Daniel McIntyre
- Year inducted
- 2016
- Area of recognition
- Professional / Public Affairs / Voluntary Services
- Related websites
Pioneer in Education
Rick Preston, chair of WinnipegREALTORS® Citizens Hall of Fame program, is pleased to announce the selection of Daniel McIntyre as this year’s 2016 inductee.
McIntyre is the 43rd inductee since the program’s inception in 1986 when former Mayor Steve Juba was chosen as the first recipient of the Citizens Hall of Fame bronze medallion created by local sculptor Eva Stubbs.
Selected in the fields of professional, public affairs and voluntary service, the first one really stands out. Daniel McIntyre pursued the education profession with unwavering commitment and passion over many years. To say he advanced his profession would be an understatement. Called “Winnipeg’s Giant of Education”, McIntyre built it from its very beginnings and took it to a far higher level when he was done.
“We have always felt education is one of those undeniable and essential underpinnings of our Citizens Hall of Fame inductees’ drive to succeed and to enable them to attain their goals,” said Preston. “This year’s inductee was no different as he initially became a teacher in New Brunswick and then went on to graduate in law from Dalhousie in 1882. Upon settling in Winnipeg where McIntyre articled briefly in criminal law, he went back to his education roots and served for 43 years as the superintendent of Winnipeg’s public schools. He was indirectly responsible for 10 of the inductees’ early education.”
Daniel McIntyre, a posthumous selection, who lived from 1852 to 1946, is considered a pioneer of Winnipeg’s public schools. And deservedly so, since during his remarkable 43 years as superintendent he built the school system from 8 to over 80 facilities and tens of thousands of students. It was stated when he retired in 1928 there were nearly 1,000 teachers and 40,000 students.
During his time as superintendent from 1885 to 1928, McIntyre was creating the public school system for the third largest city in Canada. His responsibilities included:
- location, design, construction, staffing , curriculum, administration
- design of the curriculum (chief designer)
- the introduction of middle school to Winnipeg and to Canada (Earl Grey School)
- pushing for the study of French when it was not being promoted
In addition to his stellar and groundbreaking education work, McIntyre’s volunteer work revolved around helping develop children, especially those underprivileged and challenged. He was co-founder and first president of the Children’s Aid Society and a co-founder of the School for the Blind in Manitoba. He was also a long serving member on the University of Manitoba’s Council and during his time employed as the superintendent of schools obtained his BA and MA from the university.
McIntyre was awarded an honorary doctor in law from the University of Manitoba in 1912. In 1924 Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute (DMCI) was opened and named in his honour. In 1935 he received the highest award a Canadian could receive, the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contribution to education.
Accolades were many and heartfelt when McIntyre died December 14, 1946.
Dr. J.C. Pincock, the then superintendent of city schools said: “His passing marks the close of a career without parallel in the history of education in Western Canada, if not in the whole Dominion.”
“More perhaps than any other single individual, he was responsible for establishing the sound foundations on which the public school system in Winnipeg is based ...,” said Winnipeg Mayor Garnet Coulter upon McIntyre’s passing.
“His name became synonymous with the Winnipeg school system. Its progress and the fine technical institute that bears his name (Daniel McIntyre Collegiate) remain as monuments to his endeavors (Tribune).”