Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
MacDonald Movement for the Improvement of Rural Conditions
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
At the turn of the nineteenth century, Montreal philanthropist, Sir William MacDonald, collaborated with James W. Robertson, Dominion Commissioner of Agriculture and Dairying to create school gardens. Both men had pronounced ideas of rural education. The MacDonald School Fund was created with the means to introduce and demonstrate the beneficial aspects of school gardening and nature study. The fund also supported teacher training. MacDonald donated $175,000 to the province of Ontario to build the MacDonald Institute at the Ontario Agricultural College as a means to train present and future teachers.