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McVICAR, KATE (Katie), shoe worker and union leader; b. c. 1856 at Hamilton, Canada West; d. there 18 June 1886. Katie McVicar, daughter of a poor Scottish tinsmith and his English-born wife, joined two older sisters in the Hamilton labour force in the early 1870s. Like most women who went into factory work in the late 19th century, she began as a single woman, living at home, in order to augment her family’s income. However, unlike most, she remained single and continued to live at home until her early death at the age of 30. Her comparative longevity as a factory operative accounts to some degree for her emergence as a prominent leader in the Knights of Labor. --Introduction

The essays are gathered around two themes: the relationship of sociology and social history, and the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and region with class. Unlike most Canadian essay collections, the contributors and their subjects cover Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland, with forays into Cape Breton and central Canada. The volume contains articles by Ian McKay, Gordon Darroch, James R. Conley, Alicja Muszynski, Gillian Creese, and Jim Overton. An interesting collection of some of the new work being done in Canada by historians and sociologists, Class, Gender, and Region reflects Charles Tilly’s suggestion that “there should be no disciplinary division of labour: simply both doing social history.” --Publisher's description (Athabasca University Press) Contents: Introduction / Gregory S. Kealey -- The crisis of dependent development: class conflict in the Nova Scotia coalfields, 1872-1876 / Ian McKay --Class in nineteenth-century, central Ontario: a reassessment of the crisis and demise of small producers during early industrialization, 1861-1871 /Gordon Darroch -- “More theory, less fact?” Social reproduction and class conflict in a sociological approach to working-class history / James R. Conley -- Race and gender: structural determinants in the formation of British Columbia’s salmon cannery labour force / Alicja Muszynski -- The politics of dependence: women, work, and unemployment in the Vancouver labour movement before World War II / Gillian Creese -- Public relief and social unrest in Newfoundland in the 1930s: an evaluation of the ideas of Piven and Cloward / James Overton.

The article reviews "The Garden Transformed: Prince Edward Island, 1945-1980," by Verner Smitheram, David Milne, and Satadal Dasgupta, "Women and Trade Unions in Eleven Industrialized Countries," edited by Alice Cook, Val R. Lorwin, and Arlene Kaplan Daniels, "Black Socialist Preacher: The Teachings of Reverend George Washington Woodbey and his Disciple Reverend George W. Slater, Jr.," edited by Philip S. Foner, "Supremacy and Subordination of Labour: The Hierarchy of Work in the Early Labour Movement," by Mike Holbrook-Jones,"Canadian Papers in Rural History," v. 4, edited by Donald H. Akenson, "The Company on the Coast," edited by E. Blanche Norcross, "Class Power and State Power; Political Essays," by Ralph Miliband, "Labor in the World Social Structure," v. 2, edited by Immanuel Wallerstein, "The Polish Peasant in Europe and America," by William I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, edited and abridged by Eli Zaretsky, "Shopkeepers and Master Artisans in Nineteenth-Centurv Europe," edited by Geoffrey Crossick and Heinz-Gerhard Haupt, "Family Honour: An American Life," by George Cuomo, "Passages in the Life of a Radical," by Samuel Bamford, "In the Tracks of Historical Materialism," by Perry Anderson, "Marx and Engels: A Conceptual Concordance," by Gerard Bekerman, "Twenty Years of the Fishermen's Protective Union of Newfoundland," edited by Hon. Sir W.F. Coaker, / reviews by Gregory S. Kealey -- "The Culture of Technology," by Arnold Pacey / review by C. de B.

Part of the new aproach currently transforming the writing of Canadian history, this volume approaches the past in terms of people and the activities and events that shaped their existence. The essays explore the roots of the radical tradition and outline the struggle against industrial capitalism between 1850 and 1925. [This book] increases our understanding of the past, provides a valuable perspective on present struggles, and, in a broader sense, contributes substantially to a new and decisive synthesis of Canadian history. --Publisher's description

The essays are gathered around two themes: the relationship of sociology and social history, and the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and region with class. Unlike most Canadian essay collections, the contributors and their subjects cover Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland, with forays into Cape Breton and central Canada. The volume contains articles by Ian McKay, Gordon Darroch, James R. Conley, Alicja Muszynski, Gillian Creese, and Jim Overton. An interesting collection of some of the new work being done in Canada by historians and sociologists, Class, Gender, and Region reflects Charles Tilly's suggestion that "there should be no disciplinary division of labour: simply both doing social history." --Publisher's description

In 1919 at the height of the post-war labour revolt,the Royal Canadian Mounted Police took responsibility for national security. This volume contains archival materials and other materials received through Canadian Access to Information legislation. It includes lists of personal files, subject files, and security bulletins circulated to the government. In general the material provides an excellent overview of the genesis of the Canadian state security system. --Publisher's description

These Bulletins show that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's continued fascination with the Communist Party of Canada (CPC) was broadened to include the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) in 1937. The RCMP believed the CPC's fingerprints were all over the CIO. Other topics examined in the bulletins include reports on the Spanish Civil War, municipal elections, ethnic newspapers and strikes. --Publisher's description

From its inception in 1919-1920 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police security service compiled periodic reports on "subversive" activity in Canada, which were circulated to the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Through use of Canada's Access to Information legislation Gregory S. Kealey and Reg Whitaker have acquired copies of the extant Bulletins, which are now held by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service....This volume covers the early years of World War II when the Communist Party of Canada was illegal and many CPC leaders were interned. --Publisher's description

