Feller College

Feller College, also known as Institut Feller, was a boarding school founded in 1836 by Mme. Henriette Feller,^[1][2] of Lausanne, a Swiss Protestant missionary whose mission was to save the French-speaking Quebec population from "the idolatry of Catholicism".^[3] Beginning as a one-room school (which still exists as a museum ^[4] in the small farming community of Grande-Ligne, 35 miles southeast of Montreal, Quebec) it grew to become a significant co-educational institution with imposing four-story central building and adjoining church, farm, and several faculty homes. The church is the oldest French Protestant church in Canada.^[5] The school produced many French-speaking Baptist ministers up to the time of the Second World War, and many of its graduates, both francophones and anglophones, went on to become well-known in diverse fields in Canada.

Second World War

Feller ceased operations as a school during the Second World War (1942–1946) and was used as a prisoner-of-war camp ^[6] for German officers.^[7] It reopened shortly after the war. After the war Feller accepted many English-speaking students and enjoyed considerable success as a truly bilingual institution. At the same time, its board had to face the problem of redefining its original mission. Ultimately it was unable to adapt to the new realities, and it closed in June 1967.

Hostel

The main four-story grey stone building was last used in the summer of 1967 as a hostel for visitors to Montreal's World's Fair:^[8] Expo 67. In December 1968 it burned down. This was caught in a dramatic series of photographs ^[9]

A large reunion ^[10] was held in October 2001 near the school grounds. The community of Grande-Ligne was absorbed into the municipality of St-Blaise-sur-Richelieu in 1968.

See also

Three alumni have created web pages in memory of their school:

References