Heroes and Hallelujahs—Labour History and the Social History of Religion in English Canada: A Response to Bryan Palmer

The importance of religion to social and labour radicalism in English Canada has been identified by several scholars, but few labour historians have built on these insights. Some scholars who study labour or socialist leaders at least briefly assess the impact of their subject’s religious background or their relationship to social gospel, while a few historians of working-class ethnic communities explore religion as a facet of their subjects’ lives. Discussion of religion, however, is usually a small part of a larger project. On this theme, Lynne Marks replies to Bryan Palmer’s critique of her book, "Revivals and Roller Rinks: Religion, Leisure and Identity in Late Nineteenth-Century Small-Town Ontario."