The man behind Munro Day never took a class at Dalhousie, nor did he teach any. In fact, he didn’t even live in Nova Scotia at the time when he decided to bequeath his first donation to the then-fledgling university.
That said, George Munro, born near Pictou in 1825, did have a great interest in teaching and learning. He had taught at Free Church Academy in Halifax before moving to New York City to get involved in the book business, where he made his fortune publishing popular songbooks, handbooks and dime novels. His brother-in-law John Forrest, a minister, was a member of Dal’s Board of Governors and encouraged Munro to help the university which, at that point, was in desperate financial straits.
According to Dal historian P. B. Waite: "Desperate is not too strong a word for Dalhousie's financial condition. Talk of closing Dalhousie down was heard on every side." The school’s government grant was set to expire, and investment income was not generating enough funds to keep the fledgling school running.
Munro offered up $2,000 a year to fund a chair in physics in 1879, after which he funded four more chairs and thousands of dollars in bursaries. His total donations to Dalhousie added up to $330,000 which, adjusted for inflation, would be more than $11 million today.
Munro’s gifts almost certainly saved the institution from closure. Take, for example, this reaction from Dal Board member and Reverend George Monro Grant of Queen's University, upon Munro's 1881 gift to establish a chair in history at Dal:
"Munro must be going to die. Evidently he is too good for this world. His first gift saved Dalhousie. His second will turn the tide of ambitious students that was setting in to the larger institutions up here [Ontario] and make it flow to Dalhousie." (As quoted by Waite.)
In 1881, the Dalhousie Student Union asked the university for a winter holiday to honour Munro’s generosity, and Munro Day was born. It’s moved around the calendar a bit over the years — it was originally in January and even moved to November in the 1890s — but for most of Dal’s history it’s been celebrated on the first Friday of February.
This year, Munro Day is being recognized in Truro as well: the Faculty of Agriculture will not be holding classes this Friday.*
So how should a good Munro Day be spent? In the 1880s, the highlight of Munro Day was a nine-mile sleigh ride to a Bedford hotel for a fancy dinner. In 1883, the Dalhousie Gazette reported that more than 50 students and profs took part in the event, out of a total school enrolment of 66. These days, the DSU organizes an annual ski trip to mark the occasion, keeping the outdoors-y spirit of the holiday alive. (That said, there have often been Munro Day dances, dinners and other less snowy endeavours throughout the holiday’s history.)
George Munro passed away in 1896 at the age of 70, but his legacy lives on today — in more ways than just a Dal holiday. Each year, more than 5,000 generous donors provide opportunities to financially challenged students, bring new academic opportunities to life helps Dal improve its campus and services. For more on the impact of philanthropy on Dalhousie and its students, read just a few of the many "Giving News" stories on the Alumni website.
More on George Munro Day.
*Employees of NSGEU 92 (Truro) whose current collective agreement states Easter Monday is a holiday are expected to work on Munro Day, but not on Easter Monday.
Editor's note: Elements of this articles have been repurposed from previous Munro Day articles by the same author.
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