Muriel Helen Duckworth (née Ball; October 31, 1908 – August 22, 2009) was a Canadian pacifist, feminist, and social and community activist. She was a practising Quaker, a religious denomination committed to non-violence. Duckworth maintained that war, with its systematic violence against women and children, is a major obstacle to social justice. She argued that money spent on armaments perpetuates poverty while reinforcing the power of privileged elites. She believed that "war is stupid" and she steadfastly refused to accept popular distinctions between "good" and "bad" wars. Duckworth was a founding member of the Nova Scotia Voice of Women for Peace, a provincial branch of the national peace organization called the Voice of Women (VOW).Kerans, p. 90. From 1967 to 1971, she served as president of VOW leading protests against the Canadian government's quiet support for the U.S.-led

War in Vietnam The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Duckworth was the first woman in Halifax to run for a seat in the Nova Scotia legislature. She also led community organizing efforts seeking improvements in education, housing, social assistance and municipal planning.Kerans, p. 162. In her later years, Duckworth performed with the Halifax chapter of the

Raging Grannies The Raging Grannies (or just "Raging Grannies") are activist organizations in many cities and towns in Canada, the United States, and in other countries. The first group started in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, i ...

, a group that composes and sings satirical ballads promoting social justice. Duckworth received many honours and awards including the 1981 Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case and 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 ...

in 1983. In 1991, she received the Pearson Medal of Peace.Kerans, p. 226. She was also granted 10 honorary university degrees.Kerans, pp. 226 & 228.

Childhood influences

Early life and education

Muriel Helena Ball was born on October 31, 1908, on her parents' farm in Austin,

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 ...

, a village in the Eastern Townships about 130 km east of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. She was one of five children born to Anna Westover and Ezra Ball. Their farm was on the scenic shores of

Lake Memphremagog Lake Memphremagog (; french: Lac Memphrémagog) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed that ...

and Muriel spent her first years enjoying the natural beauty around her. She was so deeply affected by the landscape that she returned nearly every summer for the rest of her life to the cottage her aunt and uncle built in 1913. Although the family farm was suitable for raising livestock such as chickens and cattle, the land was not very fertile. Muriel's mother supplemented the family income by taking in summer boarders, while her father sold lightning rods. Muriel attended a local one-room country school until she was seven, then transferred to a larger school in the town of Magog where she boarded during the week with two siblings and an aunt. In 1917, when she was nine, her father sold the farm and bought a grocery and feed store in Magog. He also sold wood and oil. The next year, her mother opened a tea room and boarding home that catered to summer visitors who came by steamship and rail. As they grew older, Muriel and her two sisters helped their mother with cleaning, cooking, making beds and waiting on tables. Serving the public in the tea room helped Muriel cope with her chronic shyness.

Anna Ball as role model

Her mother's career as a successful businesswoman and her dedication to community service in the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

church and the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

had a powerful influence on Muriel. Anna Ball had a boarding house, a block from the train station. She fed hungry men and gave shelter to homeless young women who came to Magog on the trains and raised funds to establish a home for the elderly and started a community lending library. Duckworth was also an admirer of

Nellie McClung Nellie Letitia McClung (; 20 October 18731 September 1951) was a Canadian author, politician, and social activist, who is regarded as one of Canada's most prominent suffragists. She began her career in writing with the 1908 book ''Sowing Seeds ...

and Agnes Macphail, two political activists who championed women's rights.Kerans, p. 25. Many decades later, Muriel told an interviewer that her mother's example helped lead her into social activism. Her mother cared passionately about what she did, Muriel said. She believed she could have a positive effect and did.

Ontario Ladies College

After finishing high school which ended at grade 11, Muriel attended the Ontario Ladies College, a Methodist girls' school in

Whitby, Ontario Whitby is a town in Durham Region. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Ajax and west of Oshawa, on the north shore of Lake Ontario and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region. It had a population of 138,501 at the 2021 census. It ...

. Her aunt, Abbie Ball, taught there and offered to pay Muriel's fees. The college provided instruction in languages, history, mathematics and piano but little science. The 15-year-old Muriel was too shy to participate in drama even though her aunt was the school's drama coach. She also suffered from homesickness. Once a month, guest speakers, usually from the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

addressed the student assembly. Muriel especially remembered James Endicott, then a missionary in China, who went on to become a prominent church leader and a lifelong acquaintance.

