Text from the Plaque
One of several technical training institutions operating in Upper Canada during the first half of the 19th century, the Alderville Manual Labour School was established here by 1839 by Wesleyan Methodist missionaries. The school was designed, as were others of this type, to assimilate Native children into the Euro-Canadian society that was growing rapidly within the province. To that end, it attempted to eradicate the traditional Native way of life, and stressed instead Christianity, the rudiments of an English education, and skills in farming and domestic crafts. Believing that the school proved the effectiveness of the manual labour approach, Egerton Ryerson, Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada, recommended in 1847 that similar facilities be established for Native children throughout the province.
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