Showing 227 results

The Revolutionary Marxist Group (RMG) was a Canada-wide organization composed of militant socialists. It was founded in the summer of 1973. The RMG was closely affiliated with the Fourth International, an organization founded by Leon Trotsky in opposition to Stalinist socialism. As an affiliate to the Fourth International, the RMG maintained relations with several other related socialist sects. The most notable of these were the League for Socialist Action, the Revolutionary Workers League, the International Marxist Group , and the Socialist Workers Party. In 1977, the RMG, along with two other groups fused to form the Revolutionary Workers League.

Sueños : Dreams was a magazine which published poetry and art related directly or indirectly to dreams. There appears to have been five issues in total, with the last issue a double one. Issues 1 and 2 appear to have been published in Puebla, Mexico, issue 3 was published in Los Altos, California, and issue 4-5 (a double issue) may have been published in Edmonton, Alberta. The editor was Bjarne Tokerud.

The Steelworkers' Organizing Committee, which had already organized many workers, met in Cleveland in 1942 to found the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). Canada was divided into two districts: District 5 which included Quebec and the Maritime provinces and District 6 which included the rest of Canada, from Ontario to British Columbia. Around 1960 District 6 was reduced to cover only Ontario. In 1996 Atlantic Canada rejoined District 6. John Mitchell was the first director of District 6. Other directors include: Larry Sefton who was elected director in 1953, Lynn Williams in 1973, F. Stewart Cooke in 1977, Dave Patterson in 1981 and Leo Gerard in 1988. The current director is Harry Hynd. In the early days of the USWA, members were employed in either the steel or mining industries. Nowadays they are employed in many additional sectors of the economy, including hospitals, universities, hotels, warehouses, bakeries, banks, and transportation.

Locks’ Press was a private press, owned and operated by Fred and Margaret Lock in Kingston, Ontario. The press was originally established in 1978 in Brisbane, Australia, where the Locks’ resided from 1974 to 1987. The first book from the press was published there in 1979 and by 1987 when they moved to Canada, the Press had produced seven books. In Kingston, Fred Lock received an appointment as Professor of English at Queen’s University. The Locks’ bought a house and have since worked out of their home, where they have turned their kitchen into a press room and two bedrooms into a studio and bindery. By 2001, they had printed eleven books, fourteen pamphlets, and twelve broadsides, most of them with illustrations by Margaret Lock. Though the Press ceased book publication after 2000, it continued to produce broadsides. In 2013, Locks’ Press ceased operations and Margaret and Fred Lock moved to England.

Margaret Lock was born in Hamilton in 1950 and graduated from McMaster University in Fine Art in 1972. She later studied printmaking at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Fred Lock was born in England in 1948 and moved to Canada in 1971 as a graduate student in the Department of English at McMaster. From 1974 to 1987 he taught in Australia, at the University of Queensland. Fred has a special interest in Latin, medieval and eighteenth-century English texts. He acts as editor and has also provided translations for about a third of the titles. Margaret designs the books and does the typesetting, illustrating in woodcuts, printing and binding. The type is handset, and printed one page at a time in a proofing press. The paper is hand-made, and the books are in small editions, bound by hand. The Locks’ aims are to publish literature before 1900, in order to reflect their personal interests and provide an opportunity for Margaret’s woodcut illustrations. Locks’ Press has been represented in many group and solo exhibitions, in Australia, Canada and the United States. The Locks have won awards for their excellence in the book arts.

The Organic Geochemistry Division (OGD) is a semi-autonomous segment of the larger Geochemical Society. The OGD was officially recognized as an integral part of the Geochemical Society in November 1960, although steps to formalize the group began in November 1959. The OGD was formed to create a common forum for researchers in soil geochemistry, oceanography, petroleum geochemistry, coal geochemistry, microbiology and other related fields. A Chair and a Division Secretary oversee the functions of the division and assist in the organization of the annual Gordon Research Conference. The OGD annually recognizes outstanding scholarly work with the Best Paper Award (student and professional) and the Alfred E. Trebis Award for major achievements in organic geochemistry.

In April 1906 John McClelland and Frederick D. Goodchild left the Methodist Book and Publishing House and began a book supply company in Toronto. On 20 September 1907, McClelland and Goodchild was officially registered as a company. George Stewart joined the firm in 1913 while Goodchild left in 1918. The name of the company was changed to McClelland and Stewart. Jack McClelland, John McClelland's son, was the president of the company from 1952 to 1982. In 1982 he became chairman when Linda McKnight was elevated to president. In December 1985 McClelland and Stewart was rejuvenated when Avie Bennett, an asute businessman and an important supporter of Canadian culture and the arts, purchased the company and served as its President. Bennett soon hired Douglas M. Gibson as editor and publisher of a separate imprint, Douglas Gibson Books, appointing Adrienne Clarkson as Publisher, and promoting Ellen Seligman, who had joined the firm in 1977 as Senior Editor, to Editorial Director, Fiction.

