parrots, picnics and psychic phenomena

214 Pages·2001·12.46 MB·English

PARROTS, PICNICS AND PSYCHIC PHENOMENA:
The Feminisrn, Nationalism and Social Reform of Eva Circé-Côté
in LE MONDE OUVRIER'S Montreal, 1900-1910
A thesis submitted to the Department of History in confomity with the requirernents for
the degree of Master of Arts
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario. Canada
August 2000
copyright C Jenne MacLean, August 7000
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permission. autorisation.
Eva Circé-Côté, masked by a male pseudonym, wroir over fi- ediiorials p r~ rafro r 1.c
i\lunJ~O zn.rier Lubur HOrlJ from 19 16-19 43 (wiili a break froiii 1922 tu 1925 iric;lusivr j.
@'7-.
This newvspaper IW brough t into king by the FC;JC;rutionJ rs iruvuiIfcvsd u QuChec-
-
Cïiiics of the pioneer labour papas argue that they had linle influence oii social flairs
I_e :Ihrde Uuvrkr Lrrtur tt'ur/"''s circulation figures are S.000 111 1916, 5 W in 1940. Aid
yst. hoivever small their circulations, the pioneer labour newspaprs provideci a forum for
debaie of popular ideas for social change and were sounding boards for a little-esplorsd
radical tradition in Canadian history. Writing in "litemy h g " Circé-C6ii combineif
political concems with an incisive assortment of ethno-cultural urban opinions.
Concentra~ingo n Eva Circé-Côté's roie in the foundation of Montreal's first public libran
and on hrr wurk as one of Le :1./unui/ Our*r~eSr ç hiei ~rdn~:vphujnueu riiaiisis. ihis ihrsis
explor-es ethrlic idel~iificafiotli l] reiaiioit tu cfass ,id gender iit bluiitreai f 900-1 940.
I wuid like to offer heartfelt ihanks to:
Ian iMcKay, who changed the way 1 would choox to contribuic: tu my communiiy, Bob
Shenion, who changrd rhe way 1 now view social change, and tu Bryan Falrnrr and Karcn
-
Dubirisk~,w iio didti't ûy to change me at al1 offeririg rricouragrinerit aiid supptï,
Annette Hayward and Lucie Robert from the French Department at Queen's University w ho
bléw in f&h inspiration in the form of passimate dialogue, generously &=ringm e hours of
their time, and Jamey Carson who gave me my first overhead of North America and said
- teach!
Isabelle Reny- and k FrX16ration des travailleurs et kivail leuses du Quebec, Lucie Pelleiirr
froin L'Archive de Ia Viile de Montrtial, Michaei Earriori froni the Naiiotiai Archives of
Cariada. arid al1 the lilbrariaris and an-hivists in 1Cinstori and Montreal who paiicniiy fieidai
in'; questions and allowed me to take out mors han 50 books ai a time.
Svonns Place, Noma St. John, and Judÿ Vanhoossr, who put the "human hsart" into
Queen's History department,
Amy BeIi, k e n C heong, Joy Firth, Helen Harrison, Catherine Harvey, Benwvyn Holroyd,
Julie Johnson, Krisiii Kesselring Jem hlarotta, Zcx? blorrison, .Julie O'Reilly. Jerut Sirahl,
and Sandra Szahuri, al1 of whoin I love and admire,
Most of ail to iny family: Jamir, Sara, Mom, Dad, and Grand-parents Geraldine aiid Ronald
Ki tclien.
1 would Iike to dedicate this thesis to my gand-rnother, lsobeI hfactean, who died while I
-
was furiously researching who showsd me how to roll up my sleeves and meet al1
challenges with a irick and a gin.
. . Bernard Sbaw
An Intellwt Wo111.n- io o . C o . c(nnd 928)
Eva Circé-CÔté
u: Son innuence surkwnsée canadienne (19 24)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER OSE: 1
THE P.UtADOXES OF ROCGE LEBEWISM. Eva Circé-Côte and Her Milieu
CEkfT ER N O : 2 8
EGYPTIAS XIC%¶MIES XSD MAGIC WASDS- Eva Circe-Côté and Montreal's firsr public Iibra~
Appendix A: 155
Appendix B: 156
Appendix C: 157
Bibliography: 187
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
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1 Photo of Eva Circé-Côté, iocated in her book
.
.
Bleu. Blanc. Row: Poestes. Pa-w& fcirca 1903).
