Baron Byng High School Explained

Baron Byng High School
Type:	Public school
Motto:	Latin: Constants et fidelis
Address:	4251 St. Urbain Street
Location:	Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2W 1V6
Pushpin Map:	Montreal
Coordinates:	45.5174°N -73.5837°W
Colours:	Orange, black and blue
School Board:	Protestant School Board of Montreal
Language:	English
Song:	Echoes of Byng^[1]
Yearbook:	Echo^[2]

Baron Byng High School was an English-language public high school on Saint Urbain Street in Montreal, Quebec, opened by Governor General of Canada Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy in 1921.^[3] The school was attended largely by working-class Jewish Montrealers from its establishment until the 1960s.^[4] Baron Byng High School's alumni include many accomplished academics, artists, businesspeople and politicians.

Baron Byng has been immortalized in many books, including in Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, St. Urbain's Horseman, and Joshua Then and Now as Fletcher's Field High School.^[5]

History

At the beginning of the 20th century, Quebec's confessional school system prohibited Jews from attending French-language Catholic schools, relegating them to Protestant schools. By 1916, Jews made up 44% of the total enrolment in Montreal's English-language Protestant schools. Jewish participation, however, was forbidden on school committees and at the Protestant School Board, and Jewish teachers were discriminated against in terms of employment opportunities.^[6] Throughout the period of mass Jewish migration to Montreal, the Board enforced a policy of segregation in its schools.

Built by the Protestant School Board in 1921, Baron Byng High School was named in honour of Julian Byng, Governor General of Canada from 1921 to 1926 and a distinguished World War I soldier. The school was designed by Montreal architect John Smith Archibald.^[7] The population of Baron Byng was consciously constructed to be Jewish by the Board, which sought to segregate Jews to avoid the dilution of English-Canadian culture and Protestant religious instruction taught in their public schools. From the 1920s through to the mid-1960s, the student population was largely Jewish, reaching 99 per cent by 1938, though the faculty and staff were resolutely English-Canadian.^{[8] [9]}

Baron Byng's students went on strike in 1934 to protest the School Board's increase of school fees and reduction in teachers' salaries.^{[10] [11]} In April 1945, Baron Byng held a commemorative service for the second anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, sponsored by the Canadian Jewish Congress; speakers included Baruch Zuckerman and Michael Garber.^[12]

In the 1960s, there was an influx of Moroccan Jewish students and a French section was created.^[13] By the 1970s, there were a significant number of students of Greek and other origins.

Eventually, Quebec education laws prohibited the immigrant population from attending English schools. For lack of sufficient enrolment in the school's territory and rising costs, the Protestant School Board was forced to close the school in June 1980, with Mount Royal High School designated as the official recipient school for existing BBHS students.^{[14] [15]} After the school's closure, the Baron Byng building became home of the non-profit community organization Sun Youth.^[16] An extensive online museum was created in 2016 to honour the school's illustrious history.^[17]

Notable people

Alumni

• Len Birman (1932–2023), actor
• Harry Blank (1925–), Liberal MNA
• Myer Bloom (1928–2016), physicist^[18]
• Michael Fainstat (1923–2010), politician^[19]
• Morris Fish (1938–), Supreme Court Justice
• Samuel Gesser (1930–2008), entertainment entrepreneur
• Alan Gold (1917–2005), Chief Justice of Quebec
• Phil Gold (1936–), physician
• Yoine Goldstein (1934–2020), senator
• Benjamin Greenberg (1933–2019), Quebec Superior Court Justice
• Henry Gordon (1919–2009), journalist and magician^[20]
• Harold Greenberg (1930–1996), film producer^[21]
• Harry Gulkin (1927–2018), film and theatre producer^[22]
• Goldie Hershon (1942–2020), President of Canadian Jewish Congress^[23]
• Maxwell Kalman (1906–2009), architect^[24]
• A. M. Klein (1909–1972), poet^[25]
• Michael Laucke (1947–), concert guitarist
• Irving Layton (1912–2006), poet^[26]
• Sylvia Lefkovitz (1924–1987), painter and sculptor^[27]
• David Lewis (1909–1981), Rhodes Scholar (1932), Leader of the New Democratic Party (1971–75)
• Marilyn Lightstone (1940–), actress
• Frederick Lowy (1933–), medical educator and President of Concordia University^[28]
• Rudolph Marcus (1923–), chemist; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1992)^[29]
• Herbert Marx (1932–2020), Quebec Minister of Justice and Superior Court Justice
• Dorothy Morton (1924–2008), pianist and professor of music
• Louis Nirenberg (1925–2020), mathematician; Abel Prize (2015)
• Alfred Pinsky (1921–1999), artist and art educator^[30]
• Jack Rabinovitch (1930–2017), founder of the Giller Prize^[31]
• Simon Reisman (1919–2008), Deputy Finance Minister^[32]
• Mordecai Richler (1931–2001), author^[33]
• Fred Rose (1907–1983), Communist MP
• Philip Seeman (1934–2021), schizophrenia researcher^[34]
• Reuben Ship (1917–1975), playwright and screenwriter
• Sydney Shulemson (1915–2007), World War II soldier
• Tobie Steinhouse (1925–), painter and printmaker
• Lionel Tiger (1937–), anthropologist
• Lorne Trottier (1945–), businessman^[35]
• Gerry Weiner (1933–), Minister of Immigration^[36]
• Eli Yablonovitch (1946–), physicist

