Grace Dieu Diocesan Training College

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The Grace Dieu Diocesan Training College , Grace Dieu for short (German: "Grace of God") was a vocational training facility of the Anglican Community in what is now Seshego near Pietersburg in South Africa . It existed from 1906 to 1958 and mainly trained black people to be educators for school lessons. It gained international fame especially through its artistic and craft workshops.

Concern and development

Under the supervision of the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria in the Church of the Province of South Africa , Anglicans ran a training facility in the Northern Transvaal (e.g. today's Limpopo Province ), the main activity of which was the training of teaching staff for their own mission schools.

The establishment of such a school was preceded by the search for a suitable location. Several points were considered in the area around Pietersburg. The Diocesan Board of Mission at Pretoria finally decided in 1905 to buy up the properties of the Jakhalsfontein farm west of Pietersburg for this purpose and to put the project under the direction of the Community of the Resurrection, founded in 1892 . It was founded in July 1906 with the assistance of Archdeacon Latimer Fuller at this location. Teaching began in the same year with seven students and one teacher. The authorities of the Transvaal ( Transvaal Education Department ) only granted official recognition as an educational institution in 1907.

The complex developed between the traditional residential areas of the Moletji and Mashashan tribes, initially from a small missionary settlement via a mission school to a multi-part training facility for industrial work and home economics as well as for teachers. Due to the national reputation of the institution, students from all parts of the South African Union, the High Commission Territories and from what was then Southern Rhodesia came together.

Edward George Paterson (1895–1974), a canon of the Cathedral of St Mary and All Saints in Salisbury and a pioneer in the field of art education among blacks in southern Africa , taught at Grace Dieu since the early 1920s and was instrumental in building the involved in craft training programs. He left college in the late 1930s and went to the Cyrene Mission near Bulawayo , where he founded the Cyrene School in 1939 and rededicated himself to training in the arts and crafts.

The Bantu Education Act of 1953 sparked controversy across the country about the future of non-state schools. As a result of this law, the Anglican school authorities decided in 1955 to close the area of ​​teacher training. The facility was continued as a secondary school (Standard 10) and between 1956 and 1958 as an industrial school in a reduced form. Buildings that were no longer in use were rented by government agencies for training purposes. The political situation in South Africa led to financial difficulties for the school authorities. In addition, the registration conditions of the state school inspectorate of the apartheid regime had become unacceptable. These circumstances eventually resulted in a takeover by the Department of Education at the Minister of Native Affairs .

In addition to teacher training, there were courses in manual professions. The carpentry department made furniture for college facilities. From the carvers came crucifixes , sermon tables and statues. Girls received training and instruction in all areas of home economics from sisters in the Community of the Resurrection . There were sporting competitions in the field of recreational activities.

Scout movement in South Africa

1922 began in Grace Dieu, the South African Scout Movement ( South African Boy Scouts Association ) for boys and later for girls ( Girl Wayfarers ). Around 1933 the principal of the Diocesan Training College was also the chief scout in the Transvaal and John David Rheinallt Jones was the chief scout in the Union of South Africa at the time.

Origin of name

The school was named after the former Augustinian monastery Grace Dieu Priory near Thringstone in the English county of Leicestershire , which is in the home region of the college founder Latimer Fuller.

Principals of the college

  • C. O'Dell, 1906-1909
  • WBJ Banks 1909-1912
  • William Adolph Palmer (later Dean of Johannesburg ) 1912–1924
  • Samuel Percy Woodfield (1889-1983), 1924-1938
  • Charles Michael Jones, 1938-1949
  • HW Hosken, 1949-1953
  • Samuel Percy Woodfield (1889-1983), 1953-1957
  • Robert Michael Jeffery 1957-1958

Structural development

  • 1916, opening of three college buildings in the presence of Governor General Lord Buxton
  • 1917, consecration of the new chapel
  • 1925, consecration of the new bell tower and the Talbot Memorial in the presence of Princess Alice
  • 1943, opening of the new dining room

Well-known graduates

Publication organs

  • Grace Dieu Bulletin , published from 1933 to 1957.

Literature on Grace Dieu

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  • Moroamaraba Shashi Johannes Ledwaba: The Development of Indigenous Leadership in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, With Special Reference to the Diocese of St. Mark The Evangelist . Ph.D. -Dissertation, Science of Religion and Missiology, University of Pretoria , 2006 ( online resource ), excerpt, here p. 72 ff. ( PDF document from p. 61 ). online at www.up.ac.za (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Setotolwane Christ Church Cathedral: History of Christ Church - 100 years ago . at www.cathedral.org.za (English)
  2. ↑ a b c Moroamaraba Shashi John Ledwaba: The Development of Indigenous Leadership in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa ... . P. 75 (PDF document p. 84)
  3. ^ Cyrene Mission: History . on www.cyrenemission.com (English)
  4. ^ A b Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand Library: Guide to the Archive of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa . on www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za (English)
  5. ^ Daniel Magaziner: The Art of Life in South Africa . Ohio University Press, 2016 (footnote 22 for Chapter 2: Craftwork) online at books.google.fr
  6. ^ SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1954-1955 . Johannesburg 1955, p. 176
  7. ^ SAIRR: A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1953−1954 . Johannesburg 1954, p. 95
  8. ^ SAIRR: A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1953−1954 . Johannesburg 1954, p. 103
  9. ^ SAIRR: A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1957−1958 . Johannesburg [1958], p. 189
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand Library: Inventory for AB750: Grace Dieu Diocesan Training College 1906-1969 . on www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za (English)
  11. ↑ Moroamaraba Shashi John Ledwaba: The Development of Indigenous Leadership in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa ... . P. 60 (PDF document p. 69)
  12. ^ Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand Library: The Pathfinder Movement of the South African Boy Scouts Association . Selected documents on www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za (English), here PDF document p. 1
  13. ^ A b Elizabeth Rankin: Mission madonnas imaging an african mother of god . In: Material Religion. The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief . Vol. 5 (2009), Edition 1, pp. 111-115, doi : 10.2752 / 175183409X418793
  14. ^ South African History Online: Job Patja Kekana . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  15. ^ South African History Online: Ernest Methuen Mancoba . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  16. ↑ Shelag Gastrow: Who's who in South African Politics, Number 4 . Johannesburg 1992, p. 158