Hilda Marion Ada Neatby CC (February 19, 1904 – May 14, 1975) was a Canadian historian and educator.

Hilda Neatby
Born
Hilda Ada Marion Neatby

(1904-02-19)February 19, 1904
Sutton, England, UK
DiedMay 14, 1975(1975-05-14) (aged 71)
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Saskatchewan
University of Minnesota
University of Paris
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Saskatchewan

Early life and education edit

Hilda Marion Ada Neatby[1] was born on February 19, 1904, in Sutton (then in Surrey),[2][3] to Andrew Neatby and Ada Fisher.[4] The family moved to Saskatchewan when Hilda was 2.[3] She received a BA and MA from the University of Saskatchewan and a PhD from the University of Minnesota. She taught history at the University of Saskatchewan and was head of the history department from 1958 to 1969. Fluent in French, she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Career edit

In 1966, she published Quebec, The Revolutionary Age 1760–1791, part of The Canadian Centenary Series. The book examined the transitional events between 1760 and 1791 in the province of Quebec following victory by British forces over the French Army and the decision made by Louis XV of France to hand over Quebec to the British in the 1763 Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years' War.[5][6]

From 1949 to 1951 she was the only female member of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, which recommended the establishment of the Canada Council.

Her book So Little for the Mind (1953) criticized contemporary reforms in the Canadian educational system that were based on John Dewey’s philosophical ideas.[7][8]

In 1969, the Board of Trustees at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, commissioned Neatby to write the history of that institution.[9] Queen's University, Volume I, 1841-1917: And Not to Yield was published in 1978, after her death.[9][10]

Neatby died in Saskatoon on May 14, 1975.[2][11]

Awards and honours edit

In 1967, Neatby was made a companion of the Order of Canada.[12] In 1953, she received an honorary degree from the University of Toronto.[13] Since 1982, the Canadian Historical Association has awarded the Hilda Neatby Prize for works on women's history.[14] In 2000, Canada Post issued a stamp in her honour.[15][16] In 2005, the former Place Riel Theatre (a former cinema, later converted into a lecture theatre) at the University of Saskatchewan was renamed the Neatby-Timlin Theatre, in honour of her and former economics professor Mabel Timlin.[17]

Bibliography edit

  • So Little for the Mind (1953)[18]
  • Quebec, The Revolutionary Age 1760–1791 (1966)[5][6]
  • The Quebec Act: Protest and Policy (1972)[19]
  • Queen's University, Volume 1: 1841–1917: To Strive, to Seek, to Find, and Not to Yield (1978)[20]
  • So Much to Do, So Little Time-the Writings of Hilda Neatby (1983)

Citations edit

  1. ^ Rhodenizer, Vernon Blair (1965). Canadian Literature in English. Montreal: Quality Press Ltd. p. 58. OCLC 1148188261.
  2. ^ a b Hayden, Michael (1999). "Neatby, Hilda Marion". In Marsh, James H. (ed.). The Canadian Encyclopedia (3d ed.). McClelland & Stewart. p. 1610. ISBN 0-7710-2099-6. OCLC 41628484.
  3. ^ a b Toye, William, ed. (2011). The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature (2d ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-19-542885-8. OCLC 659173682.
  4. ^ Hayden, Michael. "Neatby, Hilda (1904-75)". The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Godechot, Jacques (1976). "Review of Quebec, The Revolutionary Age". Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire. 54 (1): 265–266.
  6. ^ a b Riddle, Jean (1967). "Views and Reviews". The Canadian Reader. 8 (7): 8.
  7. ^ "1953: Hilda Neatby's So Little for the Mind published". University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  8. ^ Kuffert 2003, pp. 163–164.
  9. ^ a b "Queen's University at Kingston: Volume I and Volume II". Queen's Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  10. ^ James, Thia (April 21, 2017). "Hilda Neatby, trail-blazing academic, outspoken advocate for improving public education". The Star Phoenix. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  11. ^ "Saskatoon educator, historian dies at 71". Star-Phoenix. May 15, 1975. p. 4 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Hilda Neatby". Governor General of Canada. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  13. ^ Dagg, Anne Innis (2006). The Feminine Gaze: A Canadian Compendium of Non-Fiction Women Authors and Their Books, 1836–1945. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-88920-845-2.
  14. ^ "Hilda Neatby Prize/Prix Hilda Neatby". Canadian Historical Association. January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  15. ^ "Neatby honored with Canada Post stamp". University of Saskatchewan. Archived from the original on January 10, 2005. Retrieved April 7, 2005.
  16. ^ Russem, Michael. "Hilda Marion Neatby". M. Russem Book Design. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  17. ^ "Theatre renamed for past faculty". On Campus News. University of Saskatchewan. May 13, 2005. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  18. ^ Sissons, C. B. (1954). "So Little for the Mind by Hilda Neatby (review)". Canadian Historical Review. 35 (1): 70–71. doi:10.3138/chr-035-01-br09. ISSN 1710-1093. S2CID 250186813. Project MUSE 623211.
  19. ^ Sosin, Jack (March 1974). "The Quebec Act: Protest and Policy". The Journal of American History. 60 (4): 1100–1101. doi:10.2307/1901035. JSTOR 1901035.
  20. ^ Rippa, S. Alexander (October 1979). "To Strive, to Seek, and Not to Yield". The American Historical Review: 1203–1204. doi:10.1086/ahr/84.4.1203-a. ISSN 1937-5239.

Works cited edit