University years

McGill, 1925–1929

Muriel undertook studies at Montreal's

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

with the help of a small college bursary and money from her Aunt Abbie. She was enrolled in the university's

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

program and in her graduating year, took the education courses required to qualify for a high school teaching diploma. To practice teaching in front of a classroom full of children as well as her fellow education students was especially difficult for her, but Muriel hid her fear so well that the supervising professor praised her apparent lack of nervousness.Kerans, p. 34. She also tried to overcome her shyness by entering a public speaking contest and volunteering to take minutes at student meetings.

Student Christian Movement

Muriel's participation in the Student Christian Movement (SCM) at McGill was a life-changing experience. "Looking back over the years," she told her biographer, "I've felt always that the experience of the SCM was the most important thing that happened to me, probably the most important aspect of my college life, more important than any of the courses that I took." The SCM conducted small study groups in which students were encouraged to discuss their beliefs freely and come to their own conclusions about how to interpret the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

s. For Muriel, such discussions were unsettling and painful, yet also exciting.Kerans, p. 32. "I had always before treated the Gospel as though its authors had set down day by day events in the life of Jesus as they happened," she said. "To face the implication that nothing was written down until after Jesus died was itself a shock. But this question of free and open discussion, that everything needed to be challenged, to be questioned, to be talked about, that was completely opposite to the authoritarian approach in the church." The SCM study groups fostered independent thinking. "This was the beginning of my adult search for truth," Muriel told her biographer, "and my sense that all things must be open to me."

Graduation and marriage

In 1926, Muriel met Jack Duckworth, a McGill student who was also active in the SCM. She was 18, he was 29. Duckworth was attending university to qualify for a job with the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

where he had been a volunteer working with boys in Vancouver. To finance his studies, he became a student minister and discovered his talents as a preacher. He decided to continue studying theology after earning his

MA degree A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from McGill. In 1928, Muriel and Duckworth were engaged to be married. In the fall, he began two years of studies at the

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

(UTS). Muriel graduated from McGill in May 1929 and a month later the Duckworths were married at an informal wedding in Montreal. They began their married life in New York where Duckworth was completing his final year at UTS.

Union Theological Seminary

Muriel Duckworth enrolled as a full-time student at Union Theological Seminary in 1929. She was also registered as a part-time UTS field student and worked with poor teenage girls at a community church in

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

on New York's West Side. Duckworth met these 16-and-17-year-old working-class girls twice a week in a recreation group and in a Sunday School class. She also visited their homes gaining first-hand knowledge of the conditions experienced by working-class immigrants who lived in cramped, windowless flats beside "booming and clattering" elevated trains. In her academic studies, Duckworth learned about the Social Gospel movement which strove to improve people's lives through social services and adult education at a time when the Great Depression was just beginning. Her teachers at UTS included Harry Ward, a

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

who campaigned for

civil and political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

and the noted theologian

Reinhold Niebuhr Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of Ameri ...

. "The Social Gospel and pacifism were linked in my mind," Duckworth said adding that she remembered hearing about

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate of the Soc ...

"a labour hero who had gone to prison for opposition to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and who ran for president of the U.S. while he was in jail."

Family life

Muriel and Jack Duckworth returned to Montreal in 1930 where they began raising a family. Their son

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

was born in 1933;

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

, named after

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

, was born in 1935 followed by John in 1938. The family moved to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, in 1947 where Jack Duckworth served as general secretary of the YMCA, while Muriel worked in adult education. From 1948 until 1962, Muriel was a part-time parent education adviser for the Nova Scotia Department of Education. Jack Duckworth died, age 76, in May 1975 when Muriel was 66.

