Blake Ellis/The Independent

Bertha Rose Park’s story as an educator will be just one of many recorded for history.

Several of the women participating in Women and Family in Local History, part of the Petrolia Heritage Open House 2026, at Victoria Hall Saturday, were asked to have their stories made into voice recordings, Park is one of the women.

The recordings will be held at the Lambton County Archives, with some will be mixed into the soundtrack of a film being made about Petrolia called Mud and Sinfulness of Others.

Anna Dunlop is making the film along with a film crew hoping to tell a women’s perspective of local history through dance.

Dunlop is a dance artist and the daughter of Jennifer Kelly. Kelly grew up in Petrolia and now lives in Calgary.

Park, 94, is a retired elementary school teacher who started her career at a one room school in Watford in 1953.

When Park first started in Watford, she knew everybody on the school board.

“You were neighbours and friends,” said Park. The teacher would be invited to members of the school board’s homes, as well as those of students.

“The teacher was the authoritarian,” said Park. “The parents came to that attitude, too – the teacher was always right.”

In the early 1950s, teachers started young, said Park. Many teachers started their first jobs as teens.

When Park decided to become an educator, there was a scarcity of teachers and recruits were paid $500 to encourage them to enter the profession. “I was glad I did everything I did.”

A few years after she began teaching, the need for teachers grew. Applicants needed to complete just four years of high school, followed by a summer course, before they taught for the first time. They would go back for another summer of training before they were required to go to teacher’s college.

Now students are getting several degrees before they head off to teacher’s college, said Park. Her great granddaughter has completed her studies in early childhood education and will be heading off to teacher’s college soon.

Park took time away from teaching to raise her children but her services were still in demand. “People would come to the door to ask me if I would go and teach,” said Park.

Trustees would be begging young mothers to come back to teach, allowing them to bring their small children into the classroom to accommodate them.

There were restrictions on fashion as well, Park told the filmmaker. Back when Brooke Central Public School opened in 1961, girls were expected to wear dresses. But Park said girls could wear pants under their dresses while they were on the school bus.

It will be at least May before Park hears whether her story will be part of the project. Dunlop is aiming to have the film completed then and hopes to eventually show Mud and the Sinfulness of Others in Petrolia.

Copies of the film will be shared with the Petrolia Discovery Centre, Oil Museum of Canada, Lambton County Archives and the Lambton County Public Library.