Historical Perspective ...
By most accounts, Canada was the hardest hit nation by the Great Depression
Economic hard times (dirty thirties) hit Maritimers particularly hard
Farmers...were
Fishermen...were
Industry...was
Rerum Novarum ushered in progressive Catholic thought and social justice action
Leaders like, Fr. Jimmy Tompkins and Fr. Moses Coady aimed to rouse Nova Scotians from their apathy
Poverty no longer accepted as �destiny�
Popular education outreaches like the Folk Schools and the Highlander School of Myles Horton demonstrated good success
St. F. X. University is persuaded to get more in touch with the people by Tompkins and Coady
Study Clubs were formed - subject being the problems of the community
Fr. Jimmy exposed the people to a lot of ideas, he read books with them and brought in many
teachers and thinkers to talk