Series 3 - Correspondence: other

0.39 m of textual records

This correspondence files in this series consists principally of Dr. Morton’s correspondence with his fellow historians and relating to his historical research. There are also files relating to journalism, labour issues, the media, with (primarily) the Canadian War Museum, and with a veteran of World War I.

The focus of the correspondence in the majority of the files (‘history’ from 1972-1986 and ‘general – history’ from 1988-1994), is historical research generally and the problems (and pleasures) associated with doing it, advice to other researchers, and Morton’s own research and writings. Some of the letters provide illuminating insights on specific issues, particularly those associated with the First World War.

There follow two ‘journalism’ files (1979-1991) that consist principally of correspondence relating to Dr. Morton’s letters to the editor, opinion pieces in newspapers and non-academic journals, such as the United Church Observer. There are a few references to activities in other than the print medium, especially television.
Associated files are the general and topical correspondence files at the beginning of Series 10 (manuscripts and publications).

The next two files, on ‘labour’ (1977-1994), contain extensive correspondence between Dr. Morton and labour groups (with some correspondence with politicians such as Senator Eugene Forsey, and academics), principally on current labour-related issues. Dr. Morton was much in demand for writing articles and book reviews on
labour issues, also pamphlets and other documents. Some of the letters relate to his academic writings, especially Working People: An illustrated history of Canadian Labour.

The ‘media’ file (1979-1988) contains correspondence relating primarily to Dr. Morton’s involvement in radio and television programmes and in film productions. In addition to writing scripts for filmstrip and other programmes, Dr. Morton was a
frequent guest on radio and television programmes, especially with the CBC and TV Ontario. His expertise was also sought by producers, an example being the CBC TV’s two-part series on Sam Hughes in the early 1980s. This file should be read in conjunction with the files in Series 12 (media productions).

The series ends with a file on ‘museums’, mostly correspondence with the Canadian War Museum and another of correspondence with William B. Woods, a veteran of World War I. He and Dr. Morton exchanged a number of long, detailed letters between 1989 and 1991, occasioned by the latter’s book, Marching to Armageddon.

1972-1992: B1999-0023/005(01)-(07)
1977-1994: B1999-0023/006(01)-(08)
1994-2000: B2000-0010/004(01)-(06)

Open