The Clear Spirit

The Canadian Federation of University Women have undertaken as their Centennial projecy a biographical account of twenty noteworthy women. From a large number of vigorous and accomplished candidates a selection was made from various historical periods, from various regions of Canada, and from the various activities in which women have engaged.

Innis Mary :

Mary Quayle Innis (1899-1972) was an economist, writer, editor, and academic administrator. She was the dean of women at University College, University of Toronto, for a number of years, and she was married to noted economics historian, Harold A. Innis.

'It would seem proper that due recognition be paid to the Canadian Federation of Women for its centennial project, this remarkable contribution to the sociological and historical record of this country. The book's title, The Clear Spirit, as the epigraph on the title page indicates, is apt. The lines are from Lycidas: "Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise/To scorn delights and live laborious days." Eve's daughters have indeed come into their own; but fame was hardly the spur that roused this group of Canadian women to splendid achievement. It was the thing farthest from their minds when they spent themselves in measureless service to others. Twenty women are here set forth with extraordinary vividness and freshness.'

J.A. Boudreau:
'When the tumult and the press-agent gimmickry of the Canadian centennial die, a few enduring and meaningful monuments will remain. Among them will stand this collective biography of twenty famous Canadian women. Mary Quayle Innis has assembled a group of essays by fifteen authors on twenty individuals whose careers span the history and the geographic breadth of Canada. The general theme of this collection is clear: women on the frontier. This amazing unity in diversity is a tribute to the judgement of the editor. The nature of the frontier is a changing one ranging from the physical frontier of settlement to the frontiers of knowledge and, too often, of establishing a role for women in occupations traditionally reserved for men.'