Faculty

• Anne Savage (1896–1971), painter and art teacher

Notes and References

1. Book: Echoes of Bang: School Song. P. A. G.. Clark. D. M.. Herbert. The Baron Byng High School. Montreal. 1944. 6 November 2018.
2. Web site: Yearbooks. 7 November 2018. Baron Byng High School Museum.
3. News: Schnurmacher. Thomas. Class of 1960: Baron Byng Alumni Holding Anniversary Bash. The Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 16 May 1986. C1. .
4. Web site: Baron Byng High School. Marian. Pinsky. Museum of Jewish Montreal. 4 November 2018.
5. Web site: Mordecai Richler. Véhicule Press. Literary Montreal. 6 November 2018.
6. Book: Celemencki, Jacqueline. 16. Brief History of Antisemitism in Canada. Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre. 978-2-9815152-1-6. 2015. Montreal.
7. Encyclopedia: Robert H.. Hill. Archibald, John Smith. Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada (1800–1950). 6 November 2018.
8. Web site: What Are They Saying.... Baron Byng High School Museum. 4 November 2018.
9. Book: Colombo, John Robert. Canadian Literary Landmarks. Hounslow Press. 1984. 0-88882-073-9. Willowvale.
10. News: Striking Students to Place Pickets. Toronto. The Globe. 20 September 1934. 1. .
11. Roderick. MacLeod. Mary Anne. Poutanen. Little Fists for Social Justice: Anti-Semitism, Community, and Montreal's Aberdeen School Strike, 1913. Labour/Le Travail. 70. Fall 2012. 64.
12. News: Warsaw Ghetto Martyrs Will Be Remembered. 13 April 1945. The Canadian Jewish Chronicle. 11. Montreal. 32. 48.
13. News: Janice. Arnold. 22 June 2016. Online museum memorializes Montreal high school. The Canadian Jewish News.
14. News: Duddy Kravitz would shed a tear. Myron. Welik. 10 March 1980. 5 November 2018. Maclean's. 27.
15. Book: Baron Byng High School Class of '60: Silver Anniversary. 1985. Baron Byng High School. Simon. Margel. 1. Montreal.
16. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20070127030623/http://sunyouthorg.com/history.asp. History. 27 January 2007. Sun Youth Organization.
17. News: Baron Byng's legacy to be preserved in 'virtual' universe. David. Lazarus. 27 October 2013. The Canadian Jewish News.
18. Joós. Béla. Review: Lucky Hazards: My Life in Physics by Meyer Bloom. Physics in Canada. 2015. 71. 3. 226. 5 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160419005059/http://www.biophysicalsociety.ca/docs/LuckyHazardsreview.pdf. 19 April 2016. dead.
19. News: Baron Byng's Class of '39 Marks 50th Anniversary. The Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 4 June 1989. A3. .
20. News: May 1975. The Chronicle Review. The Grand Baron Byng Reunion. Janice. Arnold. 6–15.
21. Montreal. Harold Greenberg Trying to Bring Canadian Talent Back to Canada. Boxoffice. 103. 7. 28 May 1973. K1. .
22. News: Montrealer Harry Gulkin was a champion of Canadian film. Peter. Rakobowchuk. 25 July 2018. Toronto. The Globe and Mail.
23. Book: Frances E.. Stoliar. Echo '58. 1958. Baron Byng High School. Montreal. 21.
24. Maxwell M. Kalman: A Centennial Retrospective. Canadian Architect. 12 June 2006. 9 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161108054815/https://www.canadianarchitect.com/architecture/i-maxwell-m-kalman-a-centennial-retrospective-i/1000053105/. 8 November 2016. dead.
25. Book: Fraser, David. Honorary Protestants: The Jewish School Question in Montreal, 1867-1997. 978-1-4426-3048-2. University of Toronto Press. 2015. Toronto. 5.
26. News: A poetic warrior for truth. Harold. Heft. 10 March 2012. The Montreal Gazette. Montreal. E12.
27. Anne. McDougall. Anne Savage. 50. Vie des Arts. 21. 86. Spring 1977. 0042-5435. fr.
28. News: Dr. Lowy is awarded honorary doctorate by McGill. Barbara. Black. 24 May 2001. Concordia's Thursday Report. Concordia University. 5 November 2018.
29. News: Scientist is Latest Baron Byng Grad to Achieve Fame. Montreal. The Montreal Gazette. 17 October 1992. A7. .
30. Web site: Anne Savage. National Gallery of Canada. 4 November 2018.
31. Porter. A.. Fall 2017. Jack Rabinovitch, 1930-2017. Queen's Quarterly. 124. 3. 326–330. .
32. News: Simon Reisman: Obituary. 5 April 2008. National Post.
33. News: Mordecai Richler: prized author who didn't care who he offended. Janice. Arnold. 16 August 2017. The Canadian Jewish News.
34. Web site: Welcome. Dr. Philip Seeman's Lab. University of Toronto. 5 November 2018.
35. News: McGill benefactor intrigued by how the world works . Curran, Peggy . 15 November 2006 . The Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 8 December 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121025113128/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=fa3f76ac-a163-427e-8d81-022b8abcc690&k=72389 . 25 October 2012.
36. News: A gathering of eagles. Beryl. Wajsman. Montreal. The Suburban. 29 June 2016.