History of Sir James Whitney school remembered

Donna Fano (left) was Tuesday’s speaker on behalf of the Hastings County Historical Society. Fano gave the audience a historical recap of Belleville’s Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf. Photo by Mo Cranker

By Mo Cranker

BELLEVILLE – Did you know that Belleville’s Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf was used as a Royal Canadian Air Force training facility during the Second World War? Or that it was one of the first places in Canada to test a telephone? These are just two of the things people learned at The Hastings County Historical Society’s public presentation Tuesday night.

The guest speaker was retired teacher Donna Fano. Fano retired from Sir James Whitney in 2006, after 33 years at the school. She continues to work there as a supply teacher and archivist.

During the presentation, Fano covered the school’s entire history, from its inception in 1870 as the Ontario Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb to the present day. In the 1990s, the provincial government threatened to close the school because of low enrolment. Fano finished her presentation with a look at how the school runs in the 21st century and why it’s so important to the Belleville community.

“It exposes the community to deaf culture and deaf people. Other communities never see deaf people. Here we have our deaf community mixed in with everyone else. We have plays and concerts that people come to see. Our sports teams play against students that come from non-deaf schools,” she said.

Fano said she believes Sir John Whitney is a big piece of Belleville’s history and it would be a big loss to the city if the school were to close.

The night began with the Minus 100 segment, where a guest speaker turns back the clock 100 years and speaks about how different Canada was a century ago.

Doug Thompson, a volunteer with the historical society, spoke briefly about Belleville during the First World War, describing what things cost in 1915.

“You could buy a car for under 500 dollars in 1914,” Thompson told the crowd.

The Hastings County Historical Society’s public presentation series runs from September to May and are held at Maranantha Church on College Street. The events are open to everyone and begin at 7:30 p.m.