A Century of Excellence: Prince of Wales College, 1860–1969 (review)
- A Century of Excellence: Prince of Wales College, 1860-1969
The University of Prince Edward Island in Canada's smallest province is a young institution, established in 1969. Yet it is the product of a merger between two much older institutions, St Dunstan's University (Roman Catholic) and Prince of Wales College (public and non-sectarian). Island historian Edward MacDonald published an excellent history of St Dunstan's in 1989. Marian Bruce, islander, Prince of Wales alumna, and seasoned writer, has now completed the story of the island's history of higher education to 1969 by publishing the history of Prince of Wales. While the research for the project was a collaborative effort that explored a range of documentary and oral sources, Bruce herself authored the text. [End Page 351]
A Century of Excellence is a story well told – a very satisfying historical rendition – composed of ten chapters, useful illustrations, five appendices, endnotes (thirteen pages), a bibliography, and an index. Bruce recreates a full-bodied image of Prince of Wales from its beginning to its end. Its antecedents were the mid-nineteenth-century government-supported Central Academy and the Normal School. The college, established in 1860, took the name of the recent royal visitor, the Prince of Wales. Successive chapters trace the important role of influential principals, such as Alexander Anderson (1868–1901), Samuel Napier Robertson (1901–37), and Frank MacKinnon (1949–68), the growth of enrolments, amalgamation in 1879 with the Normal School, the expansion of college facilities, curricular change, the achievement of university status in 1965, and the merger of Prince Of Wales with St Dunstan's in 1969 to form the University of Prince Edward Island.
Bruce's history is much more than a narrow account of administrators, buildings, and academic programs. It brings to life generations of students and teachers, often drawing from fascinating recollections of famous graduates, such as Lucy Maud Montgomery, and from the rich source of student journalism found in the College Record. Bruce effectively reconstructs the college's terrifying academic standards, its strict disciplinary regime, the students' academic, athletic, and social experiences, and professorial foibles and follies, as well as their often astounding learning and commitment. Finally, the history highlights the college's excellent academic reputation and its enduring influence on the minds, careers, and hearts of its alumni.
Bruce does a solid job of contextualizing the story of Prince of Wales. No institution is an island, even if it is located on one. Prince of Wales was a creation of the island's government; its political masters served as both its benefactors and its victimizers. Bruce also reveals the close relationship between the island's public education system and college whose teacher-training program helped to elevate the level of instruction. The island's economy and religious controversies etched deep marks on Prince of Wales. Financial stringency frequently trapped the students and professors in inadequate buildings with minimal educational resources. Protestant–Catholic controversies led to religious segregation in higher education, and mutual suspicion and bitterness.
Finally, as an expert storyteller, Bruce has produced a compelling, colourful, and highly readable narrative. The vivid prose is peppered with manifold fascinating anecdotes, and often humorous character sketches of teachers and students. Real people are at the centre of [End Page 352] her story. For example, with balance and sensitivity she describes the reaction and distress of the last principal, Frank MacKinnon, who had poured so much of his life into Prince of Wales for nearly twenty years, when the government determined that his college would be no more. New trends in PEI – an emphasis on bigness, development, expansion, ecumenism, and utility in education – forced Prince of Wales and its Catholic rival St Dunstan's into a marriage that produced the University of Prince Edward Island.
The book's 'Postscript' sums up important contributions of Prince of Wales, notes its shortcomings, and explains its demise. This concluding flourish would be more effective with less celebration of famous alumni achievements and...
