fby Sam McBride

One of my favourite local history publications is the special edition of The Mountaineer — the annual high school yearbook in Nelson — in 1956.

It was before my time as a student at L.V. Rogers High School in the late 1960s, but there has always been a copy of the yearbook in our family home because my dad received a souvenir copy at the opening ceremony of the new high school in 1956 when he was a school trustee.  Our copy has a distinctive, sponge-like cover.  The Shawn Lamb Archives at Touchstones in Nelson has a copy of the yearbook with the special white cover, as well as more economical copies with blue paper cover.

Students from the school`s Publications Club did an amazing job in producing a 104-page publication that paid homage to the pioneers and buildings of Nelson.  They diligently researched and produced lists of students, teachers, trustees and just about everyone else connected to high school education in the time from the first Nelson High School in 1901 until March 1956, when the school moved from the old Nelson High School at Hendryx and Latimer streets to a brand new site in Upper Fairview, where the school continues to serve the students of today.

Production of the annual yearbook had been sporadic over the years.  This one was the first Mountaineer since 1948 — and they made up for lost time with an excellent product.   Below is a table of contents of the 1956 Mountaineer and scans of the pages.  My favourite part of the publications is the lists, because they include many of my relatives, including my father Leigh McBride, mother Rose Pamela “Dee Dee“ Dewdney, her brother Peter Dewdney, my dad`s brother Kenneth Gilbert McBride, their cousins Blake Allan, Jim Allan and Alex Allan, my great-aunts Isobel Foote Murphy, Lilian Foote Allan and Gladys Foote Moir, as well as a photo of their mother Edith Foote among a large group of the Pioneers Club that consisted of Nelsonites who were living in Nelson before 1900.  Admittedly, the lists are not complete, particularly as records in the early years were skimpy.  One of those missed is my paternal grandmother Winnifred Foote McBride, who grew up in Nelson and was 13 in 1901.

My article in the Nelson Star on the 1956 Mountaineer is at http://www.nelsonstar.com/news/370801101.html

Below are a Table of Contents for the publication, and then scans of the pages.

The 1956 Mountaineer

Contents

Before Man Saw It…4

To the Pioneers, to our Parents, who created the environment for our growing………6

Boyhood Days in Nelson, by 1912 NHS graduate G.V. Ferguson..13

Nelson Pioneers who lived in the city before 1900…16-17

To the Trustees, Who Have Prepared the Soil for Our Growing…..18

And Finally a Dedication to Our Teachers for Their Patience and Wisdom ……………..20

Daily Miner headlines on first day of class of Nelson High School…………………………22

Letter to Teacher Enid Etter from student in first NHS class……..24

The School`s Early History, by Ross W.G. Fleming of first class……….25

A page from the first annual Mountaineer in 1909……..28

Graduates – 1901 to 1909…..29

Graduates – 1910-1919……..30

Some Recollections, by James B. Curran………38

From the Mountaineer of 1920……39

Honour Roll – World War One…………40

Leslie Vivian Rogers 1886-1946…………42

Parliament and Prime Ministers…….44

Honour Roll – World War Two………….47

A Hundred Pages of History……48

Nelson High School students 1920-1952………..49

Congratulations, and alumni news…………………….57

Ministry of Athletics……………………….58

Ministry of Social Affairs…………………………………60

School clubs……………………….62
Publications Club…………………………………64

Radio Club………………………………………65

Members of Nelson District School Board Since 1914……66

NHS and Junior-Senior High PTA Presidents……….67
First Junior High in B.C (Trafalgar)………………………..67

Most Famous of All Graduates (Hammy Gray)……….68

Nelson and NHS scenes………………..70

Kootenay Forest Products ad………………..71

NHS Grads 1953-1955……………72

Vote Yes on the School Bylaw of November 1952…….74

To Those Who Made This Annual Possible…………75

L.V. Rogers High School – January 195………………76

List of NHS teachers since 1923…………….78

Oldest Graduate and First Major Award Winner……………79

Saying Goodbye to NHS in March 1956……………………………..80

NHS to become Hampton Gray Elementary School………….81

Other Major Award Winners 1940-1955………81

Official Opening of L.V. Rogers High School March 10, 1956 program….82

MLA, Inspector of Schools, PTA President……………83

Board of School Trustees………83

Mr. Lee`s Tribute to L.V. Rogers…………..84

Speech of Minister of Education Ray Williston…….85

Bennett and White Construction Company……..86

NHS/LVR Staff 1955-1956…………….87

Grade Ten……………………..88

Grade Eleven………..90

The Mountaineer……………….92

Senior Matric…………………..93

This Year`s Graduates When They Were in Grade 1………94

The First Graduates of L.V. Rogers High………………95

From the Graduates of Today to the Graduates of Tomorrow (List of Grads 1956-1958)…….102

Thanks from Editorial Staff………..104