946-03-15
Yinnito Taylor1899-07-01 – 1899-07-31