In June 2000 Bennett donated 75% of the publishing arm of McClelland and Stewart to the University of Toronto. He sold the other 25% to Random House Canada. Avie Bennett became Chairman of the Board, Douglas Gibson became President and Publisher of McClelland & Stewart, while retaining his own imprint, and Ellen Seligman assumed the role of Publisher (Fiction) and Vice-President (later becoming Senior Vice-President). Returning to Canada from the Crown Publishing Group (a division of Random House, Inc.) in New York, Douglas Pepper assumed the position of President and Publisher of McClelland & Stewart in June 2000, while Gibson continued his position as the editor and publisher of Douglas Gibson Books. Pepper, while making many innovations has, along with Ellen Seligman on the fiction side, maintained the company's commitment to publish a vibrant and high-quality list. On the non-fiction side, Susan Renouf joined the company as Chief Operating Officer and Associate Publisher (non-fiction).

For a detailed history of the company up to 1994 as well the books published, see Carl Spadoni and Judy Donnelly, A Bibliography of McClelland and Stewart Imprints, 1909-1985: A Publisher's Legacy (1994).

Organized in 1972, the Writers' Union of Canada held its first annual general meeting of eighty founding members at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on 3 November 1973. The purpose of the Writers' Union is to unite Canadian writers for the advancement of their common interest--the fostering of Canadian writing, relations with publishers, exchange of information among members, safeguarding the freedom to write and publish, and good relations with other writers and their organizations in Canada and throughout the world.

For further information on the Writers' Union, see Ted Whittaker, ed., The Writers' Union of Canada: A Directory of Members (Toronto: The Writers' Union of Canada, 1981).

The Ontario Union of Students was affiliated with the Canadian Union of Students, which was known as the National Federation of Canadian University Students for most of its existence. The OUS was dissolved in 1971 because, like CUS, it could no longer maintain the allegiance of its affiliated universities.

Specialty Book Concern, an antiquarian book dealership specializing in Canadiana, was founded by Lee Pritsker of Oakville, Ont. in 1937. Craig Fraser of Waterdown, Ont. purchased it in 1967, after retiring from a business career.

The Federation of Glass, Ceramic and Silica Sand Workers, an organization which emerged from the Federation of Flat Glass Workers of America, was originally formed in 1934 and came to Canada in 1954. Canadian glass workers were organized under District 6 Headquarters in Hamilton, Ont., under the direction of Oliver Hodges. In 1954 the name of the union was changed to the United Glass and Ceramic Workers of North America.

The National Federation of Canadian University Students came into being in December of 1926 in the wake of a British Empire debating team which toured Canada. The founding conference was held at McGill University in Montreal. The organization was founded to create "a better understanding among students, more cooperation ... among ... universities, ... and to furnish a means of creating international ties with groups of students in other countries."

The Federation became dormant during the years of World War II but revived in 1946. In 1964 the Federation underwent a re-organization and was renamed the Canadian Union of Students in an attempt to conciliate differences between English-speaking and French-speaking students. The fonds contains an essay which outlines these problems, titled "Assessment of the History of CUS/NFCUS (1926-1965)". It officially dissolved in 1969.

The Canadian branch of the English Macmillan Company was founded on 26 December 1905 as the Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd., also called Macmillan of Canada and after July 1995, Macmillan Canada. Earlier documents pertain to the Morang Education Co. Ltd., purchased by Macmillan in 1912. The English owners of the Canadian branch sold the company to Maclean-Hunter Limited in 1973. In 1980 Macmillan of Canada was sold to Gage Publishing, later merged into the Canadian Publishing Corporation. In 1999 Macmillan Canada became an imprint of CDG Books (founded in December 1998). In April 2002 CDG Books was purchased by John Wiley & Sons, and Macmillan Canada ceased as an imprint and a publishing house.

Some of Macmillan's well-known authors include Grey Owl, Mazo de la Roche, Vincent Massey, Hugh MacLennan, Morley Callaghan, Stephen Leacock, Robertson Davies, Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, and Carol Shields. For a more detailed history of the company see Library Research News 8, no. 1 (1980): v-xii.

World Refugee Year was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1959. At the time in Europe, there were 110,000 people in refugee camps. The Canadian Committee for World Refugee Year (CCWRY) functioned with an executive committee that brought individuals together from across the country. The chairman of the committee was Reuben C. Baetz, Assistant National Commissioner of the Canadian Red Cross. Muriel Jacobson, on leave from the Canadian Association for Adult Education, was the committee's National Director. The objectives of the national committee, and the 40 local committees that lent their support to the cause, were: "to focus attention on the refugee problem and to promote among the people of Canada a sympathetic interest in the plight of refugees throughout the world, through publicity, to help those participating organizations, which are already engaged in refugee work, to raise more money than they would normally be able to do so, and to establish a Central Fund to which contributions may be made for the United Nations refugee programs." The national committee was assisted by 45 voluntary national sponsoring organizations.