This volume completes the series of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Bulletins for World War II, following on the War Series, Vol. 1, 1939-1941. These Bulletins allow us to see not only the nature of RCMP Security concerns but also the underlying ideology of the Security Service. The volume also contains a critical introduction by the editors. --Publisher's description

This volume completes the Depression Years Series and, for the time being, our publication of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Bulletins, John Manley examines the RCMP fascination with the CPC and how the CPC coped with the Popular Front and the Nazi-Soviet pact. Manley concludes that the CPC's anti-war line was a disaster, claiming that "undoubtedly..., the Comintern was the RCMP's best friend"(29) --Publisher's description

This volume is a continuation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Bulletins series on the Depression. The RCMP Security Service reported in these Bulletins on security and intelligence matters to Cabinet and other government officals. Those for 1936 contain much material on labour and the left. --Publisher's description

This volume documents the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's surveillance activities during 1935 and contains informants', agents', and operatives' perspectives on developments within the Communist Party of Canada on labour unions, and on unemployed organizations. It includes coverage of the 1935 federal election, the successes of red unions, and the development of popular front strategies. The introduction by historian John Manley provides a considered overview of the events. The volume is fully indexed. --Publisher's description

This volume completes the series of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Bulletins for late 1933 and 1934. It begins a new series on the Depression years. These Bulletins allow us to see not only the nature of RCMP Security concerns but also the underlying ideology of the Security Service. The volume also contains a critical introduction by Gregory S. Kealey. --Publisher's description

Max Swerdlow's life as labour organizer and educator began in Depression-era Winnipeg and carried him to national and international prominence in the Trades and Labour Congress, the Canadian Labour Congress, and the International Labour Organization. In this lively memoir, Swerdlow recaptures the persons and events of his life in the Labour movement. --Publisher's description

Documents the exposure of Jack Esselwein, also known as Sergeant John Leopold, who, as an undercover operative of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, joined the Communist Party of Canada. His identity was revealed after a series of police raids on August 11, 1931, which led to the arrest of a number of leading Communists, including Tim Buck. Esselwein testified at the trial in November 1931 whereby the Communists were convicted and sentenced to penitentiary terms under the notorious section 98 of the criminal code. They had already discovered that Esselwein was a police spy. The Toronto Daily Star report (published November 13, 1931) on Esselwein's unmasking is included in the article.

Introduces the Communist writer, educator, and activist Margaret Fairley, who in the 1950s edited a book of Canadian oral labour history that was left unfinished. The book, entitled "With Our Own Hands," included three manuscripts - memoirs of Claude Theodore, Peter Cordoni, and A.J. MacDonald - that are published for the first time. Collectively, they shed light on the largely rural, immigrant, working-class experience of Canada in the early 20th century. MacDonald's reminiscences also describe life in the village of Cadott, Wisconsin, in the 1890s, before the family moved to Alberta. The manuscripts are located at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

This three-part report presents the results of a major research project underdertaken in the early 1980s. The project aimed to establish a new statistical time series for strikes in Canada. The final results of this work will appear in 1990 in volume three of the Historical Atlas of Canada which will contain a series of four plates on Canadian labour in the years 1891-1961. In this report we shall focus on the data concerning the years 1891-1950. An essay on method and sources is published here as Part II of this report and the data set is presented fully in Part III. In addition, we want to state at the outset that the more we work on this data, the more fully we agree with David Montgomery's assertion that "any attempt to formulate a positivistic 'natural history of strikes* is doomed to failure. Strikes can only be understood in the context of the changing totality of class conflicts, of which they are a part." --From authors' introduction

This three-part report presents the results of a major research project underdertaken in the early 1980s. The project aimed to establish a new statistical time series for strikes in Canada. The final results of this work will appear in 1990 in volume three of the Historical Atlas of Canada which will contain a series of four plates on Canadian labour in the years 1891-1961. In this report we shall focus on the data concerning the years 1891-1950. An essay on method and sources is published here as Part II of this report and the data set is presented fully in Part III. In addition, we want to state at the outset that the more we work on this data, the more fully we agree with David Montgomery's assertion that "any attempt to formulate a positivistic 'natural history of strikes* is doomed to failure. Strikes can only be understood in the context of the changing totality of class conflicts, of which they are a part." --From authors' introduction

This three-part report presents the results of a major research project underdertaken in the early 1980s. The project aimed to establish a new statistical time series for strikes in Canada. The final results of this work will appear in 1990 in volume three of the Historical Atlas of Canada which will contain a series of four plates on Canadian labour in the years 1891-1961. In this report we shall focus on the data concerning the years 1891-1950. An essay on method and sources is published here as Part II of this report and the data set is presented fully in Part III. In addition, we want to state at the outset that the more we work on this data, the more fully we agree with David Montgomery's assertion that "any attempt to formulate a positivistic 'natural history of strikes* is doomed to failure. Strikes can only be understood in the context of the changing totality of class conflicts, of which they are a part." --From authors' introduction

CAWLS is joining the Canadian Committee on Labour History family. The journal is now co-published by CCLH and Athabasca University Press, in affiliation with CAWLS.