Subsequent activities

Muriel Duckworth's pacifism was reflected in her religious beliefs and her work on behalf of peace organizations. She was a founding member of the Nova Scotia Voice of Women, a provincial branch of the Voice of Women (VOW). She served as the National President of VOW, now called the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, from 1967 to 1971. During her presidency, VOW protested vigorously against the U.S.-led

. It also condemned the Canadian government's tacit support for the war and its policy of quietly encouraging the sale of Canadian-made weapons to the U.S. military. In 1969 and 1971, Duckworth helped organize two highly publicized visits to Canada by Vietnamese women directly affected by the war. Duckworth was also active in community organizing, electoral politics and the advancement of women's issues. In 1971, she helped establish the Movement for Citizens' Voice and Action (MOVE), a coalition of community groups in Halifax, Nova Scotia working for a wide range of goals including improvements in education, housing, social assistance and municipal planning. Duckworth became the first woman in Halifax to run for a seat in the Nova Scotia Legislature when she campaigned as a New Democratic Party candidate during the provincial elections of 1974 and 1978. In 1976, she became a founding member of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), an organization set up to sponsor the dissemination of research on issues affecting women. She served as president of CRIAW in 1979–80. Later, she played a leading role in organizing a five-day Women's International Peace Conference held in Halifax in June 1985. Duckworth was the recipient of numerous honours including the 1981 Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case and the

in 1983. In 1991, she received the Pearson Medal of Peace. She was also granted 10 honorary degrees including one from

Mount Saint Vincent University Mount Saint Vincent University, often referred to as the Mount, is a public, primarily undergraduate, university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was established in 1873. Mount Saint Vincent offers undergraduate programs in Arts, S ...

in 1978 and another from Dalhousie University in 1987. In celebration of her 100th birthday, Oxfam Canada established the ''Jack and Muriel Duckworth Fund for Active Global Citizenship'' in recognition of Duckworth and her late husband's leadership in working for social justice. Duckworth was awarded a posthumous

Order of Nova Scotia The Order of Nova Scotia (french: Ordre de la Nouvelle-Écosse) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Instituted on August 2, 2001, when Lieutenant Governor Myra Freeman granted Royal Assent to the Order of Nova ...

on September 2, 2009.

Death and legacy

Duckworth

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of Man, pa ...

and broke her leg in August 2009 while at her Quebec cottage. She was treated in hospital in Magog, Quebec, where her condition deteriorated. As she received

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

, Duckworth reportedly told visitors, "I'm going to leave you now. It's time for me to go. Everything is ready." Then she added: "Be happy with each other. You have each other. Goodbye, I'm going now." Her imminent death drew this comment from her friend, the well-known scholar and peace activist

Ursula Franklin Ursula Martius Franklin (16 September 1921 – 22 July 2016) was a German-Canadian metallurgist, research physicist, author, and educator who taught at the University of Toronto for more than 40 years.Lumley, Elizabeth (editor) (2008), ''Canadi ...

: "I would like her to be remembered as somebody who demonstrated that it's possible to change one's society, to be profoundly critical and still remain a respected member of that society." Muriel Duckworth died on August 22, 2009, aged 100. Her biographer, Marion Douglas Kerans said, "She showed women how to become true leaders in their community, and in the world, without losing any feminine grace."Beaumont, Hilary. "Duckworth's biographer remembers the 'Raging Granny'," ''Metro Halifax'', August 24, 2009.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Kerans, Marion Douglas. (1996)
Muriel Duckworth: A Very Active Pacifist
'. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing. *Kerans, Marion Douglas. (2010)
A Legacy of Love: Remembering Muriel Duckworth, Her Later Years 1996-2009
'. Halifax: Roseway Publishing. *Kipping, Patricia. (1999
''Muriel Duckworth: Practising Peace''
ideorecording Halifax: Perversity Productions; Moving Images Distribution. *Levant, Victor. (1986) ''Quiet Complicity: Canadian Involvement in the Vietnam War''. Toronto: Between The Lines.

External links

Pearson Medal of Peace – Muriel H. Duckworth

Canadian Voice of Women for Peace

Nova Scotia Voice of Women for Peace

Announcement of the ''Jack and Muriel Duckworth Fund for Active Global Citizenship'' in celebration of Muriel Duckworth's 100th birthday
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duckworth, Muriel 1908 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Quakers Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Quebec Anglophone Quebec people Canadian activists Canadian centenarians Canadian feminists Canadian pacifists Canadian Quakers Canadian women activists Candidates in Nova Scotia provincial elections Muriel Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case winners McGill University alumni Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Nova Scotia Nonviolence advocates Nova Scotia New Democratic Party politicians Pacifist feminists People from Estrie Quaker feminists Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Women centenarians Women in Nova Scotia politics