The CCWRY encouraged local committees to participate in special events like Austerity Week, special exhibitions of photographs of refugee camps, exhibitions of Ron Searle sketches, dramatic productions by the Barn Players and screenings of films such as Exposed and The Camp. The CCWRY also promoted Operation Eskimo, a special fund raising project involving a group of Inuit from Frobisher Bay who raffled off handicrafts to raise money for a rehabilitation centre. The CCWRY co-ordinated a number of fund-raising efforts including the sale of pins, pens and grip discs. Over $1,218,000 was raised for various projects. Most of this money was allocated to clearing designated camps in Europe, particularly in Germany and Austria. The remaining funds were allocated to vocational training, particularly for youth in the Middle East and projects underway in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Clarke Irwin was founded in 1930 by William H. Clarke, his wife Irene, and his brother-in-law, John Irwin. The company grew to become one of the chief publishing houses in Canada. In 1983 the publisher went into receivership, and the majority of its assets were purchased by the Book Society of Canada. For some time, Clarke Irwin was maintained as a separate entity, with its own name and imprint, operating as Clarke Irwin (1983) Inc. In the autumn of 1984, the Book Society of Canada changed its name to Irwin Publishing Inc.

Garamond Press was founded in 1981 and was the first independent Canadian publisher to specialize in books in the post secondary market. The original company directors were Peter Saunders, Errol Sharpe, Brenda Roman, Lois Pike, Richard Swift, and Michael Kelly. The press began as a collaboration between two independent Canadian collective presses, Between the Lines and Women's Press and a sales agency representing Canadian publishers in the college market, Fernwood Books, another founding partner was the owner of a print shop known as Muskox Press. The founders were conscious of the need for a progressive, critical and Canadian-controlled sector in college level publishing. Books were published in subjects such as globalization, social work, communication studies, cultural studies, history, labour studies and women's studies. In 2005 Garamond Press was sold to Broadview Press of Calgary. In 2008, University of Toronto Press (UTP) officially purchased the Broadview Press publishing lists in Anthropology, History, Politics, and Sociology, as well as the Garamond imprint. A new division called UTP Higher Education continued publishing in 2009.

The first issue of Saturday Night appeared in Toronto, appropriately enough, on Saturday, 3 December 1887. Published by Edmund E. Sheppard as a weekly, it was purchased, generally by office workers, for reading on Sunday, for at this time Sunday publishing was prohibited. Since then, Saturday Night has changed its publishing schedule many times while becoming a national literary, cultural, and political journal. Many of its editors began as contributors.

Sheppard’s successor was Joseph T. Clark, who was editor from 1906-1909; Charles Frederick Paul was editor from 1909 to 1926. Hector Charlesworth took over as editor in 1926 and was succeeded by B.K. Sandwell, who was editor from 1932 to 1951. In 1951 Robert A. Farquharson succeeded Sandwell and was followed by Jack Kent Cooke, who bought Consolidated Press, of which Saturday Night was a part. It was he who appointed Arnold Edinborough as editor. Edinborough eventually bought the magazine himself and remained until 1968. Robert Fulford was editor from 1968 until 1987.

The magazine was relaunched in 1991 with the October issue as its "premiere issue". In the spring of 2000, Saturday Night became a weekly insert in Hollinger-owned, Southam’s National Post. In the fall of 2000, Southam sold fifty percent of its shares to CanWest Global Communications, which eventually bought out its partner. On 1 Nov. 2001, the magazine was sold by CanWest Global Communications Corp to Multi-Vision Publishing Inc . Under Hollinger and CanWest the magazine was published 48 times a year; Multi-Vision Publishing published six issues a year. In February 2002, St. Joseph Corporation acquired Key Media Ltd., the publisher of major magazines such as Quill & Quire, and the recently acquired Saturday Night magazine. Their Multi-Vision Division continued to publish Saturday Night six times a year. On 20 October 2005 St. Joseph Media announced that it would suspend publication of Saturday Night after the Winter issue, distributed with the National Post on 26 November 2005.

The Canadian Liberation Movement was active between 1969 and 1976. A left-wing organization dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism and American imperialism, it had its headquarters in Toronto and branches in many Canadian cities. Its publishing arm, NC Press, was responsible for New Canada, the organization's official newspapers, as well as for a number of books. The Canadian poet, Milton Acorn, was associated with the Movement.

The members of Local 2868 are employees of International Harvester Company in Hamilton, Ont.

The members of Local 2868 are employees of International Harvester Company in Hamilton, Ont. International Harvester was in operation in Hamilton from 1902-1992. Dates of the union local are unknown.

The Hamilton Trades and Labour Council was formed in 1888. It belonged to the larger Trades and Labour Congress of Canada. In 1939 the Trade and Labour Congress of Canada expelled all industrial unions. In September 1940 eleven international unions and the Steel Worker's Organizing Committee (later the United Steelworkers) affiliated to form the Canadian Congress of Labour (C.C.L.). These national events were reflected at the local level in Hamilton, Ont. by the formation in 1941 of the Hamilton Labour Council C.C.L. National unification of the Trade and Labour Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour was followed on the local level by the merger of the Hamilton Trades and Labour Council with the Hamilton Labour Council to form the Hamilton and District Labour Council in 1956. Further information on the history of the Hamilton and District Labour Council can be found in the master file.