The Alberta Teachers’ Association

—Photo of J.W. Barnett, Archives of the Alberta Teachers’ Association

A powerhouse of persistence

The following is an excerpt from an article by Shelley Trigg that appeared in the January/February 1993 ATA Magazine.

Luckily, for the teachers of Alberta, John Walker Barnett was afflicted with the “donkey syndrome.”

His daughters, Ethel Cuts and Irene Gaunce, spoke of their father’s ability to “shut out everything” when concentrating on Alliance business. They laughingly recalled an incident when, as young children, they tried to get their father’s attention only to be put off with monosyllabic answers which they then turned into a game.

“Dad, are you listening?”
“Yes.”
“Dad, can I have a cookie?”
“Yes.”
“Dad, is the earth flat?”
“Yes.”
“Dad, are you a donkey?”
“Yes.”

Barnett’s constancy of purpose made him an effective force in the Alliance. Born and schooled in Grantham, England, Barnett graduated from Grantham Technical Institute and obtained his teaching certificate from Westminster College in 1901. Barnett knew conditions for teachers in 1901 could be improved through unionization—England’s National Union of Teachers had already been in operation for 30 years.

When he arrived in Alberta in 1911, Barnett encountered a profession fraught with problems: wages were low and often infrequently paid; there were no salary schedules; and collective bargaining was unheard of. He knew that conditions had to change.

While working first as supervisor of music for the Edmonton Public School Board and later as vice-principal of Alberta College North and Strathcona High School, Barnett toiled with a coterie of individuals to organize the teachers of Alberta. The names of Cedric Hicks, Herbert Newland, Harry Balfour, Mary Crawford, George Misener, Thomas Stanley and Fred Parker appear over and over again in the accounts of this period. Through their determination and the support of countless other participants, the Alliance came into being in 1917.

It was at the Easter convention of the Alberta Educational Association, a general organization not restricted to teachers and having no power to act for their protection that, amid much opposition, the Alberta Teachers’ Alliance was created. George Misener was named president, C.S. Leppard was designated vice-president and between them they chose John Barnett as secretary-treasurer.

Barnett continued to teach until 1920, at which time he went to work full-time for the Alliance. A large part of his early work was spent selling memberships and collecting the five-dollar-per-year fee. He was tireless in his efforts to cement the Alliance and to unite teachers.

Arthur Powell, ATA president in 1929–30, described the man and his mission during those initial days. Barnett, “a man of fine physique and features with a rather swashbuckling dark moustache … stood about six feet and carried 190 pounds gracefully.”

Each September, because membership in the Alliance was not yet mandatory, this tall, resolute man would drive countless miles across the province to make contact with teachers living in the rural areas. These teachers, because of their isolation, were difficult to reach, and if they couldn’t be reached, they couldn’t be convinced of just how vital their support was for the fledgling organization.

The membership drives were arduous enough, but Barnett pushed himself and his colleagues, Harry Ainlay, Milton LaZerte, Cedric Hicks and Arthur Powell, still further. “John had one fetish. If a teachers’ meeting was announced, he would attend it if it were physically possible,” recalled Ainlay years later.

Memberships and meetings aside, Barnett was genuinely concerned for the welfare of the teachers he sought to organize. “Dad had a great compassion for these young people; anything that could be done was done,” recalled Cuts, who took many telephone messages from distraught young teachers in the days when Barnett’s home doubled as his office.

The work was gruelling, but Barnett seemed to thrive on it. “His friends used to say ‘John functions best when he’s fighting,’” said Cuts. The British bulldog fought for what he believed in, and he believed in the power of persistence.

Barnett was instrumental in making important changes to the School Act and in drafting the Teachers’ Retirement Fund Act and the Teaching Profession Act.

He was also a man who had a soft spot for his grandchildren, enjoyed camping, liked to get in a game of pool with cronies Ainlay and LaZerte, and hated to stay overnight anywhere but in his own home.

In the end, his overriding interest was his life’s work, said Cuts. “He lived, breathed and ate the Association.”

Barnett served as ATA executive secretary from 1920–46. In 1947, as a tribute to his contribution to the teaching profession in Alberta, he was awarded, posthumously, the honorary degree of LL.D. by the University of Alberta. In 1950, the ATA’s highest award, honorary membership, was bestowed upon Barnett. But the teachers of the province built a more lasting monument to his memory when they named their headquarters, Barnett House.