Series 5 - William Thomas James Easterbrook

Identity area

Reference code

UTA 1635-5

Title

William Thomas James Easterbrook

Date(s)

  • 1929-1990 (Creation)

Level of description

Series

Extent and medium

1.0 m of textual records
1 audiocassette

Context area

Name of creator

(1907-1985)

Biographical history

William Thomas (Tom) James Easterbrook was a professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department of Political Economy from 1961-1970.

He was born in 1907 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1933 from the University of Manitoba. Five years later, he earned his Doctorate in Economics from the University of Toronto. He taught for a time at Brandon College, earning a Guggenheim fellowship for his research into the economic history of the Pacific Northwest, before joining the University of Toronto faculty in 1947.

Easterbrook wrote a number of books including Canadian Economic History, a textbook that he co-authored with Hugh Aitken; Farm Credit in Canada; and Approaches to Canadian Economic History, a work he co-authored with Mel Watkins. Easterbrook was also Chairman of the Department of Political Economy during an important period in its history. According to Stefan Dupré, who succeeded Easterbrook as chair of the Department from 1971 to 1974 [1], “[D]uring his decade from 1961 to 1970 as head of the family, [Easterbrook] literally created the modern Department of Political Economy, both in size and in scope.” [2] In addition to leading the Department during a time of rapid growth, Easterbrook was partly responsible for the creation of the Institute for Policy Analysis.

Easterbrook died in March 1985. He left behind a daughter, Jane, and two sons, Michael and Joel. Hs wife, Mary, predeceased him.[3]

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Series contains records Parker received from William Thomas James Easterbrook. The majority of records pertain to Easterbrook’s work on the manuscript for North American Patterns of Growth and Development, which Parker took over and helped to publish after Easterbrook’s passing. Series also contains select materials from Easterbrook’s teaching activities, other writing projects, and correspondence which were given to Parker amidst North American Patterns working materials. Also present in this series are select records created solely by Parker which had been mixed into Easterbrook’s records prior to arriving at the archives. Audio included is unidentified, but appears to capture two individuals reciting text in Spanish, presumably one being Easterbrook.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

All records pertaining to work on Easterbrook’s book North American Patterns have been grouped together and left in the original order in which they were received. Records pertaining to other topics, such as Easterbrook’s teaching materials, correspondence, and records created by Ian Parker which were mixed amongst those from Easterbrook, have been reorganized into chronological order. See series file list in Appendix to identify groupings.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open

Conditions governing reproduction

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    Script of material

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      Finding aids

      Uploaded finding aid

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      Alternative identifier(s)

      Reference number

      B2024-0018/004(14)-(21), B2024-0018/005-/006

      Reference number

      B2014-0018/001S

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      Dates of creation revision deletion

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          Accession area