Exhibit Guide
WHSFL Commissioner Jeffrey Bannon, August 2020
Students and visitors at St. Paul's have likely noticed this sign which hangs where the 1953 Football team photo ought to be. Since the creation of the school's first rugby team in 1931, there have been only two years in which the St. Paul's football team did not compete: 1953 and 2020. Click the arrows below to learn more.
Image: St. Paul's High School. Photo taken by Alex Judge.
In 1953, Manitoba experienced the worst Polio epidemic in Canadian history. Although Polio had been present for several decades, doctors didn’t yet know exactly how it was spread.
Image: Winnipeg Tribune, Oct 3, 1953. Courtesy of University of Manitoba Archives.
As Manitobans continued to fall ill through the summer of 1953, the public debated over how best to protect children and whether or not schools, theatres, pools, and other gathering areas should be closed. The result was a delayed start to the school year and the cancellation of school sports.
Image: Winnipeg Tribune, September 9, 1953. Courtesy of University of Manitoba Archives.
Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by poliovirus. It is spread when people consume food or water contaminated by the virus.
The symptoms of Polio can be as mild as a sore throat or as serious as permanent paralysis. Its most prominent symptom is muscle weakness, which can cause patients to have difficulty breathing and require the help of a respirator or “iron lung.” In some cases, Polio can even result in death. Polio was generally thought of as a children’s disease in the 1950s, although adults can also contract it.
Shortly after the 1953 epidemic, a Polio vaccine was developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. It has since been eradicated in the Americas.
Image: A mass telegram sent to Dr. Jonas Salk, bearing over 8,000 signatures from Manitobans thanking him for his vaccine. The telegram was 200 feet long and took over 8 hours to send.
Winnipeg Tribune Photo Archive
April 23, 1955
Unlike COVID, Polio was not spread by respiratory droplets. However, public health officials worried that “excessive physical fatigue” could cause otherwise healthy young people to catch the virus.
Image: Winnipeg Tribune, September 9, 1953. Courtesy of University of Manitoba Archives.
As they are today, school sports were important to many St. Paul’s students in 1953. Many expressed their disappointment, especially older boys who wouldn't have a chance to play the following year.
Image: Winnipeg Tribune, September 11, 1953. Courtesy of University of Manitoba Archives.
With competitive football cancelled, the Crusaders practiced by forming six intramural teams and playing against each other. The program was remarkably successful, with nearly 70 students participating across all grades.
Image: 1954 St. Paul's College Yearbook. Courtesy of St. Paul's High School Archives.
In 2020, as in 1953, officials debated the best approach to curbing the spread of COVID-19. As with Polio, decisions were made more difficult by limited information about how - and how easily - the disease was spread. By late August, the Winnipeg High School Football League had decided to postpone the season indefinitely.
Image: CBC News Manitoba, August 21, 2020.
Students were disappointed by the news, but not surprised. While Manitoba's COVID numbers had remained low well into July, by late August they were ramping up.
For students in grade 12, the cancellation was a particularly hard blow because it meant most wouldn't have a chance to play again.
Students did have the opportunity to do some skills work, though these sessions looked very different from regular practices with social distancing in place. Before the province went into Code Red players were also able to do one practice in pads, the only school in the province able to do so. Defensive Back Trae Tomlinson '21 recalled that "it was a pretty special moment to put on the pads for one last time at St. Paul's."
Image: Rod Uzat measuring distance in a classroom, 2020