We wrap up our look at the early days of school in Timmins with a teacher whose legacy lives on. Museum director-curator Karen Bachmann notes that this pioneer has a school named in her honour on Powell Avenue in South Porcupine.

“Bertha Shaw is a legend in Northern Ontario as a school teacher,” says Bachmann. “She taught in South Porcupine, had a number of classes that she was here for, for a long time.”

Bertha Shaw is also known for the books she wrote about the community and her experiences in Northern Ontario.

“Like all of the teachers, those early teachers, they were all coming up from the Toronto area or smaller schools in rural Ontario and then making their way north. This was all a brand new experience for them, and I highly recommend some of Bertha Shaw’s memoirs just to find out what it was like to be a school teacher at that time.”