J. King Gordon

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The Reverend

J. King Gordon

CM
Born
John King Gordon

(1900-12-06)6 December 1900
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died24 February 1989(1989-02-24) (aged 88)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Political partyCo-operative Commonwealth Federation
Spouse
Ruth Anderson
​
(m. 1939)​
Children
Parents
AwardsPearson Medal of Peace (1980)
Ecclesiastical career
ReligionChristianity
ChurchUnited Church of Canada
Ordained1927
Academic background
Alma mater
Influences
Academic work
Discipline
Sub-discipline
School or traditionChristian socialism[5]
Institutions

John King Gordon CM (1900–1989) was a Canadian Christian minister, editor, United Nations official, and academic.[7]

Biography[edit]

Gordon was born on 6 December 1900 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the son of the novelist and future Presbyterian Church moderator Charles Gordon (known by the pen name "Ralph Connor")[8] and his wife Helen King.[9] One of his six sisters was the diplomat and educationalist Marjorie Gordon Smart.[10] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba in 1920.[citation needed] A Rhodes scholar, he studied at The Queen's College, Oxford,[11] from 1920 to 1921.[citation needed] Ordained in 1927, he was a United Church of Canada minister in Manitoba.[12] From 1931 to 1935, he was a professor[citation needed] of Christian ethics at the United Theological College in Montreal.[13] He was dismissed from the college in 1934[14] because of his socialist views.[15] In 1935, he became a travelling professor of Christian ethics, working for the church's Board of Evangelism and Social Service.[16] He became the secretary of the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order the same year.[16] He was also involved with the League for Social Reconstruction.[17]

Gordon married Ruth Anderson in 1939.[18] They had two children, the journalist Charles Gordon[19] and the journalist and novelist Alison Gordon.[20][21]

In 1933, Gordon was one of the authors of the Regina Manifesto[15] and was involved in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.[7] From 1944 to 1947, he was managing editor of The Nation magazine.[7] From 1947 to 1950, he was the United Nations correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).[citation needed] From 1950 to 1962, he was the human rights and information officer[citation needed] for the United Nations Secretariat.[15] He also served as president of the United Nations Association in Canada[15][22] circa 1975.[14]

From 1962 to 1967,[citation needed] he taught international relations at the University of Alberta.[7] He also taught at the University of Ottawa for six years.[14]

In 1977, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.[15] He was the 1980 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace[15][23] for his work in peacekeeping.[citation needed] He received honorary doctorates from the Brandon University (1974), Carleton University (1977), the University of Winnipeg (1979), St. Francis Xavier University (1981), and the University of Manitoba (1981).[23] He died of a stroke on 24 February 1989 in Ottawa, Ontario.[24]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Fleming 2015, p. 67.
  2. ^ Janzen 2013, p. 344.
  3. ^ Fleming 2015, pp. 64, 78; Janzen 1987, p. 351; Janzen 2013, pp. 67, 343; Wright 1991, p. 71.
  4. ^ Fleming 2015, p. 78; Janzen 2013, p. 67; Wright 1991, p. 71.
  5. ^ Fleming 2015, pp. 124–125.
  6. ^ Horn 1999, p. 117.
  7. ^ a b c d Holmes 2013.
  8. ^ Holmes 2013; Janzen 1987, pp. 347–348.
  9. ^ Janzen 2013, pp. 10, 115.
  10. ^ Green, Barbara, "Marjorie Gordon Smart (1911–1982)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 18 April 2024
  11. ^ Fleming 2015, pp. 32–33.
  12. ^ Fleming 2015, p. 54.
  13. ^ Horn 1999, p. 114.
  14. ^ a b c Goar, Carol (4 March 1989). "We Should Pay Tribute to King Gordon". Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. Toronto Star. p. A7.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "J. King Gordon: Scholar CCF Founder". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Canadian Press. 25 February 1989. p. A15.
  16. ^ a b Harrison 1975, pp. 90–91.
  17. ^ Fleming 2015, pp. 80, 125; Masters 1969, p. 36.
  18. ^ Fleming 2015, p. 178.
  19. ^ "Charles Gordon: Incisive, Funny, Retired". Canada.com. Ottawa Citizen. 16 June 2005. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  20. ^ Fleming 2015, p. 179.
  21. ^ Ralph, Dan; Robb, Peter (13 February 2015). "Alison Gordon 1943–2015: Journalist, Author, Trailblazer". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  22. ^ Wood, Bernard (25 February 1989). "King Gordon: Nine Decades of Energetic Activism". Ottawa Citizen. p. A5.
  23. ^ a b Fleming 2015, p. 269.
  24. ^ Janzen 2013, p. 395.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Fraser, Brian J. (1989). "From Anathema to Alternative: The Gordons and Socialism". In Wells, Harold; Hutchinson, Roger (eds.). A Long and Faithful March: Towards the Christian Revolution, 1930s/1980s. Toronto: United Publishing House. ISBN 978-0-919000-46-9.
  • Janzen, Eileen R. (1980). The Development of Democratic Socialist Ideas in English Canada Within the Context of an Emerging Canadian Political Consciousness: F. H. Underhill, Frank R. Scott, J. King Gordon (PhD dissertation). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University. OCLC 869158091.

External links[edit]

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