2 - Photo of Eva Circé-Côté, identifjing her as Montreal's first public librarian, 28
found in Lu Pufric. I 2 août, 1903.
3 - Photo of Eva Circé-Côtk, found in two ncwspapers:
1, c. :\./unJc' ///rw.rr2( 19 0 1 j and in the ..ilbum Lniv~'rs~( 1' /9 03 ).
Eva Circé-Côté, masked by a male pseudonyrn, wote prolitlcally tbr Le :iIurzJc.
Ouvrier Iwbor World h m 1 916 to 1942.' Writing in "literary dq,"C ircé-Côte cornbined
'
political concems nith an incisive assortment of ethno-cultural uhan opinions. In addition
to hrr work for Le i\40de Ouvrier, behveen 1884 and 1943, Cimd-Côté wwote regularly for
1.e blonde rl/u.wé. Les Débats, L 'Ér~ncefleL. Xcrion Le Cornbar. Le Perrr t kmdrcnz, I.c
. ~ ~ U ~ I U ~ ULI e~ SDIe~v.o ir. and Le Puys. Concentrating on Circé-Côté's role in the founâation
of Montreat's first public tibrary and on her work as one of Le A,fode Owt-rrrj - chief
francophone journaiists, this thesis explores ethnic identification in relation to class and
fem inism in Montreai t 900- 1 940.3
Montreal had a large working class at the tum-of-the-century, arnong the iargest in
'In 19 16. Montreai workers weicomed the tirst edition of Le Monde C)uvrier/Labar World This
newspaper was brought into being by the Ft;Jt;rutiufr Jus rrui'cli//ur~rds" 1 Q n J k [subsequently the
/.2Jt;rnrrort des t~avail/er~re.vt rravai//er~.w.ds u (_)é/lecJF. or a complete listins of Circé-Côté's 688
editonals published in j e Monde Ouwie~se e Appendix B.
'.TI he use of the pseudonyrn was not uncomrnon diiriny this time period tor Montreai's men and
women journaiists alike. Bernard Vinet explains: -Le pseudonyme est un nom tictif utiiise par une personne.
auteur ou artiste. qui désire communiquer avec ses semblables.. . Bref, il est paradosal d'utiliser un
pseudonyme. et ce n'est qu'en insistant sur cette contradiction qu'il devient possible de d%ager Ia
signitication sociale d'un seste qui parait anodin. Si la "pudeur littéraire" est un phenomene generalisé. il
existe par contre d'autres craintes susceptibles de varier en intensité d'une réyion a l'autre et d'une époque a
l'autre. ainsi en est4 de la crainte des représailles pour celui qui se compromet en s'attaquant aux détenteurs
du pouvoir L'histoire est remplie d'anecdotes dans lesquelles les puissants de l'heure se font signifier
certaines ventes par des auteurs anonymes. Le Québec n'est pas une terre ou l'on risque sa vie ou sa libene
cn s-opposant par &ait ii plus puissant que soit. Toutefois, ici comme ailleurs, il firt des moments ou cntiqucr
la politique du gouvernement et s'attaquer au clergé étaient des activités compromettantes pour la carrière et
.
.
la réputation de I'audacie~x.~ (Québec: Éditions Garneau, IWO). xi-xii.
3 Cire-Cote mas uncovered by Andrée Lévesque in her d c i e% va Circé-Côté ( 1 87 1 - 1939)
Fondatrice de la Bibliothéque Municipale de .Momrd." Ces femmes vui cm hZ?i! .!cztre :?.izz!r&z!: Les
=
du remue-rxkege, :Y%); 145-3. ?ki lier th!e inbiste, L&.espe h@As'/&cfs Cas3 zzfi:kbt;ticr,s
founder of one of the first libraries in Montreal to open its doors to the working-class public.
Canada. Yet therc remains a curious lack of fmussed scholarship about it: polyethnic
workingîlass Montreai seems io have fdlen beiwveen the schwls of francophone
historia-graphy. oAen preoccupied with the "national question," and an AngloCanadian
social history that talies "English Canada" as its c0nte.a. As one of nurnsrous possible
esamples, despite her illustrious career, Circé-Côté is not present in Magon: Lang's 1999
publication, Womcn Who News - -F in C d . ' S irnilarly.
French-Canadian feminists are conspicuously absetit frotn othrr iniyortatit tiatiotial
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monogaphs in women's history. inciuding Janice Newton's Fem - 10 the
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Canadian Lefi. 1 900- 19 1 8 and Linda Kealey's Enlistinrr Wo - Cause: W o m
Labour and the LeFt in C- 1890-192Q.'
