All Peoples’ Mission And The Legacy of J. S. Woodsworth: The Myth and the Reality

Abstract

The legacy of James Shaver Woodsworth, according to the traditional biographies, has been an indelible one on the Canadian historical landscape. His biographers have elevated Woodsworth to not only a hero of the Canadian political left, but of the whole nation. Studies of Woodsworth’s life have traditionally rested their case on All Peoples’ Mission in Winnipeg, calling it a watershed moment in the ideological development of J. S. Woodsworth. They characterize his time as Superintendent, from 1908-1913, as the defining moment which would later lead him to found the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. This Master’s thesis seeks to analyze the historical periphery of this period in order to illustrate Woodsworth’s standard approach to the Social Gospel in Canada. By employing a micro-historical methodology, a greater context reveals that All Peoples’ Mission was not the dynamic, revolutionary institution that his biographers describe. Instead, Woodsworth spent his time in Winnipeg experimenting with different and sometimes conflicting philosophies. This stage of Woodsworth’s ideological development can instead be best characterized by his strong nativist beliefs. His writings and speeches during this period indicate a struggle between Woodsworth’s understanding of assimilation and integration. James Shaver Woodsworth was a far more complex character during this period than his biographers would have us believe.