Welcome to Marion Carson School. Through caring, trusting and supportive relationships, we will work together to ensure a climate for growth and learning. Students are at the centre of everything we do; the communication between student, teacher and parents is a key aspect to a successful year.
Who Was Marion Y. Carson?
In September of 1969, the doors of Marion Carson School opened for the first time. The school was named in honour of Mrs. Marion Young Carson, one of Calgary's former best-known and beloved citizens. Marion Carson devoted her time to bettering the lives of those around her and worked tirelessly to make Calgary a better place in which to live.
Mrs. Marion Carson was born in Kent County, Ontario on May 9, 1861 as Marion Young Coutts. Her early years were spent in Manitoba and she came to Calgary in 1893 with her husband, William Carson.
From her first days in Calgary, she was concerned about the number of people suffering from tuberculosis (TB) and it was through her hard work that the first TB Sanatorium in Alberta was made possible in 1910. Mrs. M. Carson headed the Alberta Tuberculosis Society for eleven years and was made an Honorary member of the Canadian Tuberculosis Association in 1949. She was also instrumental in attaining health support for the areas indigenous peoples.
Education received a great deal of her attention and she sat as a member of the Calgary School Board for four years from 1920-1924. She helped organize the Women's Literary Club in 1906, and when she was on the Calgary Library Board, she helped instigate the establishment of a central library. As chairman of the City Health Committee, she worked toward both constructing free clinics for school children and distributing milk to needy children. She was a member of the Alberta Council of Child and Family Welfare for twenty-seven years. She also participated actively in the Women's Canadian Club, Local Council of Women, and the Calgary United Nations Association. She was a member of Knox United Church and attended services regularly. She was the first to form a group to feed the unemployed.
Mrs. M. Carson received several awards including the King's Medal in 1938 and the "Citizen of the Year" award in 1946. Marion Y. Carson died in Calgary at the age of 89 on July 13, 1950.
