Alfred Bailey (poet)
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Alfred Goldsworthy Bailey, (March 18, 1905 – April 21, 1997) was a Canadian educator, poet, anthropologist, ethno-historian, and academic administrator.


Life

Born in
Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Canada, the son of Professor Loring Woart Bailey Jr. and Ernestine Valiant (Gale) Bailey, he received his BA degree in 1927 from the
University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...
(UNB). He was editor of ''The High School of Quebec Magazine'' while in high school, and verse editor of ''The Brunswickian'' at UNB, and contributed poetry to both magazines. Bailey then attended the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
, where he earned his MA in 1929. There he became friends with
Earle Birney Earle Alfred Birney (13 May 1904 – 3 September 1995) was a Canadian poet and novelist, who twice won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honour, for his poetry. Life Born in Calgary, Alberta, and raised on a farm in Eri ...
, Roy Daniells, and Robert Finch, and was introduced to the poetry of T.S. Eliot. After graduating, Bailey worked as a reporter for the '' Toronto Mail and Empire''. He returned to the University of Toronto to receive his
Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1934. He then spent a year on a Royal Society of Canada fellowship studying at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
, where he was introduced to "leftist politics" and the poetry of Dylan Thomas. From 1935 to 1938, he worked as assistant director and associate curator at the
New Brunswick Museum The New Brunswick Museum, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, is Canada's oldest continuing museum. The New Brunswick Museum was incorporated as the "Provincial Museum" in 1929 and received its current name in 1930, but its history goes back muc ...
in
Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...
. In 1938, the president of UNB offered to make Bailey the head of a new Department of History if he could talk the provincial government into granting sufficient funding for it. Bailey was successful, and served as head of the new department for 30 years, until 1969. Bailey instituted colonial American studies at the UNB; as a result a closer liaison developed between its history departments and that of the
University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...
in the 1960s. Visits between scholars from Atlantic Provinces and the University of Maine became frequent after the establishment of the
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
- Atlantic Provinces Study Center at Orono in 1966. Bailey worked hard at founding a literary community in New Brunswick, founding the Bliss Carman Society. The Society held its meetings at his home, and he kept minutes (including records of all poems). His mimeographed sheets of poems read at Society meetings eventually grew into a new literary magazine, ''The Fiddlehead'', established in 1945 and now Canada's longest-running literary journal.The Fiddlehead
, Fiddlehead.ca, Web, May 5, 2011.
Alfred Bailey was Honorary Librarian and CEO of the UNB Library from 1946 to 1959. From 1946 to 1964, he was the first Dean of Arts at UNB, and from 1965 to 1969, he was Vice President (Academic). He retired in 1970. He wrote poetry from college through retirement. His books of poetry include ''Songs of the Saguenay'' (1927), ''Tao'' (1930), ''Border River'' (1952), ''Thanks for a Drowned Island'' (1973), and ''Miramichi Lightning: The Collected Poems of Alfred G. Bailey'' (1981).


Writing


History

Alfred Goldsworthy Bailey is esteemed for his seminal work in ethnohistory, ''The Conflict of European and Eastern Algonkian Cultures, 1504-1700: A Study in Canadian Civilization'', his 1937 doctoral dissertation, republished by the University of Toronto in 1969. "In a sense," says the ''New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia'', "he created the field of ethnohistory in Canada." His essay "Overture to Nationhood" in the ''Literary History of Canada (1965)'' (which he helped to edit) and his 1972 collection ''Culture and Nationality: Essays by A.G. Bailey'', confirmed his status as cultural historian.


Poetry

The ''
Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available ...
'' says of his poetry: "From conservative beginnings that echoed strongly the romantic tones of late 19th-century verse, Bailey evolved into a contemporary poet whose statement was full of the surrounding reality, whose voice is, at times, deceptively subdued but whose imagination ranged widely and wisely.Michael Gnarowski,
"Bailey, Alfred Goldsworthy"
''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 163.


Recognition

On retirement, Bailey was appointed Professor Emeritus at UNB. He received three honorary doctorates. He has served on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, the National Library advisory board, and the Governor General's Literary Awards committee.M. Travis Lane,

," ''New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia,'' STU.ca, Web, May 5, 2011.
In 1951, Bailey was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1978, he was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...
. He is commemorated by the Alfred G. Bailey Poetry Prize, awarded annually by the Writers' Federation of New Brunswick; and by the Alfred G. Bailey Undergraduate Scholarship, awarded annually to a UNB student majoring in history.Awards, Prizes, Scholarships
," Faculty of Arts, UNB.ca, Web, May 5, 2011.
Alfred Goldsworthy Bailey has had a formative influence on a generation of younger poets, notably Elizabeth Brewster, Fred Cogswell, and Robert Gibbs.


Publications


Poetry

* ''Songs of the Saguenay and other poems''. Quebec City: Chronicle-Telegraph Publications,
1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...
. * ''Tao: A Ryerson Poetry Chap Book''. Toronto: Ryerson Press,
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...
. * ''Border River''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...
. * ''Thanks for a Drowned Island'' Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,
1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
. * ''Miramichi Lightning: The Collected Poems of Alfred Bailey.'' Fredericton: Fiddlehead Poetry Books,
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
. nominated for a
1981 Governor General's Awards Each winner of the 1981 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. The 1981 awards were the first time that separate awards were presented for poetry and drama, w ...
* ''The sun the wind the summer field.'' Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 1996.


Prose

* ''The Conflict of European and Eastern Algonkian Culture 1504-1700: A Study in Canadian Civilization''. University of Toronto, 1934; Rpt. (with two chapters omitted) Saint John, 1937; Rpt. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1969. * ''Culture and Nationality: Essays by A. G. Bailey''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1972. * "Overture to Nationhood." ''The Literary History of Canada''. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1976. * ''The Letters of James and Ellen Robb: Portrait of a Fredericton Family in Early Victorian Times'' (1983)Linda-Ann Sturgeon,
Biographical Sketch
" Dr. Alfred Goldsworthy Bailey fonds, Lib.UNB.ca, Web, Jan. 5, 2009.
Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy
St. Thomas University (New Brunswick) St. Thomas University (also St. Thomas or STU) is a Catholic, English-language liberal arts university located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a primarily undergraduate university offering bachelor's degrees in the arts (humanities a ...
.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Alfred 1905 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets Anglophone Quebec people Canadian anthropologists Canadian university and college faculty deans Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Historians of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Writers from Quebec City University of Toronto alumni University of New Brunswick alumni University of New Brunswick faculty 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers 20th-century anthropologists