In 19 16, Monireal workers saw the first edition of Le ~\hrule0 uwrc.r tubor I+brfd
which was one of few bilingual labour newspapers in Canada? Launched during the First
World War, and continuing througbout the Great Depression, the labour ivsekly was hard
pressed to interpret the economic transformations and the social üpheaval that was "urban
Iife" for iis wurking-ciau: raidership. As Ron Vrrruh has çhroniçird, mosi piunrer labour
1 Marjory Lang, Women Who Made the News: Fernale lournalists in Canada 1880- 1945 (Montreal
and Kingston: McGilI Queen's Press. 1999).
mice ce Newton, The Fem-ni.n Q&g~e to the Can&an M. IWO- 191 8 (Montreal & Kingston:
McGilI-Queen's University. 1995) and Linda Kealey Enlisrinrc. Women for the Cause Women. Labour and
thc Lcfl in Canada. I89O-fWO (Toronto: University of Toronro Press, 1998).
" ~Moend e Ouwiq was brougtit into bein_o by the Fedération des travailleurs et travailleuses du
Québec (FTQ). Its founder was Gustav Franq. who has been described as follows in &'histoire de la FTQ
(Montréal. Fédération des travailleurs ei travailleuses du Québec, 1988). 61. "11 etait un polémiste infatigable
au senice des plus démunis de la société et un advcrsairc fcrocc dcs bolch&iqucs qui avaicnt dcs r i e ss ur
12 Paffi Ouvrier. Francq a aussi fait lutte aux syndicats catholiques, mais il n'a pas été chauvin au point de ne
pas reco~aitruen cenain mérite. ..-
...
111
newspapen in Canada went beyond pure union concems to scnninize society as a whole.-
Critics of the pioneer labour papers argue that the? had littie influence on social
'
affain - Le ,bfonde Ouvrrer S circulation figures were 8,500 in i 9 16. 5000 in 1910. And
-et. not to be overlookd is the fact that politicians, church leaders, and labour critics
comM the labour press hoking for a shifl in political &tudes or cultural trends. However
'
small their circulations, the labour newqqen provided a forum for debatt: of popular ideas
for social change. More importantly, they wrr the sounding boards for a litîlr-explored
radical tradition in Canadian 11istot-y. In theü pages, labour commentators drafted the
bluepnnt for a new society, tested their ideas for change, debated the social issues and
''
discussed solutions to society's problems.
One of Le ;\.IunJc' Ouvrier's kcy journalists, Eva Circé-Côte. wrote under the
pseudonym 'LJulien Saint-Michel.-' Unwilling to have her voice reiegated to the "fernale"
7 Ron Verzuh. Radical The Pioneer Labour Press in Caq& (Ottawa: Steel Rail Pubtishing,
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1 988). 1 2 1 1 32. Verzuh argues: "Cryiny out for better education, healthier and safer workplaces, an end to
child labour, thc establishment of old age secu* and qua1 pay for femde faaory labourers. the newspapers
pIeaded for hl1 emploqment. improved housing, more job sxurity. and a major assault on poveny. They
advocated shoner workirty hours. temperance. co-operatives, political representatiun. uniorüzation and even
all-out revolution as ways to bnng about social refoms. And yct, cditors oflcn lincd up to cast racist
aspersions in the direction of Chinese and Japanese immigrant labourers. They oAen faiied to provide a truly
progessive view in the ongoing debare over the rights of women and children."
8A ndree Beaulieu et Jean Hamelin &es Icurnaux du Ouebec de 1 764 a 1964 (Québec: Les Presses
de l'université Laval, 1965). 188
"~hinet luence ofL e Monde Ouiner/Labor World fàr ouwighed its limited distribution. Premier
Aiesandre Taschereau of Quebec. the Riyht Honorable G.D. Robertson, Minister of Labor under Borden.
and Mayor .Méderic Martin of !Montreai figured amongst its subscribers.
inI n mid- 19 19. copies of J R ,Mor& Ouvq&&or W uwe re confiscated by LMontreai@ ce who
were targeting radical centers in the citqf. André E. Leblanc, The Labor Movement Sen Through the Pages
of Montreal's Le hld eOu vrier/ The W r W orlQ ( 19 16- 1 926)," Master's Thesis. University of Montreal,
1971. 16.