DITCHBURN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-19 published
Principal was 'a girl's best friend'
The head of Toronto's elite girls' school raised women's issues
long before the rise of feminism
By Allison
LAWLOR
Thursday,
June 19, 2003 - Page R9
Catherine STEELE, a dedicated educator who influenced thousands
of young women during her 20 years as head of Havergal College,
has died at age 93.
When Miss STEELE was appointed principal of the private school
for girls in North Toronto in 1952, she became its first Canadian
principal. The earlier principals were British, "typical of private-school
education," Miss
STEELE once said. She held the position until
1972, but remained closely connected to the school long after
her retirement.
Miss STEELE had a lifelong relationship with the school, being
herself a Havergal "old girl." She attended from 1923 to 1928,
and taught history there in the 1940s.
"She was just a remarkable woman. A woman that truly lived her
values," said Susan
DITCHBURN,
Havergal's current principal.
"She understood that schools like ours couldn't just stand still."
Considered ahead of her time, Miss
STEELE was talking about women's
issues during the 1930s and 1940s, long before feminism was popular.
She encouraged her young female students to use their talents,
and to try to make a difference in the world. She told them to
be ready to take on leadership roles, at a time when men held
most of the top positions.
"I believe," Miss
STEELE once said, "that when we realize we
are world citizens, we shall be on the road to winning the peace."
Inside the walls of Havergal, Miss
STEELE was admired and feared
by the girls. "She wouldn't tolerate nonsense," said her long-time
friend and colleague Marcelle
DEFREITAS.
Yet behind the imposing
presence was a quick and mischievous sense of humour. One morning,
as she took her usual place at the lectern in the school's assembly
hall for morning prayer, she looked down and found a dead mouse
that some of the girls had left for her. She quietly picked up
the mouse and scanned the room for the biology teacher. "I think
this is for you," she said.
After learning that the students had given her the nickname "Stainless
STEELE," she posted on her office door a magazine picture of
a young girl with a mouthful of shiny new braces. The caption
below the picture read: "Stainless [
STEELE] is a girl's best
friend."
Catherine Irene
STEELE was born in Toronto on March 31, 1910.
She was the only daughter of Irene Wilson
STEELE and Robert Clarke
STEELE, who built up a successful seed business. She grew up
with her three brothers in the affluent Forest Hill neighbourhood
and was sent to Havergal in 1923.
Miss STEELE went on to study at the University of Toronto and
the Ontario College of Education. After graduating in the 1930s,
she spent a summer travelling and then she went to teach at a
private girls' school in England.
Back in Canada, she returned to Havergal, this time as a history
teacher. She taught for several years there as well as at St.
Clement's, another girls' school in the city. In between, she
decided to further her education. After saving up enough money,
she headed to New York, where she completed her master's degree
at Columbia University.
At the onset of the Second World War, England was desperately
short of teachers, and Miss
STEELE answered the call. She boarded
a ship and headed to London, where she taught in the East End
during the Blitz.
She returned to Toronto after the war and found herself without
work. Prospective employers often told her that, at age 35, she
was just too old. Eventually she found a job at Ryerson Rehabilitation
Centre, where she taught veterans.
"I never taught more eager pupils," Miss
STEELE said.
Wanting to help a man who had been blinded during the war, Miss
STEELE read him the entire history course. He passed.
From there, Miss
STEELE went to the Royal Ontario Museum, where
she headed the education department. One of her fondest memories
was loading museum objects into a truck and travelling north
to remote communities to bring the museum objects to children
unable to visit Toronto.
While at the Royal Ontario Museum, she got a call from Havergal
asking her to return, this time as principal. During her 20 years
as the school's principal, Miss
STEELE was a fixture.
"She was a presence that was always there," said Harriet
BINKLEY,
who graduated in 1972. "She lived and breathed the school."
Described as a careful, frugal woman, Miss
STEELE lived on the
school's campus in simple quarters. One of her rituals every
night was to walk around the school making sure all the lights
were turned off.
As principal, Miss
STEELE made efforts to attract girls from
different countries and ethnic and religious backgrounds, broadening
the school beyond its Anglican roots. She also tackled inadequate
staff salaries and pensions, and encouraged teachers to take
leaves and pursue their education.
Miss STEELE "lived a life of service," said Reverend Kevin
FLYNN,
minister at the Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields in downtown
Toronto. She encouraged others to do the same. At Havergal, she
urged the girls to become involved in community organizations.
She also had them evaluate the annual reports of different charities
to determine which group had the greatest percentage of funds
going directly to programs.
Outside
Havergal,
Miss
STEELE sat on several boards, including
the Elizabeth Fry Society. She also spent many hours at the Church
of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields, helping with the church's programs
for the poor and homeless.
It was not uncommon to see Miss
STEELE's station wagon loaded
with used clothes and furniture for delivery, Reverend
FLYNN said.
In honour of her lifelong work, Miss
STEELE was given two honorary
degrees from the University of Toronto and York University.
Miss STEELE never married nor had any children of her own. "She
was too busy," Ms.
DEFREITAS said.
Miss STEELE died in a Toronto hospital on April 18. She leaves
her brother, Clarke Wilson
STEELE.
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