108 children and youth under age 18 deemed “mentally defective” are Enrolled in the Provincial Training School at Red Deer, Alberta

108 children and youth under age 18 deemed “mentally defective” are Enrolled in the Provincial Training School at Red Deer, Alberta

October 1923. The Provincial Training School (PTS) opened in October of 1923. The building chosen for the school had briefly housed a private women’s college and been a home for “shell shocked” veterans of the First World War. The building was purchased and refurbished by the Alberta government and was designated to be a residential institution for the training of people deemed “mentally defective.”

Upon opening, the PTS enrolled 108 residents, all under 18 years of age. At the time of its opening and during its early years of operation, it was considered one of the most progressive institutions of its kind. However, when the Sexual Sterilization Act was passed in 1928, the institution became a major feeder institution to the eugenics board.

-Sheila Gibbons

  • Malacrida, C. (2006). Contested Memories: Efforts of the Powerful to Silence Former Inmates’ Histories of life in an Institution for “Mental Defectives.” Disability and Society, 21(5), 397-410.

  • Pringle, H. (1997). Alberta Barren. Saturday Night, 112(5), 30-37.

  • Grekul, J., Krahn, H., & Odynak, D. (2004). Sterilizing the “Feeble-Minded”: Eugenics in Alberta, 1929-1972. Journal of Historical Sociology, 17, 358-384.

108 children and youth under age 18 deemed “mentally defective” are Enrolled in the Provincial Training School at Red Deer, Alberta

108 children and youth under age 18 deemed “mentally defective” are Enrolled in the Provincial Training School at Red Deer, Alberta

October 1923. The Provincial Training School (PTS) opened in October of 1923. The building chosen for the school had briefly housed a private women’s college and been a home for “shell shocked” veterans of the First World War. The building was purchased and refurbished by the Alberta government and was designated to be a residential institution for the training of people deemed “mentally defective.”

Upon opening, the PTS enrolled 108 residents, all under 18 years of age. At the time of its opening and during its early years of operation, it was considered one of the most progressive institutions of its kind. However, when the Sexual Sterilization Act was passed in 1928, the institution became a major feeder institution to the eugenics board.

-Sheila Gibbons

  • Malacrida, C. (2006). Contested Memories: Efforts of the Powerful to Silence Former Inmates’ Histories of life in an Institution for “Mental Defectives.” Disability and Society, 21(5), 397-410.

  • Pringle, H. (1997). Alberta Barren. Saturday Night, 112(5), 30-37.

  • Grekul, J., Krahn, H., & Odynak, D. (2004). Sterilizing the “Feeble-Minded”: Eugenics in Alberta, 1929-1972. Journal of Historical Sociology, 17, 358-384.