This plaque is dedicated to former students of Owen Sound Collegiate Institute who fell in the South African War. It was erected by collegiate students. The plaque was unveiled by James H. Packham who was on the Owen Sound Collegiate Institute staff for many years and James McLauchlan who was a member of the Board of Education for 40 years. Both McLauchlan and Packham were present at the unveiling of the Great War Tablet.
In 1924, a new vocational wing was built and the school was renamed Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute. By 1951, the original building was in poor condition and the third floor assembly hall was condemned. The older part of the school was destroyed by a fire in May of 1952. The vocational wing was repaired and the rest of the school was rebuilt on the same site, with a further addition completed in 1970. In 1997, construction began on a new site on 8th Street East, and this was opened in the autumn of 1999. At the end of the 2015-2016 school year, Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute was amalgamated with West Hill Secondary School to form Owen Sound District Secondary School while the physical building was converted into an elementary school (East Ridge Community School).
